Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1893-06-29

Washington, d. C., June 26.-The fol
| lowing report upon street paving il
Australian cities is of interest in al
cities. 1t is from the pen Of Consul
General George III. Wallace, of Mel
bourne.
The nature of the soil of Australia
made traffic over the roads of the col
Ony extremely difficult; in the dry sea
son they were beds of loose sand and
dust and in the rainy season rivers OF
quicksand.
| The first efforts at improvement con
sisted in raising the roadway from 1C
to u inches with earth from the sides
| leaving broad and shallow bitches for
drainage. Over this roadway was spread
6 inches Of stone, usually basaltic in
! character, broken into to 6 inch
cubes; over this a layer Of stone, brok-
en- to IL by II inches, was spread
inches deep. This was blinded
with screening from the breaking and
the whole rolled solid with a steam
roller.
The roadway was about 20 feet in
width, and cost for the stone alone
about As Tor 81 in United States cur
rency) per square yard, laid and rolled
/ These roads have been found to an
EWer well where the traffic was not
heavy or continuous; but in the lead
ing thOroughfares in the cities not on
~ is their maintenance very costly, but
they are not satisfactory in dura bility
In 1880 A. G. Mountain, then surveyor
| to the corporation of Sydney, New
South Wales, in a report to that body
urged the paving of the streets of thai
city with wooden blocks in place of
the matchmaking previously used
calling particular attention to the val
ue of Australian hard woods for the
purpose on account of their toughness
and durability. Then followed a series
Of experiments to discover the proper
foundation, the best method of laying
the blocks, and the value of different
kinds of wood for the purpose. King
! street. which is a short cross street in
the busiest part of the city, was paved
with eight varieties of timber, viz:
; Eucalyptus rostrata), black butt Gu
calyptus pilularis), blue gum Eucal
yptuS bOtryoides), box Eucalyptus al
bens) ash Eucalyptus virgata) cedar
(Cedrela australis), brown pine Fere
nela endlicheriD, and Baltic deals. The
first four were hard woods, and all
were native except the last, which was
from Sweden
+ Owing to fear that the hard woods
would prove slippery, the blocks were
laid with one-inch joints; but the Width
of joint has since been gradually re
duced to three-eighths of an inch, with
out any appreciate increase Of danger
to horses. The foundation consisted OF
a layer Of Portland cement concrete
six inches thick, rendered on the sur
face with coat of cement mortar
on which, after a weeks interval, the
blocks by by inches-were placed
traversely across the street, with two
longitudinal rows next the curbs. These
blocks, before being laid, were dipped
in Kerosene tar; but, as it was founC
that after a hours soaking in heated
tar the penetrati ton Of the tar into the
hardwood blocks was only one-siX
teenth of an inch, owing to the density
of the wood, no preventative treat
ment was subsequently attempted
The street thus paved was opened
for traffic in 1880, and in 1882 block!
of the different woods were removed
and the wear carefully measured. The
red and blue gums and black butt re
tanned almost intact their original dept
of six inches, and the box and tn,
ash had been reduced about One-eightl
of an inch, the cedar and brown pin
about One-quarter of an inch, and tn
Baltic three-eighths of an inch. In 1888
! the cedar, being short in grain, ha,
: broken away rapidly, and was, wit
: the brown pine and Baltic, replaced
5 by hard wood, and small renewal
| were made of the ash and box ES
5 cept the cedar, the blocks renewe,
} might have lasted another year; bu
, they rendered the surface irregular.
; Flinders street, in Melbourne, wa
paved with siX-inch red gum block
in 1882. This street is the busiest sec
t ton of the city, connecting the rail
7 ways and the WharfS, and the traffi
: is of the heaviest description. Block
: taken from the center of the stree
l in 1891 showed a wear of One-siXteent
:, of an inch; but here, as in Sydney, al
T Of the earlier work was done wit
three-Quarter to One-inch joints, an
J. TneSe were caIked with a molten pitc
: of tar and screenings obtained fror
crushing stone for macadamized road.
u. which served the double purpose G
: holding the blocks firmly in place an
preventing surface water from gettin
down to the concrete. The Joint Ia
since been reduced to five-sixteentb
: Of IN inch, and the caIking is nor
done with properly prepared cemen
q as it was found that the pitch wol
II away and the iron-shod feet of th
/ horses broke down the corners of tn
; blocks, so that the road was disagree
} ably rough and noisy.
: The streets of the principal cite
of Australia having the heaviest ira
fic are now paved with Australian hart
wood, and where proper attention h5
been given to the foundation and to
right selection Of blocks the resu
/ has been most satisfactory. Althoug
1t much of it has been down from eigl
D to ten years and subjected to the S
1T verest test, the arch of the street
Y still well maintained, with an even 81
1T face, and drains practically as Whe
first laid.
Id Both the climatic and traffic co
lie ditions of these cities are different fro
~ t41.z L.