HIGHWAY TO THE PAST
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Those of you who regularly use the AS may not know it but you are in fact driving along a route of considerable archaeological significance.
A survey has revealed that the original London-Holyhead highway, built by 19th-century civil engineer Thomas Telford, remains virtually intact under today's road.
Academics had thought that the most difficult section, through the north Wales mountains, had been obliterated by the A5. However, the archaeological survey, funded by the Welsh Assembly's heritage organisation Cadw, shows that at least 40% of the structure is as Telford built it.
The A5 snakes through the original embankment terraces cut into the hillside and Telford's stone walls still mark the highway's boundaries.
More remarkable, perhaps, is that the modem road surface didn't replace Telford's but was built on top of it.
The survey also revealed that 80% of Telford's bridges, toll houses, weighbridges and gravel storage "lay-bys" still survive. Building work originally began in 1815 and, when it was completed 11 years later, it was acclaimed as one of the most advanced highways of the industrial revolution.
Sounds like they could have done with the services of Mr Telford when they were planning some of today's roads.