The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1906-11-28

bovaculte. About May 1, 1905, after
fifteen years of wear repair Of these
streets became necessary. The old sur
face was first swept clean with horse
sweeper so as to expose the solid pave
ment beneath. This was done because
tar will not penetrate n road surface
which is covered with dust and loose
material. Next, the surface was lo0s-
ened by means of spikes placed In the
wheels of a ten ton steam roller, the
street reshaped and new material add
ed where needed. The road was then
sprinkled, rolled bonded and finished
to form n hard, compact even surface
and allowed to dry thoroughly before
either tar or oil was applied, for nei-
ther substance can penetrate moist
road surface. The best results are OBJ
tained when the work Is done In hot,
dry weather, and accordingly the tar
was first applied In August. 1t may be
well to add that the novaculite used In
the construction of the roads is an al
most nonabsorbent rock.
The tar used was byproduct from
the manufacture OF coke and was prac-
tlcally free from moisture. 1t was
brought to temperature which gener-
ally reached 210 degrees r., but when
placed on the road 1t was reduced to
temperature from 100 degrees to 100
degrees f. The hottest tar produced
the best results. 1t was spread with
hose.
Laborers, with street cleaners
brooms of bamboo fiber, followed the
tank and swept the surplus tar ahead.
They spread 1t as evenly and quickly
as possible and In layer only thick
enough to cover the surface. One side
of the street was finished at time
and barricades placed to keep off the
traffic until the tar had had time to
soak into the surface. The time al
lowed for this process was varied
from few hours to several days.
From the results obtained it can be
stated that under n hot sun, with the
road surface thoroughly compact clean
and dry and with the tar heated al
most to the boiling point and applied
as described above, the road will alb
sorb practically all Of Ii In eight or ten
hours A light coat of clean sand,
screenings or the clean particles swept
from the surface of the road may then
be spread as evenly as possible ana
rolled in with a steam roller.
After more than seven months, In
Guiding the winter season OF 19O5-O6
the tarred streets and roads are still
in excellent condition. They are hard,
smooth and resemble asphalt, except
that they show more gritty surface.
The tar forms n part of the surface
proper and Is In perfect bond with the
macadam. Sections cut from the
streets show that the tar has penetrat-
ed from one to two inches. and the fine
blacl: lines seen in the interstices be
tween the Individual stones show that
the mechanical bond has been re-en-
forced by the penetration Of the tar.
The tar Is matrix into which the
stones of the surface are set, forming
q conglomerate or concrete. A second
COdtlUH hppilcu fcui uhtCi ehS hiSs
would require much less tar than the
first, as the lnterstices Of the rock
would then be filed with tar.
A tarred street is dustless in the
same sense that an asphalt street Is
dustless. though fine sandy powder
wears off. as in the case Of asphalt
1t can be swept or washed clean. These
streets have since been swept regularly
and the city government Is In favor of
treating all of the streets with tar.
The cleaning that would soon ruin an
ordinary macadam road does not in
1ure the tarred surface, as the stones
are not torn up or disturbed. The tar
itself has antiseptic properties; hence
its use would be beneficial both as a
germicide and as a means of securing
cleanliness.