Los Angeles herald., 1891-12-14
Payennents.

Iaklng everything into consideration
Los Angeles can boast OF having made q
good start in pavements, although it
cannot be said that the pavements here
tofore put down, with one or two ex.
ceptions, are of frst-class quality, but
they have done good service in teach
ing the public the necessity OF clean,
healthy and noiseless pavements, and
hereafter it will be seldom that the
noisy, dirty, rough granite blocks find a
place in our streets. There are four
classes OF pavements likely to be used in
our city. They are as follows: Asphalt,
prepared from asphalt, sand and lime
stone, of which there is now some 400
miles OF streets paved Herewith in the
United States and beyond question the
elite OF all pavements bituminous sand
rock, natural mixture OF
asphalt and bituminous substances
and sand, mined from extensive de-
posits all through Southern California
and treated with live steam, which has
the effect OF disintegrating the material
and enabling the spreading of it on the
streets. Time has not yet demon
strated the fact that it will answer fol-
an enduring pavement, as the average
life of this pavement has been so far but
seven years, requiring constant repair
ing during that time; the opinion,
however, of men conversant with the
material, is that il proper care was used
in the selection of a uniform grade con-
tainlng the proper proportions ofasphalt
and sand and the moisture forced out
with dry heat instead OF forcing moisture
into the material by injecting steam,
much better results would be arrived
at. There is always danger, however,
OF there being clays in combination with
the sand and bitumen, which is very
detrimental to the material, as it de-
stroys its adhesive qualities. There are
other reasons why this material is still
an uncertain proposition for pavements,
such as the volatile qualities of the
bitumen contained in the combination,
causing loss in bulk after it is laid,
and the constant softening during hot
weather. The asphalt pavements, as
put down now in all of our large east
ern cities, have met with great success
and have demonstrated their durability
for the last seventeen years. Great
care is taken in preparing the mixtures
OF sand, asphalt and limestone dust. Pure
asphalt is added to the clean sand and
limertone dust in proper proportions at
certain temperatures taken with Their
mometer and mixed in a mixer made for
the purpose. This, OF course, requires
expensive machinery, but the result is
perfect and uniform pavement which
after many years has demonstrated its
superior excellence over all others.
Next in order, as pavement, wooden
blocks seem to give the best re-
sulta, being less noisy than asphalt
but not SO clean nor so durable
and apt to get into humps by the swell
ing OF the blocks, making travelling over
it disagreeable. The use of wood in
this city, however, is not likely to be-
come general, on account of the ex-
pense. The brick pavement comes next
in order, but it is difficult to decide
what the results might be in this city,
as it appears to depend on the quality
of the clays used and the proper vitrifi-
cation. Some clays when made into
brick vitrify into an exceedingly hard
and tough, we may say, stone, that will
sustain enormous crushing strength,
whilst other clays vitrify into hard
but brittle brick, that chips easily and
is soon destroyed. A brick not properly
vitrifed will absorb moisture and be-
come soft. Great care must be taken in
the selection of each brick, and they
must be perfectly straight, free from
flaws, cracks, seams or breaks. Much
is claimed for brick payements,
but it may still be said
to be experimental. None of the large
cities like New York, London, Paris,
Berlin, where the traffic is heavy, APP
pear TO have used brick, which seems
strange, as these cities are constantly
seeking for new pavements that come
up to requirements, such as durability,
cleanliness, absence from noise, ease
with which horse can pull load and
the cost of keeping in repair. None OF
the pavements mentioned come up to
these requirements so we'll as the asphalt,
which has now become the standard
pavement OF the world. In discussing
the merits OF a pavement OF whatsoever
nature it must be remembered that the
essential part of every pavement lies in
its foundation, which must be frst-class
and none of the above pave
ments should ever be allowed to go
down without proper foundation of
cement or asphalt concrete.