Los Angeles herald., 1907-12-13
ENGINEERS AND ARCHITECTS
HOLD BANQUET
DISCUSS METHODS OF IMPROVING
HIGHWAYS
Members of Association Meet at Hol-
Ienbeck Hotel and Listen to
interesting Addresses on
Important Subjects

night at the HoIlenbeck hotel, seventy
five members of the association being
present.
Following the banquet a number Of
addresses were delivered on the sub
ject of road building and the relative
merits of material used in construc-
tion of highways in this section of the
country.
The speakers included H. q. Osborne.
jr., of the city engineers office of Los
Angeles; j. w. Johnson of the same
office, c. C. Brown. city engineer OF
Redlands; A. e. Loder, chief engineer
of the Los Angeles highway commits
sion; +. W. Cresswell, manager of the
Barber Asphalt company of Los An
geles; Joseph Simons of the Simons
Brick company, and Thomas Hutton OF
s. Hutton & Sons of this city.
J. B. Lippincott presided, and the
program committee was made up of
Amos A. Fries, chairman; George p.
Robinson and Theodore A. Eisen
The first speaker of the evening was
H O. Osborne, secretary of the asso-
citation, whose subject was Engineers
Views" He introduced his subject by
discussing the work in road building
preliminary to construction.
Talks of vrooman Act
Most of the street work in and
about Los Angeles" said Mr.. Osborne,
lis constructed under the Vrooman act,
and this is the general street law of
California. The law is extremely tech
nical its provisions being rigid in the
extreme, and it's features strongly af-
feet the engineering work and tend to
limit the effectiveness of work done
under it.
'Strictly speaking the plans profiles
oh ha nj al a
in every detail before the ordinance Of
intention to do the work is presented.
Every possible obstacle should be fore
seen and provided for, and the work
should be carried on without any de-
Walton from the original plans.
aside from the legal questions in
volved from a change in plans. the
question always arises and most in
oppartunely. Who will pay the cost
arising from the change in plans? The
lar makes no provision for this extra
cost. 1t is questionable whether any
law could be formed to cover this OBJ
lection and at the same time be con-
stitutional.
Officials Unjustly Criticised
Each Improvement must be accu-
rately described in the ordinance of in
tention to do the work. What happens
by reason of some defect in the pro-
ceedings, even though the contractor
has constructed the work in good
faith? The property owners may re-
fuse to pay their assessments, thereby
running the contractor or his hackers
if the Improvement is one of large pro-
portions"
He said city officials had recently
been unjustly criticised because the
Of ardi Of I'M m
which had been in use several years
and had been acquiesced in by the
courts, was brought before a different
Judge by a plausible attorney and in
terprc ed as not conforming with the
Vrooman act.
Every effort, he declared. is made TO
prepare plans, specifications and ordi-
nances exactly as the law prescribes
and the Judge elects They may stand
perfect by one court and yet when
placed before another court a differ
ent Interpretation is given them.
when there is no question about
the wo-k being properly performed
said Mr. Osborne, "it is unjust to hold
officials up to ridicule for failure to
be right before all courts when every
endeavor is made to be in strict accord
with legal decisions"
Tells of Paving Work
J. w. Johnson of the city engineers s
office of Los Angeles followed Mr.. Os-
borne speaking on Paving Work in
Large Cities Mr.. Johnson gave his
tory of asphalt pavement and told of
experiments from its discovery to the
present time. AS a result of these ex-
periments, - said. certain beneficial re-
suits were = ached, until the present high
grades of m-terial were available. and
the relative value of the different pave
ments in use could be readily ascertained.
He showed diagrams and gave figures to
show the necessary percentages of ma
terial required to withstand different
kinds of traffic.
Shows Diagrams
Mr.. Johnson said the most successful
pavement was first laid in London. and
this was followed by New York, where
a pavement laid some years ago proved
as successful Eight different grades of
pavement were shown by the diagram
and Mr.. Johnson told of the work in the
city laboratory which had resulted in the
attainment of an ideal standard.
Certain specifications were adopted and
two paving companies have installed a
number of improvements in order to bet
ter the asphalt used in Los Angeles.
A soft grade, he said was being used.
the conclusion being that the softer as
phalt has Lot been subject to excessive
heat and therefore not so liable to crack
as the harder grades. The engineering
department. he said was keeping a rec
ord of experiments, which, he believed.
would be of great benefit in the future.
c. c. Brown, city engineer of Red
lands, spoke on Road Building in Other
Cities" contining himself chiefly to the
work accomplished in Redlands. Five
miles of petrolithic pavement had been
constructed there, he said. which had
proved highly satisfactory.
Limestone Street Satisfactory
He was highly pleased with the results
of paving with asphalt, but believed the
line of |est~ could be carried out more
fully. He spoke of his experiences with
macadam and said the best streets Of
this character were to be found in River
side. which we're of limestone. five inches
thick. oiled later and today, eleven years
after they had been built. were as good
as could b, found in any place where
heavy traffic is constant.
He had recommended this class of pave
ment to the trustees of Redlands For
all practica, purposes. he declared, a
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