The Twin Falls times. [volume] (Twin Falls, Idaho) 1905-1916, 1913-07-25
ASPHALT OBTAINED FROM OIL
Production Of Good Roads Material
Steadily Increasing.

Until recently the popular idea of
asphalt represented the solid material
found in certain veins in Utah, or OBJ
tanned from the shores of the Dead
| Sea, or from the asphalt lake in the
Island of Trinidad, the material being
used for asphalt varnish or for street
pavement.
Within the last few years, however,
the asphalt trade has been dominated
to a steadily increasing extent by a
different variety of asphalt obtained
by boiling down the heavy petroleum
found in California and in the region
of the Gulf of Mexico to semisolid
material which has found wide use for
roofing purposes and as binder in
modern road construction. A total of
333, 213 short tons of this oil asphalt
was made in 1912 and had value at
the points of production of 1854, or
This is a gain of 1877 per cent over
1911, and is nearly three times as
much as the output of all other kinds
of asphalt taken together, as shown in
the annual report by David T. Day. of
the United States Geological Survey,
published as an advance chapter from
Mineral Resources for 1912.
Asphaltic oils differ very widely in
the proportion of asphalt contained,
ranging from oils having no asphalt
to very viscous oils which are suitable
for road materials with practically no
refining. Such natural liquid asphalt
is known in many localities, especially
near Lander, Wyo. 1t has not yet
come into popular use, as asphaltic
residues of exactly the required con-
sistency may be obtained more cheap
ly by boiling down the thinner asphalt
tic oils characteristic of many regions
in Texas, California, and Mexico.
The proportion of asphalt contained
in the asphaltic oils of California
Texas, and Oklahoma varies within
wide limits. The oils of the Coaling
district, California, vary from 19S to
57.42 per cent.
In the Kern River field there is a
variation between 1862 and 1877 per
cent. In the Sunset-Midway-M cKit-
trick region the variation ranges from
II to 81 per cent, in the Los Angeles
field from 1873 to 42.2 per cent, and in
the Santa Maria field from IL to AZ
per cent. In Texas and Louisiana the
asphaltic oils, which are limited prac-
tically to the region of the Gulf coast,
show variations from no asphalt to a
maximum of 20 per cent
1t is evident from the figures of pro-
duction of asphalt in California that
the industry is expanding rapidly.
This expansion is easy, because of the
practically unlimited amount of as
phalt which can be separated from the
crude oils, especially from the heavier
grades. During the latter part of 1912
the Standard Oil Co. of California
ceased making contracts for crude pc
troleum below IS degrees b. This
forced the producers to "top" their
product, obtaining large amounts of
asphaltic residues. These they sold
partly for fuel and partly for asphalt
The heavy oils of the Kern River field
required comparatively slight topping
to leave an asphaltic residue which
was well suited for road and roofing
asphalt.
Under the conditions it has proved
possible to push the sale of California
asphalt to great distances. In fact,
early in 1913 the American ship Manga
Reva sailed for New York with car
go of $500 tons of California oil as
phalt in open1headed barrels. This
was her second voyage with such a
cargo. The trade thus begun is ex-
pected to increase greatly on the OPP
ening of the Panama canal.