Evening star., 1898-12-05

nature that the water does not remain inn.
mediately under the sidewalk, and spells of
low temperature are not prolonged or Sc
vere- Only one instance is known within
| the past two years of a walk being thrown
by frost, and that one A. provided with
frost base, local conditions occurring under
the walk, favoring the collection of water,
causing the damage.
Several instances have occurred where
walks have been broken by expansion dur
ing the hot weather of the present season
and in this manner the heat appears to
cause greater damage to the cement walks
than the cold. new cement sidewalk
around the Congressional Library building
was subjected to such compression by ex-
pansion that coupe of blocks were thrown
into the air to a height of several feet with
a noise Ike the report of gun which
brought people from the library and stores
IN all directions III the vicinity. This is the
only case known of explosive action due 10
expansion. but. as above stated several in
stances ere known of the gradual breaking
up Of the walk from this cause. just what
method Is best adapted for protection
against this trouble has not vet been de-
tel pliGcd. FlagSto one costs much more than
cement and does not appear to retain as
sCoh Il surface. 4 brick walk is more eX-
pcnsiyc. unless laid directly upon sand and
when la'a iii this manner il is apt to lose
ITS smooth surface during periods Of alter
nate freezing and thawinR: Furthermore. II
wears rapidly unless a class of brick is
used which brings the cost above that of
cement. The price Of brick walk is from
- Ia ~ cents per square yard. depending
upon the distance which the bricks have to
be hauled. Tho price for cement walk dur
ing the coming year is 9S cents per square
yard without frost base and 81. Is per square
yards with frost base.
Suburban Streets and County Roads.
The District purchased a couple of steam
read rollers during the year and their use
has given much satisfaction. as well as
produced a general Improvement i'm the
roads upon which they were employed. The
District suffers greatly from the lack of
good material for a wearing surface for
macadamized roads. The gravel obtained
from the river, when mixed with a little
binder, gives an excellent result for a short
while, but the material is not sufficiently
hard to have good wearing qualities, and
1t is necessary to renew the surface very
frequently If the road is kept in proper cor
diton. Negotiations are now under way
to secure a proper quality of trap rock, and
it is hoped that if this material can be
cured the work done upon the county
roads will be more durable. and that
siderable saving in cost of mainten4nc
will result
The appropriation for the coming fiscal
year has been increased by Congress from
$4,000 to $4,000, but even this larger sum
is inadequate to secure results which should
be obtained. There 2O7 miles of subur-
ban streets and county roads to be cared
for from this appropriation, leaving the
amount only $2i1.54 per mile of road.
Benning road, BlaGensburg road, Nichols
avenue, and, to large extent, Canal road
have such large traffic over them that
macadam seems to be insufficient to stand
the wear 10 which the road is subjected.
1t is recommended that the policy be in
augurated by Congress of taking granite
blocks from the streets within the city and
placing them upon the county roads. The
roadway Of these highways need not be
over 80 feet wide. and if the granite block
were used to pave the two outside thirds
of the roadway-that is, a 1O-foot strip on
each side-it is believed that this portion of
the road would be practically renewed from
the cost of maintenance. a 10-foot strip
of asphalt or asphalt block laid down the
middle third of the road would give a
smooth driveway, and the cost of main
tanning this third would he no grealer per
square yard than the cost OF maintaining
the same amount of macaJam roadway.
The cost of the construction Of a roadway
of this nature is estimated to be 81 per
linear foot. and the cost of sprink,ing
would also be saved. Take the Bladens-
burg road, for example: The cost of re-
pairs has been 81 cents per square yard,
and the cost of sprinkliug > .ents per
square yard. If the roadway were con-
struCtod in the manner described. the cost
of repairs would he nothing for five years,
after which il would be about b ,snts per
square yard per year: or, reducing il to a
total for the road. the cost IF repairs may
be estimated to amount to 81, H. ~ per
year: Sprinkllng, S9uS per year, total.
S-sbb.SD per year. Wnllt Illt cost OF MAIN
tenance under the construction proposed
after the guarantee period of five years
expired would probably be about s4si27
per year.
The organic act providing for the present
form of government of The District Of Co.
lumbia states that all work costing over
s1,00o shall be dore by contract and It
has been the Interpretation Of the Office
that the macadamizinc of streets or county
roads if the cost of doing the work exceed
ed that amount. must be done by contract
instead of by hired labor. The result has
been far from satisfactory. None of the
contractors who have done work for the
District i'll recent years upon the county
roads has possessed a road roller. hat
the roads as constructed by Them have
lacked a proper deCree of compassion for
best construction. Furthermore. work dose
under contract requires urder he law a
five-year guarantee from The contractor.
II being impossible during the guarantee
period for the District to spend any money
for repairs. The pTop5r maintenance Of a
macadamiEed road is matter CT cons ant
attention and repair This it mas been
found Impossible to obtai- from the con-
tractors. with the result that the roads
frequently get in bad condition lef0re the
contractor can be brought to do anything
upon them, and sOmetim : it IS impossible
TO secure the results desired the amount
retained under the contract being inSuffi-
cient 10 do the work Connecticut avenue
extended is a notable example Of this
Owing to these circumstances the policy
mas btSI lllduSuTdltu Dy lhe once turiG2
the past year of doing the grading and
purchasing the material under contract.
the stone being laid hy District ,mp'ny :
and compacted by the District road role.
Much better results have been secured in
This manner, and as the cost uf labor sell
dom runs TO a thousand dollars even upon
the larger works. II is believed that The law
is fully carried out. This feature is re-
ferred 10 in the report of Mr.. c. B. Hunt.
computing engineer.
Bridges.
The appropriation for the ordinary con-
struction and repairs of bridges has been
for the past year and is for the coming |
year $1,000 which is too small to serve the
purposes for which it is intended.
The Navy Yard bridge is entirely made |
quate to properly serve the travel which is |
required to pass over II. II should be re-
placed at an early date by a modern |
structure. Estimates for this work have |
been submitted to Congress for several |
years, but SO far no results have been Oh |
tanned.
Street Railways.
The Brown underground electric system |
upon the Capital Railway Company's line |
on 11th and NJ streets southeast is still in |
an experimental stage. the company hav-
ing changed the details of the contact |