Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1912-03-28
ON ROADS
Experiments Made With the
Lowest Grade.
TEST ON BRADLEY LANE
By-Product Being Turned Into a
Valuable Commodity by Depart
ment Of Agriculture.

Another by-product is being TUNED INTO
useful commodity by the Department
OF Agriculture. 1t has been found that
'blackstrap molasses" the very lowest
grade from cane sugar and absolutely un-
eatable from beet sugar, can be mixed
with lime water to make an excellent
road dressing. This has been partly
brought out an experimental stretch
OF road on Bradley lane near Chevy Chase
Circle and the road Office is encouraged
to try further experiments
The several sections OF experimental
road around Chevy Chase Circle are CIV
ing satisfaction Ten different types OF
road adjoining one another are being test
ed for wearing qualities. The department
is about to erect signposts along this eX-
perimental stretch, telling what the diff
ferent sections are made from and fur
nshing the residents an object lesson in
road economy
Test on Bradley Lane.
The small stretch OF road on Bradley
lane is part of the experiment. but il Is
the project OF Logan Waller Page the
director OF the Office of public roads The
road is an ordinarily good macadam road,
but the surfacing material is a novelty
1t simply has been sprinkled with a road
watering cart, in which certain amount
OF the cheapest. low-grade molasses was
mixed with lime water. This material.
according to laboratory experiments, was
found to have peculiar binding effect
with sand. so much so that its use as a
road binder was indicated
The road Office is the first institution i'm
the world to pay much attention to the
chemistry of road materials. For gener-
atoms the only point I'm road engineering
thought worth notice was the mechanical
side. 1t was known that large rock on
the bottom OF a road. grading to finer and
finer material at the top made the best
sort or road construction. But IL was
found that in some cases tho road could
be surfaced with material that although
not a particularly good road stone i'm IT,
self would dissolve with the rain and
form the toughest sort of binder I'm COM
bination with the other rock. This sort
of rude chemistry was followed up and
more. attention was paid to the chemis-
try Of road making.
Use of Wood Sulphite Liquor.
An instance was found in the use Of
wood sulphite liquor, one of the wastes
Of wood-pulp paper making. This was
considered for years a vicious by-product
and there were innumerable suits brought
against pulp mills for polluting the
streams where the liquor was allowed to
run to waste. and state and governments
offered prizes for the discovery of some
way to utilize the liquor, or, at least. TO
make IL harmless.
Finally it was discovered that when
boiled down 1t made good road surfacing
material and now instead of being con-
sidered a worse than useless waste, IL
commands a price OF IL cents gallon
Experimenting With Molasses.
1t was something the same way with
blackstrap molasses. The blackstrap
from cane sugar was barreled and sold,
but that from beet sugar was so offensive
that the manufacturers could do nothing
with it but burn il. Therefore when the
experiment was tried in surfacing the
stretch of road on Bradley lane can"
sugar molasses was used. This mixed
with lime water forms calcium sucrate,
about the stickiest substance known to
chemistry. When it is put on the road
and gets a shower on II, however. il sinks
in and its disagreeable feature is lost.
1t is found that II makes an excellent
road binder.
The only reason the blackstrsp from
beet sugar was not used was that there
was none available. Some experiments
are to be tried with this, and if. as there
seems no chemical reason to prevent, this
is equally successful there will be new
use found for one of the wastes from
beet sugar. This not only VIII help the
good roads movement, but the beet sugar
industry as well.