Daily press. [volume] (Newport News, Va.) 1896-current, 1899-09-21
PAVING AND PAVING
ana Then There is the Block
Asphalt
DISCUSSED AT SOME LENGTH
Views of hIr. Charles NJ. Ruth on The SUBJ
ject. He Thinks That the Block is
the Best and Says That the
Brick is Too Noisy.
DISCUSSED AT SOME LENGTH
Newport News. Sept. 10 1890

have read With interest ana plcas:-
ure the articles appearing in Your pa
per from time to time in relation to The
alt-lsnportant question of street pay
ing: Your paper has in!oartally pro
sented the views OF men who have had
experience along this particular line. q.
VINO have had opportunities for observ
ing the pavemcnts of diffcren: cities.
and as I am only Interested in street
paving TO the extent Of desiring tina;
me pest material obtainable may be
adopted. ana my experience covers a
period of twenty years. and has an
braHcu almost every large city in The
onited states trust MY opinions Mil
n"t come aniss rs the question is Ont,
mat Will effect every taxpayer.
have seen many different roads Built
from the corduroy and cedar block r,;,t
UP To ;hat--in my opiron-gre;,te:;, .:
all r"at's--thc asphalt block
The adaptability Of material for
street paving: is largely question Of
climatic conditions and the foundation
afforded by the soil of the dfferen,
cities.
MacAdamized streets were recently
suggested by gentleman Visiting our
city, but believe we will all agree thar
the pavement invented and laid by Nj.
AacAdam is out of date for city paw
ing.
Vitriled bricks have been looked IN
with favor by some, and they certainly
Iilih' IL Sbuu pavement on cerJS:N
kinds OF soil. and being easily repaired
it naturally recommends itself to those
who have never conducted 4 business
or resided along 4 street 50 paved. bus
to one who has resided along Suci 4
street the memory OF the incessant din
ana rattle and CHATTER is ever present
With such pavement converse ,ions
must De conducted through mega
phones, whenever 4 wagon passes your
900: and sleep is out of the question
when The milk wagon and baker va
snn rattles past in the morning. bu,
apart from this feature vitritied bricks
wolld hardly 10 on this soil. as the
sand would unuuestionably work out
through the joints heteween the bricks
no matter how much You crouted them
"lth cement IN one city north Of
here. where 4 good clay foundation was
to be had. the city engineer thought II
Improve on Natures foundation and
recommended that eight inches OF 1Iaoiin
sand be used as base. This sand is
somewhat like that we have in ON,
streets, and afte. the city had hauled
it twenty miles and laid several e!lols-
ana square yards Of pavement, il was
discovered that the sand worked
through the interstices and that the
city had q few blocks Of kaolin sand
road with a vitrtied brick pavement :
few inches below the surface. and the
I>aolin sand was forthwith abandoueti
y Vitrlheh brick pavement is not as
ehslly kept clean as some people i'm
aglne, for these bricks are made with
chamfc"ed edges to prevent spallin-
and when laid in q pavement leaves J.
small furrow between each course Of
Erl>kS from one-Quarter to On, half
an inch in depth and the dust and dirt
accnmula ting therein cannot be dis
lodged by the machine system Of stree
sweeping, but can be removed ii the
streets are swept by hand.
sheet aSphaltun strikes thu. caSua.
observer as an ideal pavement as it
presents a smooth clean surface and
In cool weather it is SO hard that the
uninitiated would imagine it could not
Wear ont. but if the same person sees
1t when the thermometer registers
above 80 degrees in the SUM- and the
heels of his shoes sink into it TO the
depth of a half inch, he Will change MS
mind about its durability.
The natural life Of a sheet asDhaltum
pavement is about four or five years. i
properly laid, and after the eXpiraI lion
Of this time it must be patched each and
every year, and entirely resurfacaa
every second year, ana as this repairing
can only be done by one company, as;
they have monopoly in -Assyrian and
Trinidad asphaltum, they can charge
any price they please when once ;hzy
put down pavement in our city, ara
as sheet asphaltum must be laid While
hot, and as the company doing the work
would be forced TO erect a small plant
here fer the purpose of repairing their
pavement it is not hard to see that the
taxpayer would be called upon to cav
the cost Of erecting this plant. and as
Vitrltied brick asphalt block can ba
taken up and relaid at about Is cents
per square yard as against 50 ua..
square yard for rclaying sheet asphalt
tum. or 81 per square yard for rcsur-
facing. the taxpayer can readily see
which is the cheaper pavement in tire
bn
Of repairing the smooth noisalesS
sheet asphaltum is preferable to the
rattle and clatter Of vitrified bricks or
Belgian blocks but in the ASPHALT
block we have Il combination Of several
desirable features. This block is being
used extensively in all the cities Of th;,
Union 1t combines the durability OF
granite With the noiselessness OF sheet
asphaltum. and when properly manu-
featured will / believe. outlast any
taxpayer now residing in our CITY. I
was fortunate enough to have an in.er-
est in piece of property fronting on a
street paved with asphalt block, in 1891,
and when it was first proposed to use,
this block / was inclined TO be scepti-
cal, but for fifteen years this pavement
has stood the traffic and not one dollar
has been expended upon repairs. Dur
Ing these fifteen years the OUTPUT If
three brckyards has been hauled over
its surface. summer and winter, and to-
day it presents a smooth, even surface
with no indication of rot or wear, so 10
my mind It's durability and desirabli.y
as / street paving material is proven be-
You'd any question.
Asphalt block, Wien properly made,
is practically indestructabie I have
seen pavements laid of this material in
1890 taken up in 1898 for the purpose ot
laying street car tracks ard after eight
years of constant use the asphalt block
was only Worn from one quarter 10
three-cighths Of an inch and was in