Rock Island daily Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1886-1893, 1891-01-27
BRICK FOR PAVING.
The First Placer Where il Was Used
sum. thing Of SPECIFICATIONS, Ileth.
ods Of Laying, Eve.


sum. thing Of Specification. Meth.
ods Of Laying. Eve.
The following article from the E lgin.
eering Record in part ah historical sketch
of the brick pavement; rs we kaOw it to.
day. will be of interest to the people of
this city. Anything that pertains to this
sll-important topic is OF interest to them
now:
Brick pavements for r0sdways were
first laid in the United States. we believe,
in Charlestown, w. Va, in 1872. and in
Bloomington. H., in 1878 Since then
great suvs noes have been made in their
use. With the experience gained by
practice these psvenents have been
greatly improved in quality, aud their use
has rapidly spread over wide section of
country
The first efforts to use brick for paving
purposes were made in small cities and
towns where suitable stone for block
pavement could not be Obtained within
reasonable distances, or where its use
would otherwise have been too expensive
for the means available, and the first
trials were made with ordinary building
brick Single courses of brick on edge,
on grave! and sand foundation. were
used In some Cases, and In others, q
second foundation course of brick. laid
fistwise, was added. Hale, in 1878 in,
trOduced his system. consisting of a
foundation of one-inch boards dipped ia
tar and then laver of sand. on which q
single course of brick was laid.
With the light traffic of small 81 aces
even these cheap forms of the pavement
have shown wonderful durability, some
OF them having been in use for Is wears
or more. The superior advantages of
well-made fire brick, from it's greater
strength, hardness and toughness were,
however, soon appreciated, and with it's
substitution for ordinary brick the use of
the pavement has been gradually extend
ing TO larger cities and TO streets with
comparatively heavy traffic. In Youags-
town, O.. the bricks are required, by the
specifications, to have crashing strength
of 900 pounds per square inch. In
some makes of fire brick where the burn
ing is continued for eight or ten DAYS,
to insure q uniform quality and thorough
'hhihSobiOhs Vic JUS w w ~,
900 and even II 900 per square inch. sp-
proximating the strength of the best
building stones. As the pavement has
been put to harder service, the founda-
ton as well az the character of the BRICK
has been improved, so that now, where
there is much traffic. foundation of
eight inches of broken stone, well 70 led
with steam roller. is fret laid On this
Is placed layer of sand in which TO bed
the brick, set as usual, on edge, and the
joints are we'll filed with hot pitch and
lar. In place of broken stone, layer o.
concrete has also been us d.
At Columbus, o, considera Die
quantity of pavement has been laid
with the HAYWOOD block. made from
mica schist and well vitriied, on a
broken stone foundation, at a cost of
from go. % TO SO so per square yard
The contractors for this pavement have
offered to lay it in q similar manner at
Detroit for 50 so per square yard. with
10 years guarantee for business streets
and 20 years guarantee for suburban
streets. At Steubanville, o., q single
course of ii e-brick on a sand foundation
has been laid for SO cents per square yard
piiSC VI tuC CtU
be graduated, using in every case q good
quality of brick. according to the s'za Of
the town and the consequent traffic to
which the pavement will be subjected.
1t would seem that there is great fl-
ture for brick psvemen's for streets or
moderate traffic, aud in places where the
greater cost of an asphalt pavement could
not be afforded. The principal draw
back 10 its rapid y increasing use is lkely
to be the local influence in towns to u e
brick made in the neighoorhood. under
the popular cry Of helping local indus
try, without due regard to the quality al d
durability of the brick, which is such an
important factor in the problem of secur-
ing good brick pavements This circum-
stance, together with the comparative
ease with which contr actors with little
means or experience can bid on this kin
of work, and the difficulty of rejecting
the lowest bid by local authorities. viii
In some places, under lsx supervision, le-
suit in failure in brick pavements.
If cities, however, in making contracts
for brick pavements, will keep their con
tingencies in mind, and as far as possible.
exercise discrimination in selecting brick
made specially for this purpose, aud con.
tractors interested in making these pave
ments popular. then the development of
great industry may be anticipated.