The suburban citizen., 1900-11-03
ASPHALTFOR PAVEMENT
WONDERFUL GROWTH OF THIS MOD.
ERN SYSTEM OF ROAD MAKING.

string of capital letters after his name
has ma lie asphaltum out of dead fish
and sawdust. The experiment wasosuc-
cess-as an experiment-but the pro
duct would hardly dO.for a Broadway
pavement, besides, it is too expensive.
Scientists have also made diamonds.
and may do so again, but the stock
of the Kimberley mines is still quoted
Mt a premium. 1t is reasonably GER
tain that, for years to come, the
worlds supply Of asphaltum for pay
ing purposes will be drawn from ma
tures storehouse.
Twenty-four years ago n commission
Of United States Government engi-
neers had Pennsylvania avenue, from
the Capitol to the Treasury building,
I'm Washington, ID. c., paved with as
phalt. This was the first time asphalt
had been used in paving a thorough
fare on this continent To-day in 100
cities and towns in the United States
and Canada there are 2G,000,000 square
yards, or 5000 acres, Of asphalt pave
ment in use. The asphalt pavements
Of this country, it is estimated, would
make street twenty-six feet wide
and 1850 miles long, or considerably
more than the distance from New York
to New Orleans.
For twenty years prior to the intro
ductiOn Of asphalt in America n COM
position Of btuminous rock, composed
principally Of limestone pounded fine
as flour was used in paving the streets
of some of the larger cities in Europe.
In all Europe there are little over
100000 square yards Of this pave
ment to-day, whereas in the United
States there are being laid annually
about 2,500,O00 square yards of as
phalt. The American compostion is
mixture of sand and asphalt which
forms a kind Of artificial SANDSTONE
which retains n rough surface. The
bitumlnous limestone rock Of Europe
however, takes n high polish under
continuous traffic and becomes eS-
ceedingly olppery, making it danger
Gus in bad weather.
in the Ooroughs of Manhattan and
the Bronx, of New York City, alone,
there are 14J miles of asphalt pave
ment, and contracts have been let for
the construction of twenty miles addi-
tional The New York City contracts
call for the expenditure Of $1,3OO,0OO
for asphalt pavement in the near fu-
ture. These contracts require that the
pavement shall be guaranteed for
from ten to fifteen years
Asphaltum, which only recently has
been made useful to man, was abun-
dant in the very backyard Of early
Egyptian civilization, but there is no
authentic record to show that the en-.
liehteRGd- Rapleses Is Or the other
Pharaohs took advantage Of the depos-
it's. The shores of the Dead Sea in
Palestine are covered, in places, with
asphaltum, and it is abundant near the
Caspian Sea. Asphaltum also occurs
in Brazil, Venezuela, the island of
Trinidad, Cuba and Mexico. In Eu-
rope Il is found in Val de Travers and
different parts Of Switzerland and in
Sicily. In the United States asphalt
tum has been found in Kentucky,
Texas and the Indian Territory, but it
is so sandy as to be difficult of prepar-
alton for commercial purposes.
In the state a. Bermudez, in Vene-
zuela, and in the island Of Trinidad,
a British possession, just off the Yene-
zuelan coast and almost opposite the
delta of the OrinoCo River asphaltum
deposits assume the curious form of
large lakes. In general appearance
these deposits resemble a sen Of black
mud. This asphaltum Is pure btu
men in nearly a solid form. The Trim
idad lake" is about 115 acres in eX-
tent; that in Bermudez comprises
about 1000 acres. The surface is just
sufficiently firm to support the weight
of a man, and may be walked upon
with ordinary precaution 1t would
not do to stand still in one place for
very great length Of time, however, as
there is danger that the person so
doing would gradually sink out of
sight An article the weight of a full
grown man if left in the lake" over
night, for instance, would be swal-
lowed up by morning.
The Trinidad and Bermudez asphal-
tum is distinguished for its cohesive
ness. This makes it valuable CONNER
cially but would also make il exceed
ingly unpleasant for any one so
thoughtless as to drop off to sleep on
the surface Of one of the lakes" He
might be chopped out all right in the
morning and the sticky asphaltum
pried off with a cold chisel, but the ex-
perience would be somewhat dscom-
forting
The 'lakes" have been sounded to a
depth of over 200 feet and no bottom
reached to the asphalium, so it may
safely be said that the supply is prac-
tically inexhaustible. As the stuff is
dug out more of it slowly oozes up
again into the hole thus made, and in
a short time, although carloads may
have been carted away, the surface Of
the lake" is perfectly even, and there
is no external evidence that the deposit