Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1892-11-14
NEW GROVE Street


the appended report lat the last meeting Of
the city governmen,) made BY the JOINT
standing committee on finance, aIderms n
Brooks and Cornish and Councilman DAVIS
in regard TO the repair of Grove street;
In behalf of the committee on finance
and for the better information of those
members Of the city council, who have not
been in position to acquaint Themselves
with the details of the work, we beg To sub
nit the following with regard to the proers IS
of metaling the surface of Grove street
1T can, We think, be stated as fact,
that our streets have been, year by year,
becoming worse and worse, not Withstand
ing the amount of material placed, and thu
amount of money expended upon them.
The material put upon the rosdways oHr
season is scraped of and cart,d away tre-
next, and so on each year. II seems that ,ils'
use of such material ~ lies in the graHri
pits about town. has produced, to Il lar;e'
extent, this condition
Next 10 determining the need for reform,
is the method for carrying it out. The
e1perience Of other towns has shown that
crushed stone is not only the best materi /
for the wearing surface of roadways, b I
hen used according To the most approved
methods. il more economical than gravel.
There are two systems in use in the forma-
ton of hard surface 10 meet the require
ments of heavy travel on country roads,
viz: The Teifor1 and the Macadam,
We decided upon the former ~ best
adapted To our needs-the travel ON
Grove street being at times especially heavy
This system consists of three courses as
follows: the foundation course consists
Of rough pavement of more Or less large
Hat rocks varying in thickness from inches
to ~ inches, placed upon edge, as n bed 10
receive the crushed stone. After receiving
a thin layer of broken stones, just sufficient
to level up the surface. Ii Is rolled moder-
ately. but left porous so that the water pass
ing through the top course will readily pass
through. The intermediate course is
COMPOSED of miscellaneous stock
VARYING in size from one inch to three incn-
es in diameter and is heavily rolled The
surface course of three inches to five inche
in depth, is of best and hardest stone pos
sible of a uniform size and finished will.
o coat of sharp sand or stone-lust in such
quantity as the road will absorb by fire.
puently sprinkling and rolling. The rolling
is the most important feature in road-bnild-
ing of this class; it being estimated that ex
pense of repairing is reduced to mini
mum, by rolling process of from 80 to 60
/ hours per 1000 square yards see prize
essay by Prof. John V. Hazen.l As cost
of rolling is much reduced, and the quail
ity of work done is far superior, when =
steam roller is used, il seemed expedieut tn
follow the method of other small cities,
which il To hire u steam roller for such time
as it may be required.
The survey of Grove street was com
pleted by Prof. Il. y. Capen. c. f., abou;
July 20. The piece of road under contenl-
platiun was found TO be some over 1880
feet in length, with mean average width
of ~ = feet The street. IA originally laid
out, was very uneven in grade { some por-
iions of the street being from one to two
feet lower than the adjacent por
tieus at each end and it was
thus very difficult to establish a
grade. Then. too, the houses on the north
side of the street are in some cases, eight
feet higher than those on the south side,
Mr.. Capen finally determined TO establish
a true grade from State street to Rhincs
hill which was approved after consultation
with a road engineer from Massachusetts.
The roadbed was excayated to a depth of
/ l-2 feet to IL feet, and thoroughly
rolled with the stone roller, preparatory To
receiving the crushed stone. A tile under
drain of inch drain tile was then laid
throughout the length, with catch basins at
frequent intervals.
4 metal surface of II inches TO II inches
in thickness was laid on the rolled surface
of the ground, in the manner herein de
scribed. with grade of about one-fourth
ineh to the foot transyeriely from the
track of the electric railroad to the curb on
the north side of the street. The longi-
,udinal gradient is about "a inches in TOO
feet. Ii has been asked why the roadhed
was not excavated to greater depth near
Rhines hill. thus cutting down the pitch OF
the hill. There seemed to be several good
reasons for no, doing this, First, the grade
at the extreme easterly enl Of Green street
is. at present, very steep, being more
than one foot rise in ten feet.
Any further excavation ut the top of Rhines
hill would, of course, materially increase
/ the grade. Then. too. it has been the expe-
| rience of macadam roadbuilders, that by
I keeping the road as nearly level as possible
the expense Of repairs is greatly lessened.
A road having a longitudinal slope of ! inch
IN 90 feet requires double the expenditure
IN repairs. which would be required were
the grade but inch in 80 feet (See essay
10y Saml l.. Cooper. Palisades. New
York; About 1900 yards of earth and
rocks have been excavated from the sur
face of the street. and nearly 1850 cubic
wards of macadam have been laid. The
cost of same has been as follows;
Amoun; paid for labor ste roll No 9. as, b
10. ,