The Lambertville record. [volume] (Lambertville, N.J.) 1872-1968, 1903-06-03
OIL IN ROADMAkING
USE OF PETROLEUM ON HIGHWAYS
OF CALIFORNIA.

Contains All Neccssnry EIements For |
Building Fine nonds, and Miles of
Highways In the Golden state Show
Good Results.
In California the Use of oil is past |
the experimental stage, and It's success
is attested by the thousands of miles Of
roads and streets i'll The state that are
either already oiled or for whose treat
ment plans are being made. Nearly
every municipality in California Is en-
gagged In improving its residence
streets with oil, and every county is
try roads.
The recent Boston experiment with
Pennsylvania oil i'll roadmaking was
doomed to failure. The Pennsylvania
oil, with Its paraiiin base, is not suited
for roads. says the san Francisco
Chronicle. II will lay the dust tenn
porarlly and on n macadam road may
be effective for this purpose for "a
period of three months" But the east.
ern oil eyaporates rapidly, emitting the
disagrecablc odor complained of, and
soon leaves only n dry, brittle re-
slduum, which Is quickly pulverizcd
and added TO the dust of the road. The
California oil has an asphalt base that,
used ON roads containing from 10 TO 60
per cent of asphaltum and when prop
apIy mil pI hn n
men.
The oil has been used on the ma cnd
am roads of Golden Gate park in San
Francisco with satisfactory results,
Only for four or five days after its MP
plication was the odor offensive, and
no word of complaint Is ever heard on
account of the smell. With one sprin-
king Il year these roads have sustain
ed an enormous travel, being among
the most popular driveways In the
pnrk But II Is In the making of II
road metal by saturntion of II layer of
soil with oil that the great amount of
road improvement has gone forward In
California during the pnst few years.
With the Use Of crude oil in which as
plnltum Is so large II component part
n crust Is formed almost us good as
bitumlnous pavement, and this wheth-
er the soil be sandy. alluvlal or adobe.
The elasticity of We'll prepared roal
IL all that can he desired, II Yields |
agreeably under foot and vehicle. Ii
IL free from dust In summer aud from
mud In winter and can be kept rs Glenn
as nm asphalt pavement After driving |
over II for several hours there is no
trace of dust or spcck of oil on buggy
or clothing of driver.
While the odor from II California
oiled road may be detected for several
days after treatment, 1t is not objee-
tionable. only Immediately following
application Is 1t nj all disagreeable. The
people of California find no objection
on account of the smell, and the eNten.
sion of oiled roads Is welcomed every
where They are no longer an expert
mcnt, and no one would bc Willing 10
dispense with them, llouseholdcrs and
travellers are no longer troubled With
dust, the rain water Is quickly shed to
the gutter, the roads are always clean
the pedestrians.
The cost of treatment of Il mile OF
road for three years nj the present
price Of OIL will not exceed $500, OF
which one half Will be expended thu
first year The best results have been
obtained where two applications were
madc the first year one the second ANA
ipI = e..
cssary To keep the road in repair. At n
recent convention of California; $ munlc' |
ipaI officers the city engineer of Frcs
no, where streets and country roads
are being oiled extensively, gave an es.
innate OF the cost mt that place. The
price of oil averaged - cents n barrel,
125 barrels being required for the first
application and fifty to seventy 1--WE
barrels for the second, making II total
cost Of about 5000 mile. The cost Of
water sprlnkling per mile in Fresno,
where the summer Is long and dry, had
been 500 annually. one cf the more
recent projects in the interior of the
state Is the oilIng Of the stage road
from Raymond TO the Yosemite valley
experiments III el'i i'hlh'S H'''' an
forna oil began in southern California
seven years ago. and since then much
has been learned of its use, II has been
determined that the gravity OF the oil
is m important factor In It's adapiabll
ity TO various soils. For sandy and NJ
luvial soils the heavy quality OF oil pro
duces the best results, Willie the lighter
oils are better for clay and adobe soils.
Before ollIng the roadbed should be
carefully prepared. well graded and
shaped and the surface smoothed and
packed as firmly MS possible. The oil
should be applied in such quantity as
the ground will absorb.