The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1894-05-28
ASPHALT PAYING.
Experiments With the Trini-
dad Article Proved 1t To
Be of Little Use.
pHILADELPHIA's TRIBULATloNs
Report of a Citizens Committee
Trinidad Is What Jersey City
Has Contracted For.

t IS
1t looks very much as if Jersey City's first
experiment with asphalt paving was not go
ing to beias bRofi6abR rs the city officials
would like Il it @8petiments9ana mvestiga-
lions in Philadelphia are to be taken into
consideration. The asphalt to be used by the
Barber eHhdlI 10 xsw~hieGahs@has~sthe contract
for this city, wa taken from the Isle OF
Trinidad. The Lake asphalt and not the
land asphalt is used. In Philadelphia Trini-
dad asphalt has been used, and found want
ing. 1t rots in the cutters and the street
cleaner is afraid to sprinkle it with wafer,
for fear of disastrous results. The result is,
of course, lots of dust. The following
despatch from Philadelphia will prove of in
terest at this time
Investigations of PhtIadclphians.
PHILADELPHIA, May IS, 1S94.-The sub
committee appointed by the Citizens Mu-
nicipal Association and the Trades League
to examine into the question of securing bet
ter asphalt pavements for the city sent a
| communicate on to Director Windrim, yes
terday, embodying the reports of the ex-
perts engaged by them. The communica-
tion urges the opening OF asphalt paving to
the widest competition possible, which, 1t
states,sssscan be done with ample security to
the city andowith a very great saving OF
taxpayers money! Al I2i7'.
This committee and its experts visited
Washington and examined the asphalt in use
there, and made physical, chemical and en-
| gineering tests of all kinds of asphalt. In
the communication they say:
SIN our original appointment SIS sub-com-
mittees we were wisely charged to avoid
,,x ~,,1o vo ,, n IF odyncafino individual In
terests and to concentrate our efforts toward
the adjustment of monopoly and the i'm
provement of our asphalt paving. For this
reason we decided to investigate without
charge any asphalt which was offered In a
bono tide desire to compete for paving In
Philadelphia.
~ he investigation was carried on in three
ways
CARE USED.
Careful chemical analysis was conducted
in order to determine such facts concerning
| the composition and proportion OF the ma
terials as would be of Importance for prac-
tical purposes.
s.The physical tests show that materials
not yet used in Philadelphia, but now at
| your command, offer greater strength. and
| therefore probably greater durability, than
thelonly kind of asphalt hitherto admitted
bysy9ur department..
NIttssAn expert inspection of Washington
streets laid with the two kinds of material
cdverod in this report shows that the practi-
caItest of wear and usage is endured az least
as well by the asphalt from Bermudez as by
that from Trinidad, which has hitherto
m~onopolizea the work in this city. The
prizes paid by tho District of Columbia are.
furthermore, shown to be SO much less than
those hitherto charged for inferior work by
the monopoly in Philadelphia, that it viii
hereafter be difficult to secure the sanction
of public opinion for anything except a radi-
cal change coward lower prices and better
pavemantS.
perts urgently renew the recommendations!
made by the board appointed by the Mayor
in 1884 that sheet asphalt pavements be laid
only on a base of good hydraulic concrete
sBituminous' base is not permitted in cities
where asphalt pavement is laid according to
improved methods. and we respectfully sub
init that Philadelphia Is deserving of the
best that modern science aud practice can
effect"
L KINDS TAKEN UP.
The experts in the chemical and ply
steal examinations take up all kinds of
asphalt. Those made from natural rock
asphalt, such as are used in London and
Paris, they characterize as dangerous, be-
| cause of their slippery surface, but do not
| minutely examine because the company
| which does the work withdrew its applica-
| cation to have its material examined without
| apparent reason. 1t was stated, however,
that streets paved in Los Angeles and San
Francisco w stood the test Of years with
| satisfaction.
The asphalt and coal tar mixtures have
been given a trial in Washington and have
been condemned. Consequently the exami-
l9nation was confined to the asphalt paving
mixture made from asphaltic cement. con
tanning natural asphalts admixed with oil
residuum. The chief natural asphalts that
4 11Dnl haott rtcHk1 for this rna inz.o fhn
Trinidad Lake and the Bermudez Lake as
phalts. The former is the only ono thatohas
been used in this city. Both are used in
| Washington. Samples of both wefe tested
under various. degrees of temperats9lre5m1and
the committees spent some time ihsSKashdHgzs
| ton. What they saw there is stated iHntheI
report, as foifoWs;E A2,s sgc pm ndt ~ Ar
During our stay there we w~etaiahIeoto
inspect a number Of streets, both 1nntN4sh5
ington and Georgetown, that had Trinidad
asphalt surface and Bermudez asphalt sur
face respectively We saw p%avements of
both surface compositions that seemed to be
distinctly better in appearance than our
Philadelphia asphalt pavements. There did
not seem to be the slightest evidence of in
/ feyiOrity In the Bermadez asphalt pave
ments as compared with the best of the
Trinidad asphalt pavernents- II anything,
1 the Bermudez pavements seemed to be freer
from transverse cracks running from curb
4 w I'll Va w tAtAL otLO - - Va VaO
Trinidad pavements, and likewise freer from
longitudinal cracks where the paving COM
position was brought up close to the grooyed
rails of the street railway lines"
EFFECT OF WATER.
Special investigation was made into the
effect Of water, and particularly standing
water, on the two eonlposiSA9SSppSSppdd Tie report
quotes Clifford oBichafdF9ho formerly in
spector of alsphat And cesasEtsf Arp She Dis
trict Of Coluinbi@.sShos y 8gdit re-
port s e n ndia s1oqs1 8 81 boxer
ssBermudez aassplibSaIt posgssgrsloss;9 faaSided
advantage over Trinidad bIipSH66s fRH contain
ing little organic matter MISUNDERSTANDING
Gus nature and no soluble aftss9sanHain con-
sequence it is not attacked bHTo1Water and
would, therefore, not rot in thaagutters as
Trinidad frequently does.
This statement" continues the com
mittee, proceeding from abundant expert
ence. Is OF special interest to the citizens of
Philadelphia, who AVE recently suffered
from excessive dust, owing to the contract
ors' fear of damage which might be done by
water to Trinidad asphalt pavement by
frequent ~sprinkling.p
Experiments made by the committee ex-
perts, the report says, showed the same
thing.
In summing up the report says the Ber-
mudaz asphalt proved itself better than Trini-
dad in its non-rotting character, its cohesive
strength and in the compression tests