Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-09-17
411E11 111111E11 1uHHHU uHu1H
: COOD ROADS +:

NhlVoI", ana from the Ii'tSnnld city
line to the town of Lee In the state high
way In addition the treatment ~ tie
state highway In Lynn was determined
but II will be seen that when the work
In Lynn and Weston and and Wavlard
had been completed the appropriation
was exhausted and tho commission Wa
compelled to abandon further trea'inca
until the present Yoar.
Tho route through Weston Navlard
Sudbury. Marlboro and Shrewsbury 70
Worcester Is perhaps the best known
and most frequentlv travelled Of any u,
the main western highway as not ONLY
Is tho way direct and comparatively free
from hills. but Il Is an admirable way
throughout. Going out through Waith-
am one reaches Weston near the Stonev
Creek station at Central avenue and
this t. tho direct way through Tho per
son driving ont the Commonwealth ave
nue boulevard through Brooklinc and
Newton reaches Central avenue about a
mile from the Stoncy Creek station so
1t will be seen that M matter whether
for pleasure or business the traffic over
this road is very large
It Is fact that hofore tho automobile
was utilized as a vehicle tie travel on
tho roadway was very henvv and this
this led to the development of this route
az one Of the main trunk ways through
the state toward the west. And Il
ought 10 hc known TINT this traffic
had had It's effects upon the road 70 a
considerable extent The road was built
In lN9G-7 ana tho work was Of the enrlies.
under the direction Of the state that has
been regarded ns STANDARD The con
structlon was what was at that time re-
eardod as tho best and IN method there
has been but little change since THAI
time Tho materials were mixed +
and granite macadam. well prepared
It is surprising to say. had up q
time received hut little attention
as repair was concerned.
Tho road being the connecting link
tween Boston and Worcester and bet
the direct outlet for the AUTOMOBILES
through the parkway. 1t is naturaN
enough that the way should he much
, travelled by motor cars In fact. 1t Is
doubtful II there is another highway n
America that is more travelled by au-
tos This. in connection with the large
amount Of animal vehicle traffic. had .
a considerable degree manifested itsolt.
There were places where the macadan
had been broken through and there We're
many rut holes and these varied from
one to 80 feet In Length. and from sev-
| eral inches to three feet in width. while
there were numerous pitch holes or
ups in the surface, which were often
| generally circular IN shape. J
Close examination Of the highway
showed that the repair had been neglect
cd to n considerable extent and the sur
faces presented many depressions whic
| filed with water during the storms az
the dust and powdered materials W.
! d.ssipated by the traffic and the VIII,
| But the traffic was considered 70 be-
sponsible for the removal OF the dust
| pulver!zed matter. The road was n
| rough in places for the No. ! stone hal
| been exposed and In places was scat1
tered loose. As might he assumed. the'
condition from the presence OF dust
which was raised almost constantly by
/ the traffic was not at al! pleasant to the
people OF the towns and 1t was for the
purpose OF suppressing the dust as we'll
| az making the residents along the road
more satisfied that the commission un-
dertook to make the treatment Il author
| tied
The wisdom of experimenting on a road
that was we'll worn may be questioned
hut It was after considerable thought
the commission decided that It would be
! possible To reach determinations more
| easily than were the work entirely new
and the people compelled to wait a long
er time before conclusions could be
| reached. That the test would be severe
| and exaCting and would be an extreme
| rather than an average because of thu
traffic and the condition of way, was
acknowledged, and IN addition 1t was
known 1t would be necessary to apply
the treatment more freely and protec.
| the surface with a heavier top dressing
which would naturally increase the cost
much beyond what might be regarded
| as an average
FACTS RELATING TO EXPERIMENT
For the experimental work sections oI
the road as nearly alike as could he
| iected were chosen and to these the
crude coal tar. water gas tar special
coal tar product. and the varying COM
pounds were applied
! OF the materials the water gas tar
was purchased at a cost of $3.50 a So
gallon barrel delivered at the work, some
of it being delivered In barrels and the
remainder In a tank wagon. The water
gas tar is thin and oily. having. as pre-
NiOuSly stated, pUt - per cent. or resi-.
| dunn, 2ls light oils TO 10 degrees cen.
tigrsde. 80 per cent. dead oils. "A am
moniacal water, and "A specific gravity
! of l04l.
The crude coal tar was procured sim.
fairly from a local producer. tho cost
being s. a 5O-gallon barrel delivered at
the work this containing a satisfactory
pitch base and had been produced at a
comparatively low temperature. This
had specific gravity of 1910 contained
l7.2 light oils. 81 dead oils. and 54s resi-
dunn. with per cent Of ammoniacal
| water.
The special coal tar product was sup
piled free OF cost by the manufacturer
In 5o-gallon barrels. the department. pay
ing the freight from Boston 70 Wayldni.
This compound had a specific gravity
of HI contained 1878 per cent. light oils.
476 per cent total dead oil or creosote,
! and 3g6 residuum. this being hard and
brittle pitch. The water had been ell
minated and the preparation did not
contain any of the extremely volatile
oils which are characteristic Of crude
tar.
COST FOR LABOR
As to the labor this was supplied by
In which the contractor received a stated
daily salary and a bonus OF 10 per cent.
OF the actual cost Of the labor supplied