The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1903-04-05
ASPHALT PAVING
HAS WORN WELL
Streets Laid Seventeen
Years Ago Still in
Excellent Con-
dition.
EXPENSE OF
REPAIRS SMALL

the excellent service it renders the
public in affording a smooth, even
street for travel and a surface cas-
lily kept clean, but because of its
almost unbelievable wearing quail
tiles. Summit avenue, paved sew
enteen years ago, is m almost as
good condition today as when first
opened for travel and in that time
it has cost the city but very lit
tie for repairs in excess of the orig
lnal cost. Summit avenue was paw
ed in 1886 by the Warren Scharf
Paving Company, the direct pred
ecessors of the Barber Asphalt
Company. Under the original con-
tract the street was kept in repair
for a period of ten years, and at
the expiration of that time was
turned over to the city as free
from blemiSh and defect as it was
on the day first opened. Since the
expiration of the guarantee pro-
vided seven years ago, in spite of
the fact that it is an old street,
and is subjected to more continu-
Gus and steady travel than any
other street in the residence dis
trict of st. Paul, the repairs have
\ been practically nothing, costing
for the mile of paving, comprising
30,350 square yards of paving. less
than = per cent per annum for re-
pairs. The original cost, which also
covered the curbing of the street,
S93,500, included the keeping up of
repairs of the street for a period of
20 years, which contract was full
filled to the letter by the paving
company until 1897, when, under
an agreement with the board of
public works, the city assumed the
repairs.
Another specific instance of the
advantages accruing to the city Of
st. Paul through it's system of re-
quiring a ten-year guarantee on all
asphalt paving is afforded by the
condition of East Fourth street to-
day. For some years past the
street has been in almost daily use
by contractors hauling the heavy
granite, marble and other stones
used in the construction of the new
state capitol For the most part
the immense wagons carrying
these materials, whose weight in
the aggregate is millions of tons,
have used but one side of the street
the result has been a steady
wearing down Of the paving. and
consequently the bill for repairs
was considerable in view of the I'M
precedented wear. Under the con-
tract Of the Barber Asphalt Paw
ing company, which company laid
the street. the repairs have been
Kept up without cost to the city.
with the spring repairs practically
complete, the street is in about as
good condition as when first laid
Asphalt as paving material
for public highways is one of the
inventions Of modern times. Paw
ing streets is by no means a re-
cent art, but is almost as old as
masters in the art of street build
ing and paving were the Romans,
In whose age a material very sim
liar to our asphalt of today was
employed, a material that even now,
after having been in constant use
little the worse for the wear in
those spots where it is still in exist
ence. The asphalt paving of today
is the successor of the basaIt rock
pavement, used by the Romans of
Caesars day.
While at the first glance the
prices for asphalt asked and OBJ
tanned in st. Paul might seem
rather high, yet a close study of
the conditions under which the con-
tracts are awarded will prove that
st. Paul pays no more. if, indeed,
as much as the other cities of this
country.
When a contract for asphalt pav-
ing is let in st. Paul, the bidder
must submit to most stringent set
of specifications and conditions. He
must furnish a bond to the full
amount of the contract price, in
surfing the city that the work will
be done according to the specifca-
tons: Then when the work is
finished 10 per cent of the contract
price is held in reserve by the city
Tor ten years. during which term
the contractor must make all neces-
sarye repairs. If he fail to carry
the city does the work and deducts
the expense from the guaranty
fund. On this reserve, the city. as
a matter of course, pays the legal
interest. during all this period the
contractor is directly liable to the
city for all damages resulting from
FAULTY paving or material No
other city in the United States ex-
acts. such strict conditions in re-
gard to the asphalt paving of the
streets. st. Paul may possibly pay
hlgher price for her as
p priee pa a6ng if the con cG6traGt
but for, all practical purposes the
price our city ultimately paws is
less than that paid by most other
communities for the reason that our
streets are fully protected for ten
while in other cities no such guar
antee is required of the contractor.
or at the most the guaranty covers
q much more limited space of time.
On the other hand, it must be
confessed that the city has seldom
serve money for the enforcement of
repair work. All the little repairs
that are unavoidable even in the
best grade of asphalt have been
attended to by the contracting com
panies in the main without recourse
to law.
In the minds of experts and those
who know anything about the prob
lens of street paving, there is no
doubt about the fact that the best
results are secured from work done
by large concerns that are respon
sible-the bigger the company the
more satisfactory and better the
work. Communities the size of St.
. Paul are better off in the hands of
large concern such as the Barber
Asphalt Paving Company, for the
simple reason that ample CAPITAL
stands behind it to make good ali
promises and to guarantee that ev-
cry provision of the contract is
carried out. In cases of such speci-
fications and contracts. as those ex-
acted by st. Paul, only large com
panieS with ample means can com
pete successfully, for the reason
that it takes a large bank account
to carry out the expensive con
tracts in view of the large per cent
age Of the contract price withheld
for the guarantee fund, during a
period of ten years.
The Barber Asphalt Paving Com
pany ranks high both with regard
to the grade Of material used sSd
also the working and CONTRACTING
methods. This company owns one
of the largest asphalt lakes on the
Island Of Trinidad, where the best
natural asphalt pitch is produced in
tneXhauStible quantities. This nitnh