The St. Lucie County tribune. (Fort Pierce, St. Lucie County, Fla.) 1905-1920, 1907-09-27
HARD ROADS
OF CRUDE OIL
Test Now Being Made Under
Expert in Jacksonville.
SOLUTION OF PROBLEM
Mixture OF Sand and Oil Subjected TO
Pressure OF $50 Pounds Per
Square Inch Does the Work

The following article clipped from
the Times Union of Saturday IL worthy
Of careful perusal by our readers. Al
ter thorough test has been made it
may be well for our people to investi-
gate this method Of making roads, es-
pecially for use on the river front and
the Fort Drum road:
"Work on the sand and oil road
through Murray Hill Heights has pro-
crossed so far that yesterday the big
tamper was put to work, and started
rolling over the road.
"When this part of the work has
been completed the last coating Of
sand and oil will be applied, and then,
when this has hardened and has been
rolled smooth, the road will be com
pleted and ready for the test.
Every indication is that the road
will be the success that it was conf
IDENTIFY believed it would be. If it is
true, the road problem for Duval coun-
ty is practically solved, as the saving
in cost is decidedly one of the big items
about the road. In point of durability
and the cost of maintenance the road
really an asphalt road, leads the older
styles.
mo better test of the quality of
road secured by the proper mixture Of
Florida sand and this certain grade of
oil that is used, oil that is rich in as
phaltum, than the tamping process
itself.
''The tamper used for these kind of
roads is a heavy roller, a perfect cylin-
der in shape. Its weight is sufficient
to subject the material over which it is
run to a pressure of $50 pounds to the
square inch.
"But the surface of this huge cyin-
der is not smooth, as is the case with
the ordinary roller. Instead it is thick
ly fitted with heavy spikes, eight inches
in length, and of Il diameter, at the
base, of from one inch and half to
two inches.
"The first time this tamper is rolled
over the sand that has been first thor
oughly mixed with the oil, these heavy
iron teeth, with the $50 pound pressure
upon them, sink their full length eight
inches, into the ground. The second
time they pass over the surface it has
been found that the tamping has been
so thorough that they do not sink quite
so far.
This process is continued until the
heavy tamper passes over the surface
Of the road-bed without the teeth sink
ing into the road at all. This means,
therefore, that the sand and oil solidI-
fics. through chemical action into an
asphalt surface so hard that heavy iron
teeth, subjected to Il pressure Of 25O
cannot penetrate it. This n IN
itself Il Seyerer test that would ever he
put upon the road by traffic,
when this process has been cont
pleted, the final coating of sand and oi!
mixed is given. Then Il
roller of heavy weight is run
over it, leveling it and shaping it for
proper drainage, This is then allowed
to soldify, the lighter oils cooperating
and the asphaltum uniting chemically
with the sand to supply Il hard, smooth,
even surface. Il surface imperVlous To
water, easy on traffic, and restiul C.
the eyes of both men and horses.
"The original process. which pre-
cedes the tamping process, is in Itself
OF more than usual interest.
"1hc oil, heated sufficiently to allow
the heavy asphaltum to run down
through the teeth is placed in Il tank.
Behind it is the rake, for such it APP
pears to be, with eight-inch teeth.
These dig or claw down into the sand
for eight inches and the oil is deposited
into the crevices.
Back of this set of teeth is another
a set that moves from right to left as
the machinery moves forward. This
action perfectly mixes the sand and oil
and prepares for perfect chemical
action.
"Then comes the tamping process,
followed, as stated above, by the APP
plication of the last coating, and the
road is then complete. 1t requires un-
der ordinary circumstances on y about
tan DAYS TO build a mile of road.