New Orleans Republican. [volume] (New Orleans, La) 1867-1878, 1876-02-11
Street PRyemeDts.

|
subject is treated in scientific manner
and furnishes much information that may
serve as Q guide to municipal governments
! upon this very important subject. General
Gilmore asserts that the essential requisites
of q good street pavement are: Fist, that i!
be smooth and hard; second that it furnish
a foothold for animals, and not become
polished and slippery; third. that 1t be
| noseless and free from mud; fourth, that II
be capable CT thorough cleaning; fifth. that
it be Of durable material, and ct such con.
struction az 20 be easily taken up or relaid
in places: sixth, that it be easily repaired
at ali seasons at moderate cost. Roads OF
broken stone and gravel. though compare
lively nOiseless, furnish dust and mud, and
are not adapted to the heavy travel Of
cities. Cobble-stone pavement is condemned
a. far inferior in every respect to stone
blocks, though these, if laid on sand, rapid
ly form into ruts.
Indispensable to all paved streets is .
good foundation, and to the absence of such
foundations lie attributed the failure of all
| forms of pavement IN cities. The suitable
| foundations for street pavements are stated
to be: l. Hydraulic concrete, six to eight
| inches in thickness: 2 Rubble stones set on
edge, but not in contact. with the interstices
| filed IN with concrete; 3. Bubble stone set
| in contact, on edge, like the sub-pavement
l
set in form of sand or gravel; 5. Small
| rubble stones of random sizes in a we'll
| compscted layer; 6. A layer OF broken stone
| laid ia the manner of macadamized road
| OF these, the first, second and third are
| considered the best. and are named in the
| order of merit. Having secured these
| foundations. the relative value of stone
blocks, wooden blocks and asphalt
| for the pavements are considered. OF
each Of these general kinds Of pavement.
| the best stone pavement is one composed of
rectangular blocks, set on their longest
edge across the street, upon q concrete
| foundation The best wooden pavement is
one Of rectangular blocks, set on their
cages acroes the street. on a suitable fOun-
detion, tor which none of those mentioned
are good, because wooden blocks would not
elG1 e the crushing they would receive if
set on hard, inelastic foundation. A good
asphalt pavement requires firm founda-
ton. TIE asphalt may be of the natural
asphalt rock, obtained from Switzerland. or
it may be that composed OF aspbaltic ce
ment, prepared by refining the natural BIZ
r1men, 70 which is added calcareOue
powder to take the place Of the smorone
carbonate OF lime found IL the natural
! asrhalt rock.
General Gilmore Gays that there Is dis
tinction between psvemehts OF genuine
asphalt and the patented limitations or sab
s:irutes composed OF woOd-tar, coal-tar, etc,
mixed with sand, asnes. sccriR. etc. All OF
these mixtures ne pronouItes urft fer
carriage ways. The advantages Of good
asphalt pavement are that it produces no
dust and no mud; ii is comparatively noise
lees: il does not absorb ana retain noxious
LIQUIDS; it is imperneable to moisture, and
neither emits nor allows the emission from
the sub-eoll of wholesome and poisonous
vapore; ii reduces the force Of traction to a
minimum. Though it does not give as &C.
cure fcothold for animals as stone or
wooden blocks, it does not become polished
and slippery from continued wear. 1t is
adapted to all streets not sleeper than one
in fifty, except thoee that are thickly
crowded with heavy loads as in Broadway
be.ow Canal street. In many respects such
a pavement stands unrivaied-
In comparative durability stone blocks
will have the longest life, and wood very
much the shortest; the asphalt is near the
stone, and unless the latter be OF superior
quality the asphalt will outiive the stone.
He puts the first cost of good asphalt
pavement On concrete foundation, at
present prices, at IS so per square yard,
including thirty per cent profit to the con-
tractor. This exceeds the first cos. of wood.
but lie less by at least 81 per yard than that
Of stone on a like foundation. As to cheap
ness in first cost, wood stands first, asphalt
second and stone third In cos. of mainte
nance and repair, taking durability into
account, the stone stands first, asphalt
nearly the same. and the wood third in
merit. Asphalt is easier cleaned than wood
or stone, and stone than wood.
In the matter of noise, stone is the noisi
est of all pavemente, while as to sGpperi-
ness the case is this stated: IF the surface
be kept clean by either sweeping or wash
Ing the difference IN slipperiness between
wood, stone that does not polish, and
asphalt, is not great, although enough
perhaps to place asphalt last; while
horse not only falls more frequently but
RECEIVERS himself less often and less easily
upon il than upon the others. Mud viii!
render either OF the pavemenrs slippery,
bat asphalt the most so. although it is not
slippery when very dry, or if tree from
mud when very wet. Under a sharp dry
frost, after rain or snow, asphalt and stone
are generally quite dry and cate, while
wood retains it's moisture and IS quite slip
perry In the condition II which they are
usually maintained, shght ram aces 70
the slipperiness Of each, with this differ
| ence, that upon asphalt and stone, this
state begins with the rain, while the worst
condition Of wood ensues later and lasts
| longer. With regard, therefore, to the
safety OF the animals and the convenience
and comfort OF those using the street, as
| we'll ae those living upon it, tho weight OF
| opinion places asphalt first. wood second
| and stone third, for all streets except those
| that are habitually used for heavy traffic.
in which case stone would rise 70 the first
place and asphalt drop to the third"
II is asserted that the pavemeuts of a
| city exert q direct and powerful influence
upon the health of the population, and this
branch of the subject is discussed eiabOr-
ately. The joints in pavements of wood
and stone become in time equal to one third
of the whole surface, and they become filed
and the surface of fifth exposed to evapora-
ton covers three-fourths OF the whole
street The foul organic matter is held in
the joints and cutters and nndergOes putre-
tacflve fermentation in warm, dam weather
The conclusion which General Gilmore
reaches s that, for the streets of New
York. "the best pavement for all the bust.
est streets. where the traffic is dense, heavy
aud crowded, is one of rectangular stone
| blocks set on q concrete foundations; and
the next best is one Of cubical blocks,
known as the Belgian pavement, set IN the
same manner The best pavement for
streets Of ample width, upon which the
daily traffic is not crowded, or for streets
largely devoted to light traffic or pleasure
driving, or lined on either side with resi-
| dences, lie Asphalt for all grades not sleeper
| than one in forty eight or fifty"
| The subject is one Of great Importance in
this city, where, % in New York, the only
! foundation for the etreet Pavemen's lie sand.