The Pacific commercial advertiser. [volume] (Honolulu, Hawaiian Islands) 1885-1921, 1907-10-15

Within the next four weeks the work
on the new Territorial slip at the foot
of Alakea street will be completed with
the exception of the placing of a shed
on the structure, and will be ready for
! the occupancy of the largest vessels
( which come into this port. The work
of laying the last coat, which will con-
sist of blocks of creosoted Douglas fir
is now going on and when completed
the wharf will be ready for the big
steamers.
To those in the city who are inter-
ested in road building the work of
placing the wooden blocks should be
! of great interest. It is done in exactly
the same manner as in the new wooden
| block pavement, which is at present
! one of the best which has ever been
| found. A description of the manner in
which the blocks are treated should
prove of interest.
Before they are ready for laying they
are given what is called a sixteen
pound treatment of the creosote oil.
is injected by sixteen pound pressure,
but that every cubic foot of wood must
contain sixteen pounds, or nearly two
gallons of creosote oil before it is pro-
nounced satisfactory.
Green lumber is used and is placed
in basket cars, which are on a track
three and a half feet in gauge and
lead to a huge iron cylinder made of
boiler plate, that is nine feet in dame
ter and 120 feet in length. This cylin-
der is filled as nearly as possible with
these cars containing the blocks which
are to be treated and which are three
inches wide, four inches in height and
The ends of the cylinder are closed
tightly and for four or five hours steam
heated to a temperature of 275 degrees
is forced in. AS this steam is far above
the boiling point of water it takes up
all the moisture in the blocks and
leaves them in a condition which is
more like that of sponge than any,
thing else.
A vacuum pump is then started
which takes out all the steam and
moisture and when that has all dis
appeared, which can be told by means
of a gauge, creosote oil heated to
temperature of $50 degrees is forced
in the vacuum pump, this only stop
ping its work when the cylinder is full
of oil. A force pump is then started
which forces in the oily till a gauge
shows that the wooden blocks have
absorbed the amount of oil required.
A pressure of $50 pounds to the square
inch is reached before the force pump
is stopped and this is kept up till the
right amount of oil has been absorbed.
On the wharf the blocks are laid on
planks on the wharf proper. but where
the filling is solid they are placed on
a six inch concrete base. The cost of
the concrete amounts to about 81 per
square yard, which may seem excess
sive when it is realized that bitumen
can be laid for about $2.75. The fact
that the wooden block pavement. after
it has been treated in the manner told |
of above, win far outlast any other |
known pavement. however, changes the |
in it's favor. It was tested |
under the most severe conditions in |
Brooklyn where a street leading up |
from the American-Hawaiian docks |
was paved half with the wooden |
blocks and half with granite blocks.
At the end of five years a commits /
sion was appointed to investigate the |
-wo pavements and make a full report-
Specimens of both We're taken up and |
t was shown that the granite, which
vas supposed to be the most perma-
lent pavement which could be found,
lad worn down an inch and a half
While the wooden blocks had only worn
IN eighth of an inch. The reason for
he slight wear is said to be that the
surfaces of the block simply mat to-
yether and there is very little wear
indeed.
In laying the blocks they are placed
n end, with the vertical grain upward.
7ery dry sand is scattered between the
Jocks to take up all the possible space
nd boiling hot asphaltum IS poured
n top of this to fill up every crevice
nd make a smooth surface Sand is :