New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1875-05-01
STREET PAVEWENIS.

| must soon be subject OF general discussion,
! for the condition of the streets il becoming
| iniolerable. A bill has been introduced at
Albany to provide for the repair OF Fifth
! Avenue with stone, and another has passed
the Assembly empowering the Common Council
| to pave OF repave any street, and to specify
the materials to be used. That the old sys-
tens are not satisfactory almost every one is
ready to admit. and it is equally beyond dis
| pute that we can neither afford to try any
rash experiments nor waste money In tempo
! Yary makeshifts. Many of lis believed when
| the Grahamite Pavement Company proposed
| to undertake the work that solution OF the
problem had been found; but all confidence in
| their project was destroyed by the questionable
means employed to push it through the Legis-
lature, and the general conviction that their
| bill concealed an enormous job. Those who
favored them at the outset were glad when they
finally failed, believing that the city had mar
rowly escaped a swndc.
| Mr.. Adolf Cluss, the Washington engineer
who earned the respect OF the country by beng
removed flom Office at the demand Of Alcxan-
der Il. Shepherd because he testified against
! the Ring in the course of the District lnvesti-
CATION has written an article on Modern
street Payemcntsr in The Popular Science
Moathy which seems to demand attention. He
condemns the Belgian block system and its
notifications chiefly on sanitary considers
tons. TO say nothing of the irritating noise
which i, s;ich serious evil to invalids and
people with weak nrrvcs-an evil much graver
than il commonly imagincd-stonc paycmcnts
spread disease by collecting i'll their ruts and
Joints the filth OF the streets. The dirt, horse
o,1 iIrf aI Nv
putrcscent organic mire, and in hot weather
give OF noxious vapor8 and poisonous dust. Tho
blacl, earth saturated with sulphure,ted n.y.
lrogcn, which il always found under old stone
paycncnts, shows the infection of the sub-sol
by the soakage of contaminated water. Mac
adamized roads have been recommended, but
Mr.. Cluss declares that they have proved sig
nal failures in cities. being expensive to keep
in repair, inconyenient, uncomfortable, and I'M
healthy. whoever il doomed to live on a
macadamized street," hc says, needs no
"descriphon of lis horrors. These streets have
"jlstly been named crushing mills for gran
"i.e" The dust arising from them is intolcr-
able. Ii pcnctrates everything, drives through
the Joints of window saShes, ruins curtains and
furniture. sufocltcs flowers and green leaves,
and being composed of finely divided stone
excrts Il peculiarly irritating effect upon the
Lungs. "A litto rain transforms these streets
into broad slusb-beds from which everything
within reach ia bespattercd by the hurrying
"whccls Of vehicles" The Tclford road,
modification of the macadam used on the
Boucyards Of New York. is also Objectionable
on account of dust, and il moreover costly.
Wood whether Created" or not, is so gen
orally condemned that it may be considered
out of the question. A concrete formed of
silicate of soda with Portland cement is urged
in some quarters, but it has been carefully
tested in France and has failed.
Mr.. Cluss concludes, after an exhaustive re-
view of all the other principal systems, that
the city pavement OF the future is the natural
asphaltum. We must first disabuse our minds
of the prejudice which so-called poultice pave
mcnts have given New Workers against every
thing bearing the remotest external resem-
blance to coal tar or pitch. All those concrete
denominations were predestined failures from
the first The real asphaltum is not con-
crete at all 1t is a porous limestone impreg-
mated with tough bitumen 10y remote volcanic
action, tho two ingredients so thoroughly
united by tho slow action of centuries
that neither heat nor water nor the COM
bincd action of both can render the substance
brittle by separating the bitumcn from the lime
stone. Tho proportion of the two componerfts
differs in different deposits the asphaltum used
in London and Paris is obtained i'll the Val de
Trayers near Lake Neufchatel. When properly
laid by experienced wOrkmcn, and without the
adnixiure Of any other substance, Mr.. Cluss
contends that 1t far suIpaSScs every other pave
mrnt known. 1t is equally unaffected by eX
t:cnc heat and 10y extreme cold. Not alordinS
any escape to the natural heat Of the earth, it is
kept warm and clrar from below in most cases
when block pavcments present an icy surface.
IT. smooth face is almost entirely free from
abrasion either by the wheels of vehicles or by
atmospheric action. 1t il elastic, but never
becomes soft. 1t is easily repaired in any
weather. 1t is clean and fit for traffic few
hours after being Ibid. Ii has been thoroughly
tested in London and Paris. and has justified
The preference entertained for it, Ia both cities
Official experiments have been made to deter
mine whether it is dangerous to horses, and
the general result has been favorable TO it, !
The smoothncss of all pavements il affected by |
the weather but all arc not affected alike
Some arc more dangerous on clear frosty days. |
others are slippery when it rains. The bad
time for asphalt is when we have tho rare
lease of a muddy street during wet weather. !
Mud of course il not formed well kept !
osl,halt pavcmcnts, but is dragged upon it |
from dirty cross streets. The average of acct |
dents, taking the year through, il said to be !
much smaller on asphalt than on stone.
frLe.n oro thn p,incinnl noints urUoI nv NJ