May 19, 2015: US 63 in Malcom, with a construction project literally just over the horizon.
Concrete from the earliest decades of Iowa’s highway era still exists and is often drivable. To the best of my knowledge, there’s only one place where a significant segment is the topmost layer on a state-maintained route: Half a mile of US 63 through Malcom, with more than 2500 vehicles a day rumbling over it.
The road narrows when approaching from the south side of town, and the lips of the curbs plus the aggregate composition (large pebbles) indicate this is very old pavement. This pavement was laid in 1935, in a segment from old US 6 to the railroad tracks. It will soon be covered by a hot mix asphalt overlay. Construction is already going on north of Malcom (overlay) and at I-80 (new southbound lanes of short four-lane segment).