The star. (Reynoldsville, Pa.) 1892-1946, 1910-01-12
Road Work Fo. France.


York on the international, Road Con-
gress at Paris, to which he was del
egate, Chief Engineer Nelson P.
Lewis, of the New York City Board of
Estimate and Apportionment, refers
to the French road organization In the
following terms:
"The French highway system has
been in evolution. The work of con-
struction and maintenance IL entirely
under the control of the Engineers OF
Bridges and Roads, thoroughly
trained corps of technical men consti-
tuting what is probably the greatest
engineering organization in the
world. All Of the roads in conn., q,
department or city are under their
jurisdiction. There is no conflicting
authority, no diversity of policy or
method in contiguous departments or
communes. The results have been so
striking that the naturalization of
highway work has lately been advo-
Gated in Great Britain. This policy Is
in marked contrast to that prevailing
in this country, and especially in the
city of New York, where in five bor-
oughs there are five distinct highway
bureaus entirely independent of each
other, each one of which has its own
organization, its own methods of adj
ministration and its own standards Of
work. The French system of nation
alization might not be adapted to the
conditions existing in this country,
but that system has resulted in
France in the best built and perhaps
the most thoroughly maintained
highways in the world, while in this
city there is palpable waste Of ener-
gy, material and money, and the re-
suits are by common consent unsatis-
factory. This is not intended as a
condemnation of what we do at home
and an eIaltation of what is done
abroad. We have heard quite enough
of that. Street maintenance in Paris
is expensive, although it is very thor
ough, while some excellent work Is
being done in this city; but with
better organization, more co-opera-
tion and more intelligent investiga-
tion, vast improvements could be eff
fected."
In speaking Of highway adminis-
tration in the French capital, Mr..
Lewis says that the conspicuous fea-
ture is ''the constant investigation
and experiment which is being car
ried on by trained experts. Analyti-
cal investigation of the composition
of pavements, instituted by M. Buffet,
Engineer of Roads and Bridges, in
1868, has developed into the present
municipal laboratory, which has con-
stantly extended the field of it's tests
and studies until to-day 1t is undoubt-
edly the finest in existence. Appara-
tus for testing resistance of paving
materials to wear by friction was in
stalled in 1868, and in 1873 there
was added machine for testing the
resistance to abrasion of stone used
in macadam roads. A special drilling
machine is in use for testing the
thickness and the degree Of compress
sion Of asphalt pavements. This ma
chine makes round hole only one
and three-eighths inches in diameter,
which is simply and effectively re-
filled without mutilation of the pave
ment. Constant experiments are in
progress to determine the life of this
material and the forces which con-
tribute to its destruction. In order
that these problems may be most eff
fectively studied, the laboratory
makes use Of an artificial 'rotter, by
means Of which the action of these
forces and elements can be intensified
and their effects studied. In Paris,
as elsewhere, the difficulty of main
tanning pavements on streets contain
ing surface railway tracks has been
apparent, and there has been in use
since 1906 device for testing the
flexure of rails under the traffic of the
cars which they are designed to ac-
commodate and that of vehicles which
follow them. Appliances for sprink-
ling and cleaning the pavements have
received much attention. This work
is considered a part Of the street
maintenance, although in the case Of
pavements other than macadam this
expense is kept separately, as al
ready indicated. Good Roads Mag
azine.