The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1902-11-17
STREET PAVEMENT REPAIRS.

The time has come when the city should
adopt a definite policy in regard to the
repairing of street pavements. The inaugu-
ration OF modern street improvements sew
eral years ago marked a new departure in
the history of the city. Prior to that time
there was no street improvement system,
and though a great deal of money had been
spent for so-called street improvements and
repairs there was next to nothing to show
for it. In this, as in some other respects.
the city had not yet emerged from the
overgrown country town stage. The in
auguration of a general system of street
and sidewalk paving marked the beginning
of a second growth which. together with
municipal progress on other lines, has made
the city one Of the most attractive in the
country. The street improvements cost a
great deal of money, but they were worth
all they cost, If not in every case to the
property owners who had to foot the bills,
at least to the community at large. In 1900
indianapolis had more square yards of
paved streets than any other city of its
size in the country. 1t had us, 7s4 square
ydTuS Oh dspndll pavement, no. 100 SqudIo
yards of wooden block, 4O5, 1928 square yards
of brick pavement. But street pavements
perish with the using, and the necessity for
repairs begins soon after they are laid.
Engineers estimate the life of brick pave
ments at fifteen years, of wood at ten to
fifteen years and of asphalt at eighteen
years. This, however, p~resupposes the use
OF the best materials and workmanship in
the beginning and the keeping up Of repairs.
Neglected p~avements do not last nearly as
long. One of the greatest causes Of de-
struction of pavements. and one that can
not be wholly prevented, is tearing them
up to admit pipes. wires and other under
ground fixtures. Gas and water companies
also play havoc with street ~pavements,
and rarely if ever repair the damage they
do. Frost is very destructive of asphalt
yemen and the process of disintegra-
ton once begun proceeds very rapidly. Dr.
lapidated and wornout street pavements
are almost as bad as none at all. In fact,
good gravel streets without any preten-
sions to modern improvements are prefer
able to wornout pavements. The latter.
besides being unfit for use, show that a
city, once enterprising and progressive,
has ceased to be so. No city can be called
progressive or we'll governed that does not
keep up municipal repairs. and of these
none Is more important than repairs Of
street pavements. In European cities such
repairs go on all the time. The authorities
do not wait for the decay to become general
and pronounced. They stop it at the be-
ginning.
1t is to be regretted that a systematic
policy of street repairs was not adopted
in this city soon after the era of street i'm
provement began. The old adage, "A stitch
in time saves nine," applies. 1t is much
less trouble to darn a small hole than it
is to reseat a pair of trousers, and it costs
much less to repair a few breaks in a pave
ment than it does 10 resurface a whole
street. Many of our paved streets are now
in a condition that might have been pre-
vented at comparatively slight trouble and
expense IL the repairs had been made in
time. The policy Of the city in this regard
in past years has been unwise, unbusiness-
like and costly. There is need for reform,
and it cannot begin too soon. A few more
years of neglect and a w~ell-paved square
throughout the city will be an exception.
Whether the repairs should be made at the
expense of the city or be assessed on prop
erty owners is a question on which opinions
may differ, but 1t is time for the city to
adopt a definite policy of street repairs
and adhere to II.