The Birmingham age-herald., 1909-05-09
.OIL EXPERIMENT ON ROAD PROMISES ID BE BIG SUCCESS Petroleum Asphalt Is Mixed With Vehicle Which Evapo-
 rates In Few Hours SURFACE LEFT SMOOTH AND FREE FROM ALL DUST Estimated Cost is Ten Gents a Square Yard and Experiments Now Under Way Here Are Watched With
 Great Interest.
By JAMES B. KEELING.

l in Birmingham.
 | These experiments differ from previous
 oil tests in the oils being used, this being | mixture of petroleum asphalt and ve-
 hicle oil, while previous tests were made
 with crude petroleum. To get the as- ! phalt the crude oil is refined, the kerosene, gasoline, naptha, parafine and the vari- 1 ous grades of engine vehicle oil and other by-products being taken out and leaving only the pure petroleum asphalt. l By itself the asphalt cools into a solid 1 mass. The problem of making it liquid l body as to knead with the chert
 was solved by mixing 1t with the light
 vehicle oil. To do this 1t was necessary | to vaporize both the asphalt and oil and | let them mingle with each other in the
 vapor, producing an oil which flows freely. | The surface of the road Is then loosened
 and the oil mixed with the loose chert
 The theory is that the vehicle oil evap-
 crates within a few days. leaving the
 asphalt to form again into a compact
 mass with the chert. A thin coat of
 screen store Is laid over the surface
 and after a heavy rain the screenings
 either wash away or become a part of ] the solid mass, and the whole turns
 black. forming a pavement appearing simi-
 lar to asphalt and bitulithic. l On Avenue F at Seventh street and on
 Twelfth avenue, north, at Thirty-third 6street, are the places where the tests
 are being made. The Standard oil com
 pany is making the experiment. having an
 expert, R. w. Sanders of Cincinnati here l,, oI,n 1F
 John McCartin is watching the work. and
 so far has been favorably impressed
 with it.
 | Different grades of oil are being used
 on these two blocks. One Avenue F
 the oil was 40 per cent asphalt and 60
 per cent vehicle oil, while on Twelfth | avenue TO per cent asphalt and 30 per
 cent vehicle oil is being used.
 The recommendations of the oil com
 pany are that the 40 per cent asphalt be
 used on the oiling of old roadbeds and the
 70 per cent grade on new work. The
 Avenue work has only been completed
 during the last two or three days, and Is
 was not found necessary to stop traffic
 while the work was being done. It has i been well rolled and presents a beautiful, i sprngy pavement, free from dust, quite | different from what 1t was before. Form
 erly 1t was several inches deep with mud
 | On old roads the dust is scraped from l the surface and the oil sprinkled over | it, being followed with the coat of
 screenings The oil penetrates to a depth
 of two or three inches and makes prac-
 tically a new road On new work the
 oil can be run to whatever depth is de-
 sired, though four inches is considered
 ample
 l One gallon of oil to the square yard is
 the proportion being used. The price of l the oil will be in the neighborhood of 61a
 cents per gallon, while it is not believed
 the total cost of oil and laying will reach
 10 cents per square yard.
 A feature of this method said to have | been shown at the Savannah race course | is the quick manner in which 1t dries, l the last oil being placed on the road there 1 at midnight before the day the race was held. The road is said to have been 1 in perfect condition for the race without | the slightest bit of dust.
 Commissioner McCartin has only re- | gently returned from a trip to Savannah, | where he inspected the course. In re- l gard to the freedom from dust he said: ] Tt was just as pleasant to ride behind | an automobile on the course as in front, | there being not bit of dust, and there are quite a number of powerful auto
 mobiles in Savannah. Part of the course was stretch of very busy street, but 1 despite the heavy traffic that has been l for ole | free from dust.
 "There was another feature. Part of | the road was new road. being built | through heavy woods It was necessary | to dig up huge stumps, which left great
 holes These were filled with the sandy 1 loam and the roadbed hurriedly built | Sufficient packing had not been made on | these fills and the roadbed was conse- l quently sunk when the dirt settled, caus- | ing large sinks. To show the waterproof | qualities these sinks had filled with wa | ter from recent rains and the water stood | there. not being able to penetrate the l coat of oil"
 The soil in Birmingham is quite diff | ferent from that of Savannah, accord | ing to Commissioner McCartin, and he | will not express himself decisively on the | work being done here until he has wit | messed a stringent test of it. Should it | come up to all of the claims being made | for it by the oil company 1t will prob
 ably revolutionize paving in the Birming- | ham district.
 | Chert paving averages 25 cents per l square yard on new work, but the heavy rains usually render patching necessary | within a year. With the oil it will cost | S5 cents and it is claimed that the chert will be held together so that 1t cannot wash away. The plain chert road also 1 becomes very dusty within a few months after being laid. This necessitates sprfnk- ling with water, which creates quite an
 item of expense. It is claimed that the oiled roads will prevent dust. thus doing | away with the cost of water sprinkling. Even if it should be necessary to oil the
 road once year 1t is said that 1t would | still be much cheaper.
 The Birmingham Realty company is also very much interested in the experiments. During the next few months 1t is the in-