Aberdeen herald. [volume] (Aberdeen, Chehalis County, W.T.) 1886-1917, 1908-11-23
PAVING MATERIALS
SELECTION OF STREET PAVING
FOR GROWING CITIES.
An important Subject for Aberdeen
at This Time. GeOSOted Fir
Blocks are Said TO Excel for Dura-
biIity, and are NOiseIeSS and Re.
silent.

The selection of a form of paving
material for cities whose growth far
exceed the widest imaginations OF
the boomers has been a question con.
stantly in the minds of municipal
authorities. Besides the solving OF
complicated engineering problems il
has been necessary In the last few
years to consider the comfort OF
business men and tenants along the
paved streets as we'll as securing a
pavement capable of withstanding the
traffic which it was called upon tc
carry.
In the early days it was believed
that a gravel or plank roadway
would answer all requirements for
many years, later it was thought adj
v!sable in great many places to
provide a better roadway than the
gravel and the cobble stone was
brought into place, and the round
cedar block was often substituted
for the planked street. The changes
while being an improvement did not
meet the growing requirements. AT
this period there were offered a num-
Der of improvements in the way of
materials. Square granite blocks
came into use instead of the cobble
stones, also bricks of varying de-
grees of hardness, then asphalt and
macadam. For number of years
municipal engineers while recogniz-
ing that neither brick, granite, as
phalt or macadam in its various
terms fell far short of the ideal pave
ment were led to believe that owing
to the failure of the many attempts
to find paving material that would
combine quietness with durability
that such material did not exist
and it was not until the government
experts took up the question of some
form of preservative that would
efectually prevent decay in wood
that this form of material again
came into use.
After repeated experiments It
was found that a wood block from
which the moisture has been thoro-
ughly extracted and then filled with
creosote dead oil of tar was entire
~ free from decay, and when pro-
perly laid made a material the wear
ing qualities of which were superior
to either brick, granite or asphalt.
and in addition made a street that
was practically noiseless thus increas-
ing the desirability Of both business
and residence property.
The use of Creosoted Wood Blocks
in the last few years has become very
general. In New York City the
noisy, nerve racking forms of pave
ment at the request Of business men
has been removed from many of the
down town streets and Creosoted
Wood Blocks substituted. Chicago
this year will put down about 1O0.-
600 square yards of creosoted wood
blocks, Cincinnati about 100000
square yards, besides large areas in
st. Louis, Springfield, Mass, and
other cities throughout the East and
middle West.
During the last month the Metro
politan Building Company who are
improving the old University tract in
Settle with number of large office
buildings petitioned the city council
to be allowed to pave at their own
expense the streets in front Of their
buildings with creosoted wood blocks
asserting that the fact that this form
OF pavement was noiseless Gin adj
dition to its advantages) would so
add to the Inability of Offices in
their buildings that the expenditure
would be profitable one.
In addition to increasing the rent
al value of property this form of
pavement when laid upon a proper
concrete base entails the very lowest
maintenance cost inasmuch as any in
telligent laborer can take up and re-
place the blocks when it is necessary
to make repairs to water pipes, ETC.,
while in the case Of some other forms
of pavement such as asphalt or ma
cadam the maintenance of a NUM-
cipal plant costing several thousand
dollars, or the dependence upon the
contractor who finds it profitable to
maintain such a repair plant, is
necessary.
Speaking of the creosoted wood
pavements, the Lumber Trade Jour-
nal for October said, in part:
Municipal street paving improve
ments Of the past year, incities of the
Pacific Northwest, would indicate
that the most satisfactory, noiseless,
dustless, sanitary and durable paw
ing material is almost entirely with
out honor in its own country.
Reference is made to wood block
material properly treated with creo-
sote and laid on a concrete founda-
ton with tar filler. Competent engi-