The New York herald., 1870-05-07
Descriptions Of Various Kinds Of
Roadway Pavement in Use
In This City.
List OF Street Paving Contracts Awarded
Last Year-Who Did the Work
How Much They Did and the
Pay They Received.
Changes to be Inaugurated I'm
der the New Regime.

racious chrOnclers, is the Oldest city extant. Its
history Is traced back with great accuracy TO the
nood The practice OF swindling In putting down
roadway pavements in this city, according to equally
veracous chroniclers, Is the oldest form OF munich
pal swindling extant 1t can be traced back with
great accuracy to Its nceptive stages when corrupt
and dishonest men first were elected to our Common
council. Of all the sins Of commission practsed by
various Boards Of the Common Council in the past
and present to pocket the peoples money and
thereby add 10 their own eXchequer-and a proper
regard for veracly compels IL TO be stated that They
have not been gutless of any sins OF omission 10
accomplish this controlling and almost exclusive
aim OF their municipal betag-the most unscrupu-
lous agrant and barefaced species city legislation
particularly In later years. has been in connection
with the pavements OF streets. The most gigan-
20 frauds have been perpetrated. Wholesale rob
berry and cheating have been the rule OF action
S0bbery in compelling excessive and unwarrantabl
payments for the work done; cheating In laying
down miserable and worthless pavements. A most
stupendous scheme OF swindng was successfully set
OH foot by the present Common Council shamerully
III opposition 10 the remonstrances OF property
holders and recklessly overriding every veto OF
the Mayor. This scheme would now be in the full
tide Of audacious fulflment, had not the Char.
Ter come down upon them with the suGdeness OF
the Assy ran at the destruction Of Sennecharib and
swept away plots and potters with the besom OF
overwhelming destruction
SUBJECT OF WIDESPREAD INTEREST.
There Is scarcely any subject IN fact In which the
public should be more interested, and IN which 1t
to be less interested, than that of city road
way pavements. Our streets are public property.
The public require them, ana use them and pay for
them. In the busy hours Of the busy day-and
every day is busy one and growing busler as our
population increases and trade ana commerce eX-
pand and multiply their rapidly extending and en-.
crossing energie5-the streets IN the lower part of
city are fed with all manner Of vehicles: monster
drays and carts, heavily freighted with heavy
chandlse; express wagons Of ike mammoth proper
tiOns, laden with ponderOus and weighty boxes
piled to dizzy heights; great nondescript
veyances, drawn by half dozen and more great
and powerful horses a Ia tandem, used by iron safe
companies; huge omnibuses, laundering and crash
ing along with their packed, living freight, and,
choked in among them, in immineat danger Of bein
momentariay crushed by the surging and resurging
tides Of these greater conveyances lighter vehicles
of burden and carriages of all sorts; while in the
upper streets rolling along with the ponderous jar
of moving artillery are immense lager beer wagons,
drawn by great fat sleek horses, and keeping pace
with them, United States Mail wagons, equally cum
blous in size, and hotel Omnbuses OF nearly similar
RlHdnNC pTOporHOLs, anu. keeping tueUl COuphny
butchers wagons and bakers wagons and grocers'
and m tikmen's wagons, and then. apart from these
whirlng through the fashionable up town avenues,
carriages ofght and graceful and strongly tenuous
mould-the jaunty brougham, the pleasant coupe
the phaeton the airy barouche and gentle rock
away--au are IN lively motion, and there is an
lNCEssANT WEAR AND TEAR ON THE STREETS.
Obviously great problem, in which the public are
deeply and vitality interested and requiring seduous
study and solution, Is the best kind OF pavement to
Withstand this continuous wear and tear. This wear
Is kept up late IN the night and before the
first 10 mt streaks OF approaching dawn light up the
eastern horizon the days din and tumut begin
Our city streets have very little rest. Voices
OF the night, The clater OF moving vehicles city
cars carriages and carts, though none such are
catalogued in L0ngfe0w's Voices OF the Night"
Ill the afr. And this brings us to Il
THEORETICAL CONSIDERATION OF ROADWAY PAVE
a'f MENTS.
Most roadway surfaces, 1t Is clear, shond afford,
IN the first place, certain and firm foothod for
possible; thirdly, permanance, re.
yards structure and nrmness; fourthly, such
and cleaning; and fsthly, facility for removal and
replacement. There can be no difference Of opinion
about these conditions. No matter how thoroughly
excellent pavement may be otherwise II II only
affords slippery and unstable footing for horses it
~ worthless and lis perfection IN other points
wasted. The greater the amount OF strength the
horse has exert the more increased is his liability
TO slip. THIS arises from the fact that his hoof
always strikes the pavement toe first, the point OF
contact then becoming the fulcrum about which his
the load the greater the pressure on this
slip. hence no pavement is at all perfect
which presents u smooth, Dard nnbroken surface or
that has any great longitudinal or transverse slope
A pavement 10 offer as little resistance
60 wheels as possible, must have great
hardness smoothness evenness and no elasticity.
As to permanance regards surface and structure,
any pavement requiring frequent renewals - an cX-
peHsiVe one no matter how small It's original cost.
True economy will allow most liberal original out
lay for pavement which, IL satisfactory III other
respects, anords permanence. The cost of frequent
renewals and repairs IL not only large Item OF
and wearing smooth the draught and the wear and
tear OF vehicles are increased and the necessary
construction actually in progress, causes delay
and Tune consuming detours unavoidabiy cr0wdtng
the adjacent streets, while greatly inconveniencing
Warehouse owners by preventing the delivery and
loading OF goods Immediately at the warehouses. TO
secure permanence we must consider locality,
material, construction and surface. AS to
the locality, it is essential to examine the
nature OF ITS traffic and TRANSFORMATION
the nature Of the soil on which the pavement must
rest and the climate 10 which 1T viii be exposed
The nature OF the traffic should be specially stdied
as iC would be manlfestly injudicious and wastefu
to place stone block o iron pavement on the roads
ofpieasure grounds, re2sa 10 transfer park
gravel road 10 q crowded business street. We should
note me character OF the SOIL whether IL be properly
drained by nature or artifcially whether IL is COM
posed of homogeneous, dry and incompressible ma.
terlal like sand or Is sort and spongy as 1t iavat
ably IL when tho street has been mucn used without
pavement, or has been filled In with building or
street rubbish. The climate Of the locality must he
considered, as some pavements last ny well under
certain conditions OF moisture and Temperature
become speedily perisllable when these conditions
are changed This, perhaps, Is particularly notice
able in the Of wooden or maeadanized
paYements Pavement material should be thos-
Ou ,hiy examined with regard 10 lis tendency to de-
cay aud dislntegratio tearing 10 pieces grind
Ing up. With regard TO construction we must
separately LOOK 10 The foundation and the upper
tion or bed pavement can attain much Longevity.
IL must DC thor nightly dry, rigid or incoInpressDie
ana, when uniformly Lhjck pavement blocks are
nsrd. eyen'snrfaced. clean pavement I5 not only
healthy aud s2hriy, bni Economical. TIC pavement