Evening journal., 1911-04-24
Road Engineer Gives His Ideas on
Material for dupont Boulevard

LullOl VI 4 ne NV E4Nl4N1 dOOlAlNAl4'
What will be the composition Of the
roadbed of the DUPONT boulevard?
One of the great questions which
is agitating the Country today is
road building" Hardly day passes
that we do not see among the daily
news items in many papers that some
town. the county, or the State. is con-
sidering the advisability of improv-
ing various streets or highways by
building new or re-surfacing old road
beds.
This question is becoming yearly
more and more important as the
amount of money invested I'm good
roads and streets is rapidly increas-
ing and it is not only wise but alb
solutely necessary that the mainten-
ance cost should be a minimum or
ten years from now we will either
have an elephant on our hands or
roads not much better than what they
are now.
In building any highway, boulevard
or improved street pavement, there
are two very important factors to con-
slider The initial or first cost and the
repairs necessary yearly, or the main
tenance cost, and these two items
summed up and figured for not less.
than ten or even twenty years, are
tightly termed the cost of the pave
menc
Ii we desire TO purchase a yacht,
OF horse, or an automobile, we usu-
ally determine, if cost be any object,
just what we can afford to pay, for
anybody knows that we can buy any
Of the above for little or big price,
and that mp to certain point or
value. We get just what we pay for,
until We reach that point where the
cost increases rapidly and it is here
that we begin to piy for specialities
and trimmings and we find that
this rule works out for roads and
payements equally as well.
Lasting Quality of Materials.
The writer has been engaged in
constructing roads, streets, and other
municipal improvements for the past
ten years and has had the chance to
study the lasting qualities not only
oi his own work, but that of many
Others and for the furtherance of his
time travelling around visiting var
ious town and cities, has talked with
numerous engineers and contractors.
has examined different road material
ard called upon the managers and
engineers of different firms supplying
mateIial for road construction and
from observation and actual exper-
ience in road construction. he has
1-r
sinle to get whatever is desired in
io2d If we have the price TO pay for it,
There is a great tendency at the
present time to draw away from the
hard road Of the past and to build a
SOC 0~ plastic road instead.
Naturally a soft road is much easier
on horse and vehicle and we realize
that this is condition we would have
IN road if the cost is not too great
The first cost, practically speaking,
for some soft roadbeds is low-but in
the long rung runs II economy?
and can our pocketbooks stand the
strain
Win the development Of new.
idea there is a grand rush to meet
some of the conditions essential 70
the development of the idea, and all
fat once the country is flooded with
patent materials and special prepara-
tions that are guaranteed to do the
work but which in the main are only
make-shifts for the real thing de-
sired.
A. this time the whole country
seems TO be interested in the btu
minous macadam road and all the
big cities, and some States. where
nd
perimenting rOadways or pavements
TO see which of the various tar and
asphalt binders are tho best for the
hnished surface OF street or road
way.
Only last week the writer examin-
ed stretch of pavement I'm the State
of New York that was APO feet long
and in this distance so less than
eighteen different kinds of pavement
Rad been constructed ranging in cost
from $3.50 to $3.50 per square yard.
There We're no cross or intersecting
streets in this distance above mem
toned so that every one Of the pave
ments underwent the same traffic
conditions and although this pave
ment has only been down six months.
yet in this time repairs are already
necessary on some of the sections.
The City of Baltimore and State
OF Maryland has expended considera-
bic money during the past two or
three years trying to find the best
cheap pavement and she has made
as many, if not more experiments.
than the State or New York. and each
has yet arrived at no definite con-
clusiOn.
And right here in our own city we
have tried to develop the ideal cheap
pavement and even have testing lab
oratory and heating and mixing
plant necessary for making repairs
as well as building the pavement and
yet-are the results satisfactory?
Recently the writer spent some
two months visiting Camden, n. J.,
Trenton, n. j., Plainfield, n. j., New
York City, N. Y, Baltimore, Md, Wa
terbury, Conn, Bridgeport, Conn,
and various States and county roads
in New York, Connecticut, Pennsyl-
vania, Delaware and Maryland. and
everywhere the results are the same;
If you pay one dollar per square yard
for your pavement you get a one
dollar pavement, that is, the main
tenance charges in the course of a
few years have purchased a pave
ment that would have outlasted two
OF your one dollar pavements.
@Sme Maryland Experiments.
The State of Maryland has recent
y made some experiments in the