Los Angeles herald., 1909-12-19
DECEMBER 10, 1909.

sufficiently even hardness. 1t is ar
gued by some that the soft particles
have their value in binding the harder
ones together, but this view Is con-
trary to the latest experience in road
building. A mechanical bond in soft
rock binding with hard was considered
desirable in earlier times when dry
macadamized roads were constructed,
but since the extensive use of motor
vehicles it has been found that dry
macadamizing will no longer resist the
wear and that hard rock bonded to-
gether by something other than a me-
chanical bond best answers the re-
uuirements. This has led to the dis
carding of dry macadams and the
adoption of bonded macadam for road
purposes
"Fourth-The oil used on the El
Monte road is lighter than should be
employed for the purpose. l observed
that wherever a slight excess of oil
had been applied the maeadam had a
tendency to remain softer than II
should be, and yet there was not sur
ficient oil in the macadam to fill the
joints so as to make the strongest pos
sible bond.
"Fifth-The surface of the roadway
where finished presented an even,
smooth finish, showing that the laying
and rolling had been properly and
carefully done.
"Slxth-The curves on the Ell Monte
highway have not been raised on the
outside to give a proper elevation Tor
automobile traffic. This, however, Mr..
Loder explained would be taken care
of on all other work to be done here
after, and was accidentally overlooked
on the first work done.
Causes of Delay in Road Work
"As the amount of work accom-
plshed to date is very small, except In
making surveys and preparation for
actual construction, l Investigated to
ascertain the causes for this condition.
There are several reasons for so little
work having been accomplished at the
present time, and / will mention those
which l call the principal ones.
when the highway commission
took charge of the matter the roads to
be improved were found to be in a
very unsatisfactory condition. Their
alignment was not good and no grades
had been established for the country
roads. In doing permanent work II Is
absolutely necessary to do this on suit
able grades and to lay it down ac-
cording to the property lines along the
highways in order not to encroach on
one side of the roadway more than on
the other or to conflict with private
property.
"This required a large amount OF
engineering and surveying, and neces-
sarlly consumed considerable time. as
the lines and grades had to be sur
veyed and plans and profiles drawn
before the plans and specifications
could be prepared. On many of the
highways rights of way had to be Sc
cured, which must be done before
awarding contracts. This is another
cause for delay in doing work. These
two causes, which are responsible for
the loss of half the time since begin
ming the work, could not be avoided.
Another important cause for slow pro-
gress, even If contract has been let
on the work, is the difficulty of secur-
ing suitable rock, both the quantity
and quality of the quarries first select
ed were insufficient for the purpose,
and work in course of construction has
been greatly delayed from this cause,
"a further cause of delay has been
the fact that grading was not COM
menced earlier on the sections of road
first to be macadamized. 1t is well
known that where fills are made the
earth must be allowed ample time to
settle before laying the macadam, and
grading should be done many months
in advance of macadamizing. The
causes of delay, so far as surveying and
preliminary work are concerned, are