The Birmingham age-herald., 1907-06-09
PAVING STUDENTS STUDY ASPHALT Mile of Beautiful Street Paving Being Laid at Mountain
 Terrace.
 FIRST OF ITS KIND Birmingham People Whe Study tne
FIRST OF ITS KIND
Birmingham People Whe Study tne Merits of 9avings Say That It Is Beyond compare-Will
 Last a Lifetime.

Students of street paving in Birmingham are studying the asphalt which Is being laid at Mountain Terrace by the Mem phis Asphalt Paving company. They are watching it's construction more carefully than they have ever watched street pav- ing in Birmingham before This is the hrst asphalt to be laid in Birmingham, and, therefore, everyone Is anxious to what success 1t will be.
 The asphalt paving at Mountain Ter race Is unlike any other paving in Bir- mlngham. To begin with solid concrete foundation six inches deep Is laid com posed of crushed sIag and Portland ee- ment. and on top of thls is spread layer of genuine asphalt from the Bermudez lakes. two inches deep.
 The cement foundation Is harder than the solhl rock and will last until Gabriel blows his horn. There is no one living now who will be here when the asphalt wears off that paving. In other words 1t won't wear off
 There Is about one mile of this paving and pretter stretches of street paving will never be seen in Birmingham. The streets are winding and follow the con tour of Red Mountain in graceful curves. This adds to the general effect.
 The asphalt Is not only cleaner than other paN1nRS, but II Is nearer nolSelesS. less slippery and lasts longer.
 There are several grades of more or less steepness at Mountain Terrace and no other paving than asphalt would have been practicable. Ii offers a smooth. spongy surface Into which the hoofs of the horse sink a fraction of an inch, giving the animal the desired foothold. This spongy effect Is what makes the asphalt such success. If 1t is not spongy 1t is not properly laid and Is failure, wearing out rapidly. The Bermu- dez asrhalt in Washington is q success. pronounced by the government officials to be the best street paving, and the as- phalt at Mountain Terrace Is every bit as good as any In Washington.
 To lay asphalt 1t has to be heated to B temperature of between 2S0 and 300 de- grees It Is conveyed In asbestos lined wagons, covered with an asbestos blan- ket, from the plant to the grounds and loses only four or five degrees of heat during the trip. When placed on the cement foundation 1t Is hot that 1t will blister the hand like fire.
 A railroad train could be run over the cement foundation without injurlng 1t, and the heaviest wagon does not damage asphalt at all. One beauty of an asphalt paving lies in the fact that 1t is ready for use as soon the artificial heat leave it.
 Persons who are interested in street paving and 1t interests more people than any other one improvement in city, are constantly watching the progress of work on the asphalt pavings at Noun tain Terrace and they have pronounced 1t by far the best they have yet seen anywhere in the south.
 Asphalt is the only smooth paving laid on a concrete foundation in Birmingham. The contractors are carrying out the in- structions of the owners of the property to make 1t the best paving to be had. This Is in line with the policy of the company to have only the best of every thing for Mountain Terrace. s"s