The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1905-09-05
WHAT OF PAVEMENT.
F. II. Webster Gives Council His Ideas
on the Question.

pavement. / was a citizen of this city
long before 1 was a representative of
consistent member of the 5000 club
ABOUT "a years. 1 Joined the day 1
landed here. You can see 1 am the
original member of the club.
II TINS city can, in any old way. get
pavement on Kansas avenue that will
give to the city more service for the
money spent than bitulithic. count
DItul1thic and your humble servant out.
we Will quit in minute. But, gentle
men, the first cost is only one item
among many others in the. considera-
ton of any purchase. 1t bears in upon
me that the paramount eonsidera ton
IS What are you getting for your
money!" In other words, true
economy. not a popular fad named
economy.
When I came here our sidewalks
were of one inch boards; later, two
inch planks (costing more money!
were decided to be more economical
and better. Then sand brick superseded
the plank. Then came our present
vltrifaeds brick-a very great eXtrava-
gance if you count only the initial
cost in the matter. Does any fellow
favor going back to the one inch
boards?
No, gentlemen, this is no joke; the
maintenance of the one inch board
against the maintenance of vitrified
brick in the case of the sidewalks is
a very fitting parallel with the main
tenance of asphalt and bitulithio.
Yes. bitulithic is a young pavement
-four, coming five. Foaled in 1901.
1t has not had the proof of time. A
little later we will show you that all
the materials that enter into the con-
struction of fbitulithic have had the
test of time good and plenty.
Bitulithic pavement is the invention
of Warren Brothers company of Bos-
ton, Mass. 1t has been laid from Port
land, Me. to Portland, Ore. and from
| In nxy9
Scotia, by the various auxiliary COM
panies., But no foot of it has been laid
except as all the material going into
its construction has been thoroughly
company at their laboratory in Cam
bridge. Mass.
The Warren Brothers company is
composed of bred born, edSlca ted, and
experienced PAYERS. The various War
rem Brothers have personally superin-
tended the construction of over 80 per
cent of all the asphalt now in existepce
in the United States. (Authority-Mun-
icipal Engineering-April, 1900. War
rem Brothers company still lay asphalt
pavement (where the people insist they
want ito; also they refine asphalt and
sell it, and construct asphalt plants and
sell them Ito cities), but they tell you
that asphalt Is in one class and Btu
lithic in another.
Bitulithic is what its name implies
bitumen and stone. Stone is the most
enduring EuDSldICS kHOWH III
yet. there are stones and stones. have
sent to Warren Brothers company sam
pie after sample of local stone and they
have pronounced them all no good, save
the boulders- such as the new Baptist
church is built Of So, when I say
:'stone" in this connection. l mean the
stone that will stand the various tests
to which the Warren Brothers put IT in
their laboratories at Cambridge, Mass
-kibEz.-com ici-en'-bsi nitxzff1nm
iG hardness for. Tough
ness, for the adhesion of biturnen to it,
for it's absorption, for the action of air
upon it, etc, etc.
AS to the bitumen: / quote from A
w. Dow of Washington. D. c., the gov
eminent expert on bitumens and as
phalts. when say that bitumen, such
as is used in bitulithic pavements, has
bene found the old tar-macadam
pavements of Washington, D. c., where
it had been under traffic in the street
for 80 years and was still plastic and
retained all of it's cenaenting qualities
did not show the first signs of deterlor-
alton in any shape
I believe this ought to show that all
the materials that go into this young
pavement have had the proof of time.
AS to its construction: For street
pavement the stone is crushed from one
and one-half inch down to 1mpalpable
dust and then. by a system of screens
split into six sizes. The laboratory
people then. by tests, determine how
much, by weight. of each of these SIX
sizes is required to. make the mass the
nearest possible to solid. They succeed
in arriving at 80 per cent to 80 per cent
solid stone. To this, then, is added the
8 per cent to 10 per cent of bttumen, the
stone and bitumen both being heated
to about $50 degrees F. The mass IS
then spread upon the street hot and roll
ed with ten-ton rollers until 1T gives no
more compression, and then they roll
it some for luck The result is a pave
-nent. Samples of it have been lying
around your committee rooms Iof the
past four months
I now want to introduce to you two
cubes as near the same size as 1t was
possible o-cut. them; one cut from
bithulitffe pavement and one cut from
solid stone. Y Oh can readily see from
the weight tags attached to each that
we have not only equaled nature but
have given to the bitulithic cube, resi-
Hence, and waterproofed it.
Further permit me to say, as an evil
dence of good faith, bitulithic is now
being laid in the state house GROUNDS.
You may select a committee OF three
to go and cut a piece out or the walks
anywhere you desire; then go TO tne
plant and get the car numbers that the
stone is arriving in and the Missouri
Pacific railway agent, your gentleman
" Mr. Nipps, will tell you just where
the stone comes. Then. go TO
the quarry and get a piece of the stone
in the solid. and if, on reducing the
pavement and solid stone both to the
same sized cubes, the result is ma
terfaliy different from these cubes sub
mitted, the expense is all mine.
NJ B.-The bill need not be rendered
in items. Lump sum will do.
In conclusion, gentlemen, you can
put a sheet of stone. such stone as our
glacial bouIders two inches thick on
Kansas avenue and have it waterproof.
sanitary, practically noiseless. non
slippery non-cracking, resilient and
EASY to repair, at $3.50 to $1.75 per
square yard, what's the use of talking
about asphalt mortar?
In submitting these silent witnesses
the two cubesII have quit. I thank
you gentlemen, and only ask that you
accept all statements made herein as
the literal truth, or in fairness to me,
80