The war effort and preparations for the 1944 Normandy invasion demanded a new and upgraded road system. With shortages in raw materials alternative road building approaches were investigated. What remains by the side of the railway line at Wood Fidley crossing is an experimental concrete roadway, constructed using a range of difference concrete mixtures and configured in a figure of eight shape.Testing required soldiers to drive heavy trucks continuously around the test track to recreate the wear and loading the new road surface was expected to receive. This must have been a boring task with only the occasional passing steam trains to distract your attention.