The Sunday herald and weekly national intelligencer., 1891-07-19
OUR SMOOTH PAVEMENT.
WASHINGTON HAS MORE OF 1T THAN
ANY OTHER CITY.
What 1t Costs and Where the Material
for Making 1t Comes From-How IT'S
smoothness Saves in the Wear and
Tear on Vehicles.

One of the many features of this city which
a stranger to it is necessarily attracted by, is
the delight which one receives by driving over
the smooth surface of its roadways Which
ever way he may go he will find the same
evenness, and the contrast between this city and
the place he has left whatever 1t may be, is at
once apparent Statistics will prove that the
National Capital possesses more miles OF
smooth pavement than the aggregate of that
Of all the other cities OF the United States.
Buffalo has the distinction of possessing more
asphalt pavements than any city in the world,
but the combined area of the asphalt and tar
payements of this city exceeds that Of Buffalo
by over 50 per cent. That city has asphalt
pavements extending over 81 miles in length,
more than the combined area of all the asphalt
>roadways of Europe.
In the report of Captain Rossell in the last
report Of the District Commissioners the total
amount of smooth pavement in the city is Sl.4
miles, of which 1872 miles is asphalt ard 3S.2
miles OF coal tar. In recent speech Com
missioner Douglass stated that during the
past ten years q, 600 square yards Of new
pavement had been laid in this city. A large
portion of this was undoubtedly either asphalt
or coal tar pavement. The average cost of
laying square yard of this pavement is So.
During the last twelve years upwards of
.3,500000 square yards of genuine asphalt pave
ments have been laid in the United States.
They extend over length OF more than 200
miles, and are used daily by probably $4,000
vehicles The cubical contents of the asphalt
surfaces are over 100000 cubic feet With
their foundations of concrete the total con-
tents are nearly % 600, 900 cubic feet and weigh
a million and half tons.
The other pavement which has been used in
Washington is made from the refuse Of gas
works, and is known as coal-tar pavement.
When pure its durability is as great as that of
asphalt 1t was first introduced in this city in
1871, and thence spread rapidly in its use all
over the country. Twenty-Five years ago the
material for which the pavement is made
was considered as refuse and the gas compas
nies paid for hauling it away. Since then the
chemistry of the hydrocarbons has made such
progress that it is now commonly reported
that the by-products made from the tar pay
all the expenses of gasmaking and leave the
gas as pure profit.
The comfort of driving over smooth uni
form surface, or of the advantage to health
of pavement which has no joints to collect
street-manure when it rains, and then blow 1t
into our lungs with the next sunshine and
4breeze, or of the saving of wear and tear on
the nervous system by getting rid of the
'smighty roar'' of stone pavements cannot be
denied. These considerations are quite well
understood and it is generally considered
that an asphalt pavement is an agreeable
luxury for resdepce-streets. 1t Is not so we'll
known that the cost of maintenance is
mere function of traffic, and that where the
traffic is heavy and the cost OF maintenance
apparently large, the corresponding saving in
traction-force and in wear and tear OF vehicles
is still greater. The statistics and figures
necessary to establish this fact are too long
and complicated to be given here. But it is
susceptible of direct proof that If we count
the cost of paving any large city, like New
York, for example, with asphalt and main
tanning it at the cost shown by years of ex-
perience under varying weights of traffic, and
then count the saving in the cost of transpor-
tation and wear and tear of vehicles, it will be
,conclusively shown that the saving effected is
very nearly three times the cost This will
not appear 30 remarkable when 1t is remem-
bered that the transportation through the
streets of New York is something over 40,-
100000 ton-mlles per annum costing over
$4,000, ,O00 and that the repairs of $4,000
vehicles and the shoeng of its 10000 horses
cost nearly 81, 100000 in addition per annum.
tions made by Mr.. f. V. Greene, formerly
connected with the Engineer Commissioner
office here.
The force that draws one ton over stone
block pavement can draw three tons over
asphalt, and the cost of repairs of vehicles
and horses can be reduced about one-quartel
by the use of smooth pavements. The saving
thus affected in both directions runs as viii
be seen at a glance into the millions of dollars
per annum. When these facts come to b'
more widely known, it is not improbable thai
smooth payements will cause revolution IL
the methods and cost of transportation within
cities, second only in Importance to the chang'
effected by railroads in transportation
between them
The crude asphalt which is used in this
city is supplied by the Barber Asphalt Paving
Company which ownes ''lakes' OF it on tn,
island Of Trinidad,
The asphalt of Trinidad is found ia q so