The Salt Lake herald. [volume] (Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1870-1909, 1891-02-22
PAYING QUESTION.
Contracts Should be Large to En-
able Contractors to Open Carries.
NEED A PAVING INSPECTOR
W. II. Wallace Criticises the Specifications
Relative Merits of Asphalt and Stone
Blocks for Paving Purposes.


deep sea.
The winter has been so favorable and
the streets so passable that the paving mat
ter has not obtruded its claims by the most
convincing of all arguments-a very deep
coat of mud
Spring is rapidly advancing and yet the
city council has failed to notify the con-
tractors what will be expected of them dur
ing the coming summer, and in the absence
OF any knowledge Of what will be required,
they are hanging back in a sea of uncer-
talnty, Instead of opening quarries and pre-
pairing the materials that will be required
at such short notice that there will be an
other postponement that will result
IN THE SAME CATASTROPHE
that befell the Commercial street contract
ors.
10 help stir up this question that requires
much discussion before an agreement can
oe mad, HERALD reporter asked Mr.. w. II.
Wallace, who has had large experience on
extensive paving contracts in Kansas City,
topeka and other cities, for mis- opinion on
the subject.
in order to invite capital, said Mr.. Wal
lace, the contract must be large enough to
Justify an asphalt company 10 put up
plant to cost it not less than $1,000 A
contract TO Justify the contractors to go to
THIS expense Should moi be less tnan from
$4,000 10 10000 yards. a contract of this
size would bring in outside contractors
such as the Barber Asphalt company, and
the Santa Cruz company of California
What was the matter with the CONNER
clal street asphalt work.'' asked the re
porter.
THE want of suitable plant, experience
In laying 1t and the quality of the asphalt,
all contributed to the failure"
I'm order 10 furnish the city with paw
ing blocks and guttering stone without the
immense expense of going out OF the terri
tory Tor the materials, a contract OF not
less than 10000 yards OF stone should be
let. This would
JUSTIFY THE RAILROADS
to lay their tracks to quarries, not hereto
lore reached or developed. and enable the
owners Of quarries to put in plant costing
not less than $4,000. This plant should
consist OF large steam derricks, dump cars.
Tor handling the refuse, stripping tools. a
first class blacksmith shop and boarding
house.
There is good stone within our reach
That is the same quality as the Medina,
New York, stone. and which will stand a
inch and that is both fire and frost proof.
The same material has been used on the
| streets OF Buffalo and Rochester for thirty
hve years and can now be seen in Cleve-
land, on Prospect and Euclid avenues.
winch streets are among the famous resi-
dence boulevards of this country.'
MANY persons object to stone on ac-
count OF the noise, and in narrow streets
with high buildings there may be some
| ground m
THE WIDE STREETS IN THIS CITY
| do not think that the noise would ever be
| found to be ohiectionably loud or at all
deafenlng. In fact, it would not make any
more stir in the atmosphere than would
give out the impression that there was
some business going on. The sandstone
block is not near as noisy as the granite
block, for the reason that it wears alike
and the road becomes smooth, while the
granite wears on the corners, and in time
| forms regular cobble. Granite is also
not so good as sandstone because it polishes
and becomes so slippery that horse is un-
able to get footing on it.''
1.-The specifications of Engineer Doremus
| requiring not more than 10 and not less
than inches in length and in width not
more than 4 and not less than 81, vary-
| ing from 6 TOT inches in depth, is different
| from that
| REQUIRED IN OTHER CITIES
and will make the work more expensive. -
The ordinance width in other cities is
from three to five inches, six to
twelve in length, and six to seven inches
deep. To Illustrate this, the Fort Collins
quarries could not bid on these specifica-
tions, as IL would require them to make it a
special order. The Salt Lake specifications
require mere blocks per yard, which makes
/ fh.a,. Of
blocks already stacked up in these quarries
are of the sizes demanded by Denver. To
peka and Kansas City, and would not dc
| for this city.
Another thing in regard to the specifica-
tons is that they require the stone to be
rammed with hammers weighing seventy
five to eighty pounds. Hammers of that
weight require Two men to handle them
which doubles the expense Other cities
specify lighter weight, so that the ham.
mer can be handled by one man. After the
stone has been laid, and before it is covered
with sand, it is rolled with the city roller,
UNDER TINE DIRECTION OF THE CITY ENG1N-
HER,
and charged to the contractor at the rate nj
$40 day. After it is thoroughly rolled all
| defective parts are to be relaid before il is
! covered with sand.n
'sThe specifications here call for curbino
five inches in thickness and not less than
| twenty-four inches in depth. In other cit
les where they have more rain than we
have here 1t is customary to use a curb five
inches in thickness and but twenty inches
in depth. On grades stone twenty -four
inches in depth is required
".rhey also require here that the curb be
bush hammered on its upper face. This is
very expensive, and pointing, that is much
cheaper, is the practice in other cities
They also call for flag stones in cutters
This is not practicable where YOU have
asphalt pavement. On business streets
the toothing for paving should be of stone
blocks. Flag stone guttering for toothing
in asphalt leaves three feet for the wheels
to cut rut in, which is just as good as nc
toothing. Paving blocks leave only space
of from three to five inches, and whee
has no chance to cut in between and break
down the edges of tee asphalt
"Ten per cent. profit on stone work is
considered quite an item, and according tC
the specifications here the city holds
back ten per cent. of the entire
contract for two years after the completion
of the work. This the contractor must
ADD TO THE COST OF THE WORK.
1t is not necessary to hold 10 per cent. or
stonework and the contractors bond be
| sides, as six months use of a street paved
with stone will decide as to its stability"
Curling should be laid slanting towards
the buildings on business streets, so thai
when teams back up the wheels cannot
strike the edges and chip them Off"
where asphalt work is done in eastern
cities the steam rollers are furnished BY
the asphalt company, they having full con
troll OF their work until it is completed
"In regard to the respective merits Of
asphalt and stone, properly owners should
take an interest and look this paving bust
ness up and satisfy themselves as to wha
kind of paving should be adopted Stone
pavement where it is necessary to take i
up for the gas pipes, water pipes sewers
etc., can be relaid in proper shape at les.