The evening times. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1895-1902, 1900-07-07
PAYMENTS IN SWITZERLAND.
A Series of Experiments with Ameri-
can Pitch Pine.

can Pitch Pine.
George Clifford. Consul of the United
States az Basel, Switzerland, has sent TO
the State Department a report en- street
pavements. which Is Of particular interest
TO the residents OF Washington, which is
universally acknowledged to be the best
paved city in the United States. The re
port says:
The city of Basel has made within tie
last few years a 5eries of experiments n
street paving that may have cer,a-n n
terest on account of the employment on a
small scale of American pitch pine. as vel
as by reason CT the general lmPoI tame :
OF the subject
Il. appears from an Official report that
the FIRST wood pavement was Laid in 1883
in ole Of the chief thoroughfares, tAe own
ers OF the contiguous property being
obliged TO pay the difference between tie
cost of stone and wood pavement. The ne
terial used was the FIR (Pinus abies). =
. tree that covers the nsighboring Jara and
Black Forest and gives 20 The latter re-
gion its name. In a Few years shis pave
ment became worthless. ara the Govern
ment required the property owners 10 pay
half the expense OF q new paVement ami
Of repairs to the old. grading and the leon
support being still at the charge Of the
city.
AT the same time. an EFFORT WIS made
to secure greater durability by an in
proved treatment of the wood books and
by securing uniformity in the material
lack OF which had been one OF the chief
Causes Of the rapid destruction OF the
pavement. These preparatory measures
were executed by the Government Itself in
stead Of BY the contractors. as il the Il ST
instance. and somewhat bsttsr re .ults we're
obtained. Still, IL a short tine TeI airs
Eers needed. and IN fve o. six years the
complete renewal Of the pavement vas m
peraJyeIy Necessary. The lack Of sunlight
in the BsrroW streets which are most
frequendea promotes the decay o. the WcoL
In the single large square where that
material is employed IL has proved more
satisfactory. But the concentration OF the
trsffic on the parts o. the street not oc-
eupied By the tram lines and the sharp
shoe esiks Of the horses especially l.
the damp winter weather. soOn literally
hacked the pavement 10 pieces
For the present. the extension OF the
wOOc-pavexnent system has been abandon
Cd: but the renewal OF that now existing
must be provided for. because OF the ex-
pense Of the stratum OF betOn. For this
purpose, however. fir blocks will NJ long
z
under consideration American pitch pine
tried on a small scale a few years ago. is
rejected on he ground that IL has so much
waste tsap wood that its inspection is ex-
tremely difficult Larch from the Canton
OF Nalais (PinUs lark a species strongly
resembling American larch OF hackmatsckJ
MAS laid experimentalIy in 1884 and is
now IN such condition that an existence
OF nine or tel years IS anticipated. II Is
said that this material has proved fairly
satisfactory n Paris. Oak snd pine are
rejected, both on account OF their too great
cost and their relative unsuitableEess for
the purpose.
"On the whole. IL is thought most prac-
ticabie 20 use a new material which is said
20 be in favor in Dresden AID Leipzig
the Australian karri wood
According 10 Official computation. kar-
ri blocks would have 10 Be renewed but
twice in tairty-six years. costing only s.. y
per square meter. while hr must be re-
Iewsd six times in that period al cost
o. SI3-S2- Ksrri wood VIII therefore be
used for renewing the existing wood pave
ment
For the streets row paved With cobble-
stones from the Rhine as wru as for the
macadamized streets that are 20 be paved.
IL IS proposed 20 use large heVu quarry
stone. A quartz sandstone frOTa AIsace
which was laid on trial a few years ago
has given excellent results BY setting
such stones closely and carefully together.
u - claimed that a smooth. durable street
Is obtained which is almost as uolseless as
one paved with wood. costs only s.. SO per
cubic meter. and VIII last thirty years.
As a further experiment a certain
quantity Of Belgian pOrphyTy is TO be used
recurring hardly any expenditure for re-
p4irS ."