The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1913-01-10
POLITICS SHOULD NOT
BALk THE GOOD ROADS
Continued From Page One.


without anything to hold the stone
| in place.
Needs a Good Binder.
In this connection it is important
to consider that the stone and labor
the principal items in road build
ng eXpense-cost just as much with
! poor binder as when permanent
asphalt binder is employed. In the
! 'irst case the stone and labor eX,
'ense is gone within a short time
While the same outlay, plus the com.
"aratively small cost of a lasting
Under, makes permanent invest,
| ment.
"Bituminous' is the adjective APP,
! las been used so carelessly and TO
| 2over so great multitude of prod
lcts, good and bad, that it now
! means little. Products vary as wide
ly as coal tar, heavy petroleum resi-
| dues and lake asphalt. are loosely
classed bitumens. They are, how
ever. entirely different things, not
only as to their origin and chemical
composition, but as to their quail
ties and results.
The natural product is produced
ut ordinary temperatures by natural
causes extending over very long
period of time. The artificial oil as
Dhalts are produced induStrially by
distillation and manipulation involv
ing very high temperatures for a
very short time. The two products
vary, of course. in proportion to the
difference of their origin.
That nothing has been discovered
for use as road binder which has
the enduring cementing qualities of
natural asphalt is not strange when
the origin of this material is con-
sidered. BermudeZ asphalt like, in
venezuela, for example, is a tropical
storehouse of naturally formed as
phalt. The deposit has lain for cen
turtles under the equatorial sun;
storm and flood swept over it for
ages. Every change that the ele-
ments can make was made on the
sun-scorched and storm-hooded sur
face of the tropical deposit from
which the bitumen comes in the
form that nature made it. AS would
be expected, the temperature of the
United States have no effect what
ever on such a material.
The bleeding of binders and road
oils is their most evident defect. In
some cases the lighter oils applied
to road surfaces do no more than
change ordinary dust to greasy dust
and the last condition is worse than
the first. Avoidance of these condi-
lions can, however be accomplished
by careful choice among the ma
terials now available for road build
ing and road treatment.
AS to Maintenance.
Maintenance is becoming a more
and more important consideration,
and it is evident tat however low
the first cost of a road may be, it
is going to be a very expensive I'M
dertakinS in the end if it requires
repair and attention. Roads
or treated with a stable
lake asphalt are not covered in hot
with eXuding oil or pitch,
nor do materials of this kind votaliZe
and leave only a coke-like sub
stance that has no binding power
Bleeding, in fact, is a sure sign of
early disintegration. Paraffine which
is entirely absent from native as.
phalts, is responsible for bleeding in
most cases. Bitumens of paraffine
origin, in the first place lack adj
hesiveness which of course is the
main virtue of a road binder. The
asphalt and the paraffine hydrocar-
bons in which it is contained do not
TO hn iol ;e,
piled to the road. Then the dirt
and stone act somewhat in the ma
ture of filter, retaining the heavier
for a while, but allow |
ing the lighter oils to be drawn to !
the surface. 1t will always be found /
that the material which collects on /
road surface by bleeding is much |
softer and contains larger amount |
OF petroleneS than the material as
originally applied. Owing to their
and the great physical |
affinity of native asphalts for finely
divided mineral matter their adhe- !
SlVeness and lack of paraffine, they |
10 not release oil under the inf1u- |
ence of the heat.
Will Likely Become the Standard.
In the case of light oils. and the /
binders produced by distillation of |
paraffine or semiparaffine oils it is
necessary constantly to replace some
thing that quickly disappears after /
It's application to the road. But if |
stable native bitumens are employed. |
re-application is only required at
ong intervals owing to the indies
cementing power of the ma
tural product
with such products, even superb |
;ially applied, we have the means
Of a new form of road construc-
Lior. consisting of the gradual build |
Ing UP of bituminous coatings by
surface application of an asphalt of
softer consistency than that of the /
One it finally assumes. While such |
materials may be applied almost in
the same manner as oils, yet they |
should not be considered as dust /
for after repeated appli-
cations, each remaining in the road, |
VIII form an asphalite coat of con- |
siderable durability.
The above very briefly states the |
characteristics of bituminous road
especially those of the truly |
asphaltic variety. Asphalt macadam
roads to the extent of probably $50
miles have been constructed at
points widely different in climate as
Colorado, Wisconsin, Massachusetts |
aud Florida. There appears to be no
doubt in the minds of those best
capable of forming sound judg |