New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1896-03-02

r.borc The official in charge OF rcl'aN'"''' W
oddly. enough termed III" water P'' ,,.
At, Lewis has been connerten VIII" W, -,
- Citv Works Off and on. for the last doA'h
ar, lie entered it's service in iNSi' wh"h ""'''"'
y t-leon,an was the Commissioner 'aNl"s 49,"
Service examination and being assignee !"
connection with the aaucduct extension ~
ia, ,o,o marc than two years. but the WORK Hiu
,,o, advance RAPIDLY enough 10 please him. anu Nv
rasioncd 10 undertake the building OF '"'"'
~ ,,,r.,,rchar, Ala little thinking that II" woIi'
o,,t, ore.cc i'm The practice of his pr"'"sSlo" !"
Hrooklvr After completing the railroad N''' ''"''
was engaged for time In engineering ""'N !"
Savannah In lSSa. when he had heoh away "'"
Brooklyn about two years ana n'', j" a.,
prised to receive an invitation from Engineer van
D., 90 rce,,,,,e his connection with the city WORKS
pcua~irnent In HroollNU.
Sine thu, time 10 has boon continuously 'nP'oE''
in tho Department. and has had 'hhrs" OF " NUN"
her Of important works, among which may 10 men
toned the. laying Of the big water main through
Wiuouehhv-avc and the erection Of the handsome
STONE water tov.cr III connection with N" Mount
prospec, Reservoir Commissioner "hn" p'a'''
Mfr Lewis a, the head Of the bureau OF Ioca' I'M
provemcnts and during tho last two years n" ms
,akcn a deem interest in the laying OF asphalt ana
other improved pavements
ASPHALT FLOCK PAYMENTS
From the inquiries and personal in''S''"'''nS
which he has made elsewhere Mr. Lewis thinks
s,roo.s on which nelGcrahe trafc ia maint"in'h
In his or,c. I've nso has specimens Of asphalt block
which he believes would b" an excellent paving
rna,.-ial for streets whsh there ar" c1rtrn'k-'
and where there Is fair amount 81 N""i'""'
traffic such streets FOR cxanpi" a7 Ho'ir"h'-'f''
Tompkins-ave Marcy-ave and the IKE
Aerhalt block has been used 10 SINAI '>'"nt III
Hrooklvn- in fact on only single hlocf "'' u
has given such good satisfaction there ma 'NI'h''
experiments would seem TO Doe Justified tn" block
in question is on court square Hio"rnm Place. be-
tween Fulton and Livingston sta In h's annual
report for last year Engineer '.'"is made "''''
reference 20 this matter. saying;
..Hcforc leaving this sr -. let wish 20 fngrc''
,rial o. asphalt blocks which think VIII IT, ;onnl
peculiarly we'll adapted 20 many Of 'h" f"l'"''
streets where tho sehic lar tram BE- no. h'"|f
enough TO requIr. ,he usr of granite The sainp'"
Of this pavement lad upon court square Is "a ~
ccllen, condition today except wher" several open
iugs have been made The asphalt blocks were found
unfit for use along the railway tracks. ana granite
blocks were substituted. Nhl" crushed 'm'sioN"
was used in making the blocks laid upon Court
Square the manufacturers nov use trarrocN. aud
# is claimed that they will stand along the rails on
any street having moderate raric, and This state
mon, Is confirmed by the results obtained In other
cities
The sample OF asphalt block 10 BE- seen In Hr.
Icwis's once Is mad Of crushed trapfock ana as
phat thc whole being subjected 20 an enormous
/
the hardness of granite. one Of the blocks Is foot
I'm length and five inches square and i,s weight a.
surprisingly great Spcakne of the use Of this sort
Of pavement. Mr. Lewis said 70 the writer
THE PAVEMENT OK COURT SQUARE.
THE pavement on Court Square has been there
eight years | think and it is stil in good condition.
although has been torn mp repeatedly and the
traffic there Is considerable 1t IL true that the
blocks did stand up well next TO the car'racks.
mad.
however the asphalt blocks are considerably nrmer,
and have no doubt that they would be all right
against the tracks II is my idea that on some OF
the north and south streets Of the city in which
there are railroad tracks this paving material could
be used to advantage. The streets have In mind
are ni-rcsidencc streets such Nostrand Marcy,
Tompkns and Sumner ayes. where the ordinary
traffic is not very heavy. The question OF cost il
one that will have to be taken into consideration.
IT Will to put down an asphalt block pave
mcnt than to lay sheet aspha, or vitrited brick.
! have been particularly impressed with the
celence of the asphalt block pavement recently laid
in Poughkeepsc and should be glad 20 see IT rscd
| In Brooklyn"
/ The report of Engineer Lewis, from which an OK
tract has been given, Will not be available In printed
! form for time TO come. When published 1t
ought to be document OF much interest to the pro-
pie OF Brooklyn. II contains "a vast amount of in
formation regarding the pavemcnts Of Brooklyn
the facts stated are most humilatng TO brooklyn.
WHERE COBBLESTONES ABOUND
BROOKLYN IL the great cobbesone paved city Of the
country Mr. Iewis's table showing the mileage Of
paved streets and the percentage OF various kinds
of pavemcnis In the principal cities OF the United
States shows this conclusively. The only city APP
uroachlng II is Baltimore. where the total mileage
j. less and the percentage Of coDble is larger.
Erooklyn rad on January l. lM5-the date OF the
table 3 miles OF paved streets OF which "a per
we're paved with cobble Baltimore had 329 miles
Of pavements. and So per cent OF cobhle.
The only other cities having any large amount Of
cobbestone pavement. were: New-oreans. 10 per
cent. Newark 81 per cent: Cincinnati q per cent.
and philadelphia 20 per cent NewYork has n
mere trine of cobblestone C5 per cent?. Boston and
! Rochester ~ per cent: Detroit. - per cent The
cities named free from cobblestoncs are Chicago
81. Louis, Buffalo Milwaukee, Minneapolis ana
Some progress Is being made in Brookiyn since
the mileage of cobbestoncs was decreased last year
! licG miles Brooklyn and Baltimore alone use
cobbe as the first pavement Usually iaid' which
The people OF Brooklyn stand almost alone In
their willingness not only 10 tolerate the "rctch"d
/ cobLlestone pavemonts. but to insist their FUR
her cxtens,on And he well says 1T Is astonish-
ing only the Indifference. but the posi-
tive hostility manifested by many of our citizens
when IL Is proposed 10 assess them Tor one-half OF
the of substituting asphalt or vitrihed brick
/ for cobblestones." lie then quotes protest made
street mot named) against the laying OF an asphalt
pavement in front OF their property on the amazing
ground that II would reduce the value OF property
from 81 TO IS per cent on its present market value.
BROOKI.YNs PAvEMENTs THE WORST.
Engineer Lewis makes It clear that improved pave
ments are being provided in Brooklyn at a smaller
than in almost any other city and he also shows
by a table that BROOKLYN the fourth city In popu-
lation, has been expanding sc cents per capita
nuaiv for this work. while Buffalo spends 81 G per