Evening star., 1898-12-05
ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.

ENGINEER DEPARTMENT.
The engineer department of the District
| OF Columbia was under the charge of NAL
William NJ. Black, Corps of Engineers, L.
$. A, from July 1, 1897 until May lS9S
He had as assistants Capt Edward Burr.
Corps of Engineers, L. S. A, and Capt
Lansing II. Beach, Corps of Engineers. L.
3 A. Capt. Burr was relieved from duty
with the District of Columbia April 2s
1919, on account of the press of duties in
cldent to the war with Spain, and shortly
ailer"ard was ordered to the front. Mai
slack was also detailed to duty at the
'front.', and from June l, 1898 to the end of
me me nscai year the department has been in
charSe OF the present Engineer Commits
sioher, capt. Lansing II. Beach.
Street and Alley Payements.
Sheet asphalt and asphalt block were the
only driveway pavements used upon the
city streets during the year Vitrilied block
was used almost entirely for alley paving
a few alleys being paved with asphalt
block.
flfty-five thousand six hundred and sev-
enty-tWo square yards of new concrete
pavement We're laid, and % ,6S3 square
HaFus o OF asphalt block pavement, and 40
so square yards of old pavement were re-
surfaced, either by adding a coat of binder
ana surface material to the old material or
removing the old material and !avin.g A
new surface with concrete base
Inc old tar pavements which were laid n
lie" years ago quite literally throughout
me CITY are beginning to fail very RAPIDLY
ana their general replacement cannot he
.IoHser postponed. This pavement answers
me purpose Well during hot weather but
as soon as the temperature becomes low
ehtush 10 cause the tar to become brittle
II goes to pieces with but little moro co-
I! I,.sloI! man SO much loose gravel or broken
congress within the next two or three
years to make special approximation fer
iepaNlng these streets or WASHINGTON Win
il'ttt & 10 su1ef the disgrace of having a coed
many uIsIeputably paved streets within lis
limits. No resurfacing was done dur.oo
ment " paw
1t is found upon further invest i,ra riop
.ItdI me statement in the last annual re-
port OF the engineer department NAT as
phtit iald over granite block had not given
SauSlaction in this city is an errnnaons
oLle. me annexed table shows the work
I ,Iiat iidS peeh cone in paving over concrete
bIock. cohb!e and other pave ments ana tho
results obtained The one pavement ov-r
granite block which has been unsatisfar
10y 10y was OF an experimental nature. no
piiHeI PelnS used, and the wearing surfore
WIN an extra amount of sand. being laid
nlrectly upon the blocks. and only IL
inches thick. This has worn badly, ard a
peated. e
The annexed tables show the cost of re-
pafs per square yard for sheet-asphalt
IaFements upon 6-inch and finch bases
no expense for repairs has been incurred
lor streets paved with asphalt block. All
though some Will have to he renaired 5,Ir
ing the present season
Ihe present season has been particularIv
not, without any Intervening cool spells,
Such as generally occur during the summer
at TINS latitude. The result has been thar
the sheet asphalt has become Thoroughly
heated and softened, and has NOT had an
otPoi tuhitN Tor weeks at time of harden
ing. Another inequality in the asphalt
pavement is accentuated when the nave
ment becomes soft, and as a result of the
extreme heat of the present summer the
paNements OF the city have bccome bunny
10 Il degree, 1t is believed that has never
occurred before
In the report of last year the statement
was made that asphalt block laid during
NOT weather gave better results than when
lald during cold weather. the block be
ing somewhat sOftened. the edges would
mat, whereas, Wnen laid in cold weather
the asphalt being brittle, the edges are
liable to break or become rounded and thus
cause a somewhat noisier pavement. The
manufacturer of the blocks admits that this
occurred with the blocks as formerly made
with limestone, but claims that by the use
of granite trap rock that breaking of
the corners and edges is not so apt to oc-
cur. There has not been sufficient time to
prove these claims although experience 10
date seems.to indicate that it is correct
The prices for asphalt and asphalt block
during the past year We're: Sheet asphalt
S1.54 to Sl.i5 per square yard; asphalt block
SLIT per square yard. For the coming year
the prices will be: Sheet asphalt. $1.16 per
square yard: asphalt block, S1.77 per square
yard.
Much complaint is made in the city
against the granite-block pavement, and
with very good reason. AS described in the
report of last year this pavement is ex-
ceedingly slippery in dry weather and at
all times excessively noisy. There is no
questioning the fact that property interests
are injuriously affected by this class of
pavement. \ residence facing a street of
this character cannot be rented for an
amount equal to that freely given for a
similar house upon a more smoothly paved
street. The same can be said with regard
to stores, with the additional fact that
trade is tC a certain extent diverted from
such a street. The requests for relief from
storekeepers ana property owners through
out the city is general, and il is believed
that it is time action should he taken in
the matter. One great objection which has
existed before to changing the character of
these pavements has been that no use was
provided in the plan for the blocks
moved, and in this manner large
pense would be incurred and the cost of
the blocks practically thrown away. Where
there were MANY streets in the city
clamoring for pavement this argument had
much force. 1t is now proposed however,
to utilize the granite blocks in diminishing
the cost or maintaining the county roads
in the manner described under that head
in this report.
1t is earnestly recommended that the pol
icy be inaugurated of removing such an
amount of granite-block pavement from
the streets of the city as Congress may
consider the revenues will warrant, the
street from which the blocks are removed
to be provided with A sheet-asphalt or
asphalt-block pavement. In this manner
Il great Improvement could be made in city
streets and county roads, and at a very
slight cost over the price of new pave
ment
Sidewalks.
greater amount of cement sidewalks
was laid during the past year than ever be-
fore in the history of the city, the number
of square yards being g., 196. The low price
SO cents per square yard-was taken ad-
vantage of by many citizens, and as the
cost but little exceeded that of brick, very
small amount of the latter pavement was
laid
Cement sidewalks have been laid in the
city five inches thick and without frost
base. On account of the proximity of trees
to the sidewalk, it is believed to be mad
visable to permit the use of cinders and
other material for forming frost base be-
comes expensive. Experience has not shown
that frost base is necessary at this 10
cality, as the ground generally is Of such