The New York herald., 1870-05-07


| great variety OF systems have been adopted for
| road way pavenents. the most convenient ciasst
nt anon OF them IA into gravel compositions, broken
stone plank, wooden block, cobble Stone or peDDle
ways The nrst attempts at pavements generally
! commence with the use Of gravel Roads thus
made possess the & d % a.s r
probably the most perfect roads Ia this country they
| have shown better endurance than those made on
| the macadam plan. Gravel roads, when properly
| CONSTRUCTED and maintained. are comparatively
| smooth and n0iseoss besides afrordng excellent
foothoId for horses. The great objections to them
are that they cannot be Kept rm enough to afford
easy draught for heavy traffic; that they lack in
qeon gh aegss eps: st ;bsy s1a ars are c"s ~
] keep clean and TO drain properly; the rapidly
grinding and crushing to powder tending greatly to
cause dust IN dry weather and mud In wet weather,
and lastly, that the best construction vet attained
has failed 70 prevent them from washing into gullies
may properly be Included pavements formed by the
combinations oI several materials, such ~ the
famous asphalt pavement OF Paris concrete, 0eton,
also those formed according to the experiments OF
Mcneil partly Of broken stone and party OF pieces
stone. The asphalt pavement or Paris. so often re-
commended In newspaper articles, Ia really quite
Imperfect pavement IL Is generally formed on q
foundation Of macadamized road. Powdered asphait
IL placed on this foundation and tamped with hot
ranners until it becomes hard and has thickness
OF one or TWO inches II IL very pleasant and smooth
to ride oyer, but requires most constant watching
excessively 80 at freezing temperature. M
PAYMENTS OF GRANITE No 4aH
Granite blocks, considered In every respect form
one OF the most perfect pavements known. They are
pre-. erred and almost exclusively adopted in London
The Russ pavement, the nearest approach perfect
aon Of the Roman pavement, a 0et0m foundation Of
six inches thick. The b6t0n Is composed Of one part
cement 10 TWO and hali parts OF GEAR coarse sand
Two ana half par 0l broken stone ana Two parts
Of gravel. On this foundation laid hard granite
blocks ten inches deep ten 10 eighteen Inches long,
and from 1ve twelve inches wide. IL IL very du.
raDe, and yet. a. shown in Broadway this excellent
pavement has most signaiiy failed. the surface Of the
granite used polishing and anording dangerous loot
hold. What Is required, and this would give per-
feet pavement, Is the adoption or the kind Of stone
blocks used in London. which do not polish by wear,
and present joints about every 0ur incles An
other pavement is now being substituted here In an
imperfect manner. The blocks now used are of
deep ana 0ur inches wide, the courses running mt
right angles with the line of Me street. what
the principal one IN use IN The old streets Of Paris,
and, as Is well known, has been quite exten-
slyeiy adopted In this city; TINS pavement
well iaid Of economy the necessary and actual
cost being little over one.half that of the
Nicolson pavement. The nnal trouble, however, IS
their becoming polished and slippery, and hence
they should not be laid In streets where they are
SUBJECT TO constant use.
IRON BLOCK rAvEMENTs
Several attempts have been made, with more or
less success to cast iron in blocks suitable for pave
ments. The chief objection Is the cost Ol iron, nut II
properly aid there can he no doubt OF It's being
cheaper IN the end than most other pavements IL
Icctve foundation ana on account Oh the principle
employed OF keyng. The rings pressing on The sand
weight tended greatly to dispace or overturn the
biOck, which occurring, all the netghb0nng ones
keying into It were released. and unless quickly
paired the ruin the whole pavement soon followed.
1t has stood much better in Boston. and for The sN
pie reason OF its being better laid. 1t mas stood there
admirably and shows no material signs OF
surface wear after ten or twelve years or constant
use Ii can be cast In such form as TO give the best
foothold for horses drawing heavy loads. 1t can be
son pavement, and by its extreme hardness will give
much less resistance TO wheels. Being OF uniform
quality all parts will wear equally, and as perfect q
face win always be presented as when new. It's
smoothaess tends greatly to lessen noise this nut
wheels striking against the collars on the axles. and
OF course Increases with ronghness OF pavement sur
face lron furthermore loses but little from OXlda
Iion Il can be kept as clean as the Nicolson pave.
ment, with the advantage or nOn-absOrpton. 1t has
one great advantage IN being made SO as to be
easily and readily removed and replaced, the blocks
formed from the same patterns, being exact coun-
terparts.
This pavement s composed of seventy per cent in
bulk OF broken st0ne coarse gravel, clean coal or
iron cinders not over three inches in any dimensions
These are passed over screen with meshes one
quarter inch square. The coarser portion Is then
coated by mixing with tar, warm or cold, and then
depth Of four inches Is attained. The finer portion
Is next mixed with clear, sharp sand, warmed and
added rOsin, carbojapans or pitch. This Is placed
on the first layer OF coarse material and rolled until
a depth OF two inches Is attained, after which the
surface Is covered with an excess 0f clear. sharp
sand and again rolled
THE NICHOLSON PAVEMENT
We now come to the subject Of wooden pavements.
The first general attempt TO use wooden blocks Tor
pavements took place some thirty years ago both in
IN M hs r a9a % hrd woS MADE
directly on sand or earth. Without exception they
have AL aiIed and are only retained in towns which,
Leading Off in the list OF wooden paveDents adopted
in ths city Is the Nicolson pavement In laying this
Covering Of sand which is brought to the proper
@ s,S 1Ss Ss y s sss
The ends Of these boards rest on strneers Of the same
material taid lr2U curb t9 curb.
tar The blocks are OF Southern pine, three inches
wide and six inches Deep end are set end in
crosswlse othe street. Before setting the blocks
dipped TO half their height III not coal tar. Between
each row of blocks and ut their base pickets one
inch thick and three inches wide are nailed on edge
The opening ihus formed between the rows Is filed
with clean screened gravel ramncd with pavi0r'5
ralnmer and an IRON blade made for that purpose
and then covered with hot coal tar. The whole OF
the upper surface Of the pavement, when laid, Is
covered with hot coal tar boiled to a consistency
which, when cold, Is 10 be tough, fbrous and not
brittle, and then covered with fine gravel and COM
mon sand. After the top gravel has become packed
the surface and In the grooves the street is swept.
THE M'GONEGAL PAVEMENT.
This pavement, claimed TO be an improvement on
the NicolsOn, TO which II is similar consists OF
foundation OF two inches OF betoa on which
are placed WOODEN Dl0ckS Blk lnc0cS deep,
two and tbree-quarter inches wide and rom
four TO sixteen inches ia length. Holes Of
one and a half inch IN diameter and three
and q half inches deep are bored III each block ana
then triangular grooves formed each side Of tho
blocks. so that hen two blocks are placed together
there will oe a square opening one and quarter
inch square TO receive wooden dowel, Key.
The wood used FOR blocks and keys is prepared or
anS by EnDn IN In 10, laying
tar. .he periorations In the blocks filled
with clean roofing sand. The pavement Is
A,.ta anAA 1,u .saAfin %l,Vaa NJ
inch In thickness Of coal tar and fine sand.
These are the specifications as we have described
them but where this pavement has been laid jn this
city foundation or flooring OF tarred boards has
been substituted for that Of 6etOn.
THK STOW PAVEMENT
In constructing this pavement which Is also
wooden, and cheap form OF the Nlcolson, the
street IL first filed with sand loan or loose earth
free from stones within about SIX inches OF the
desired street grne hut SmOOtned OF conform