The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1911-02-23
SMALL TOWNS PAVING
Many Iowa Ceuaty Seats are Paving.
Concrete Will be used Extens-
lively In Many Places.

Nearly all the county seat towns
in Iowa have either started paving
or are talking paving, and Leon is
among the latter class. We should
be up and moving along this matter
and it would not be bad idea to
commence investigating the question
right now, and then when it Is de-
cided to pave much valuable time
will be saved. The Marshalltown
Times-kepublican has the following
pertinent article on this subject.
City councils in the small towns of
Iowa are beginning to pass their reso-
lutions of intent to pave. The coming
season is going to see more of this
much needed Improvement in our
county seat towns than was ever at
tempted before. Paving is both pos
sible and profitable for small towns
provided it is secured without I'M
necessary cost. And there's the rub.
Brick paving, one course of brick
upon concrete base, should not
cost to exceed $3.50 in Iowa and it
will not cost more than that if the
specifications are so drawn that the
"rattler" test and the size of the
block do not freeze out competition
in the brick to be used.
But the ideal paving and the cheap
paving is plain concrete. 1t is the
foundation used under all high class
and high toned paving. 1t is the
foundation for asphalt, for brick, for
bithulithic, for sarco, for granitoid
and is the basis for all good paving.
When laid five inches thick and mix
ed one part cement to three parts
sand and five parts of crushed rock
or screened gravel it is the founda-
ton for all street paving.
However, there are tricks in con-
crete paving and when the tricks
can be worked they cost the people
money. For Instance, asphalt paving
is an asphalt wearing surface two
inches thick on top of concrete
base. 1t is controlled by trust and
costs nearly 81 per yard. Brick is
frequently confined to one factory's
make by jokers such as7 the "rattler"
test and peculiar size of the block
and then costs nearly 81 per yard
Bithulithic is patented bituminous
or asphaltic composition mixed with
crushed stone and rolled as wearing
surface on top of a concrete base and
because 1t: is controlled by patentees
costs more than 50 per yard. The
same Is true of sarco and when it
comes to a granitoid the price is
held up to 81 per yard by reason of
a patent on a certain mixture of
crushed rock of various sizes with
cement for cement top to a con-
crete base.
But plain, unpatented, durable,
and eminently practicable concrete
paving can be had at a 1925 per
yard which means a saving of $500
to the property owners in every
block. 1t has the same concrete base
that all other good pavements have
but instead of patented compost
ton for wearing surface a layer of
concrete mixed one part of cement
to two parts of sand is spread over
the base two inches thick and brush
ed rough with street broom. Sioux
City has received bids as low as a
$1.18 this spring on this kind of
pavement. 1t is the only thing that
is SO cheap that every town can af-
ford it. If expansion joints are prop
erly placed every twenty-five feet it
will Withstand freezing and thawing
and If laid at fair cost the expense
to property owners need not exceed
a total of 1925 to sixty foot lot on
seven year assessment plan.