Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1906-12-16
FOR STREET PAVING
Need Here for a Municipal As
phaIt Plant.
DISTRICT ENGINEERS VIEW
Decrease in the Annual Appropri-
alton Since 1879.
FORCED TO MAKE USE OF BLOCK
Commissioners Ask Authority to Do
the Work-Experiment by Local
Railway Company.
DISTRICT ENGINEERS VIEW
FORCED TO MAKE USE OF BLOCK

That the street paving question Is becom-
Ing serious problem with the officials Of
the engineer department of the District
is indicated by clause in the Commits
sioners' estimates asking authority for q
municipal asphalt plant.
One of the oldest engineers in the serv-
ice of the District in speaking of the
matter, said that this year for the first
time since asphalt became adapted to paw
Ing purposes the District has not laid any
sheet asphalt pavement.
THE introduction of asphalt paving
MATERIAL he said. found Washington in
the midst of a spasm of Improvement which
was as pronounced as had been the state
OF lethargy which had the city in its grasp
prior to the regime of Gov. Alexander Shop
herd. The city's awakening to a realza-
ton of Its possibilities one of the great
capitals of the world, brought about by the
genius of that wonderful official. led to a
prodigality In the use of the public funds
for improvements, and among these that
of the replacing of the dirt wagon roads
which constituted the city's system of
streets during the war period with paved
roadways was the principal item of vast
expenditures. Immense sums were spent
for the worthless wooden block pavements
of that period, which were made worse
than useless by the wear and tear of
few years. and it became necessary to
replace them with more durable ma
terlal. line nrSt SUBSTITUTE was COM
posite pavement of coal tar and broken
stone. Many of those old pavements stood
up excellently under the citys traffic, but
they have nearly all been superseded by
what Is now known the standard sheet
asphalt pavement.
Work of Washington Man.
1.-The method of treating asphalt and It's
conversion into practicable roadway
pavement was largely the work of a Wash
In rpon A T porh
at Howard University. and from the COM
4naeneement of its use Washington took the
lead of all the cities of this country as an
advocate of asphalt for roadway paving
purposes until it had more asphalt pave
ments than any other city by many yards.
The climax was reached in 1890, when Con-
gress appropriated $T62,O00 for street paw
ing for one year. At that time the city
did not extend much beyond the old
Boundary street. the Florida avenue of
today. and sheet asphalt was used to the
exclusion of all other materials for paving.
Competition in this lucrative field soon
brought about the inevitable result of lower
prices, and the price of 1925 per square
yard in 1872 for the coal-tar pavement
gradually dwinded until last year the Com
missioners paid only Sl.46 per square yard
for the standard sheet asphalt pavement,
including a six-inch concrete base.
CAS- competition brought abou. lower
prices Congress drew in the rens on the
appropriations, and the S162 900 of 1890 was
reduced to $4,000. the current appropria-
ton for paving streets.
Limit on the Price.
For several years Congress has put a
limit on the price which the Commissioners
could pay for asphalt pavements, and,
while the first limit was fixed at 81 per
square yard, competition brought the ac-
tual price down and down until when. the
bid of 81 .46 was received, Congress brought
the limit of price down to S1.65. This low
limit of price. with the small appropria-
ton of $4,000. was looked upon by the as
phalt men as the last straw. and when
the Commissioners asked for proposals
last summer no bids were received within
the legal limit. with the result that for
the first time since the introduction of
asphalt as a paving material not a yard
of new sheet asphalt pavement has been
laid in the city that for years has been
looked upon as the leader In the industry
In order to provide the str It's on the
schedule OF Improvements with pavements
the Commissioners fell back on a contract
they had for the paving with asphalt block
The price for this pavement is S1.76 per
yard. but the capacity of the only plant
in this vicinity is limited, and unless Con-
gress raises the limit set on sheet asphalt
pavements. as the Commissioners have re-
Quested them to do. II looks as If some
other material will have to be selected or
our dirt streets remain unpaved.
Granite Block for Roadway.
Granite block as a roadway pavement
for city like Washington is undesirable
on account of its noise and rough surface,
as well as its expense. especially in view
of the comparatively light traffic to which
the streets are subjected.
The use of vitrified block has been expert
mented with but the results have been far
from satisfactory.
THE sheet asphalt pavements of recent
years have not stood the wear and tear that
did. and many of the pavements are in need
of extensive repair by the time the guaran-
tee period of five years expires.
THE matter of keeping in repair the i'm
mense amount of existing sheet asphalt Is
becoming a serious one for the authorities
The pavements are all wearing out at once,
and while the District has a contract for
the patching and resurfacing of the streets
the capacity of the plants is not sufficient to
answer the purpose. The Commissioners
have asked an appropriation Of $780, 600 for
this purpose for this year.
Position Of Local Contractors.
The position taken by the local contract
ors In refusing to bid for the laying of new
sheet asphalt pavements within the limit
allowed by Congress this year. and the pos
sibility that the same state of affairs may
obtain when II becomes necessary for the
Commissioners to look for a new contractor
for repairing the existing street payements
next summer has brought about an appre-
citation of the seriousness of the situation
at the District building.
According to the ideas of the authorities
there Is only one way out of the difficulty
and IL contractors cannot be found to lay
the asphalt II Is proposed that the city shall
do the work itself. With this end in view
the Commissioners have asked Congress for
authority to purchase or establish a mu-
nicipal asphalt plant that the city can
repair its own pavements. 1t will not do to
let the existing pavements go long without
d. a n0SSihilfty Of v,af
securing a contractor the Commissioners
want to be in a position to carry on the
work themselves. During the long period Of
activity in the asphalt industry the local
engineers have become experts. and the To-