Bismarck daily tribune. [volume] (Bismarck, Dakota [N.D.]) 1881-1916, 1913-07-03
Several Cities Of State Are
Now Studying Systems Of
Street Pavement
Is Now Considered q NeCeS.
Sity and is Proving a Pay
ing Investment

ing Investment
Since the good ROADS apostles il
this state have given an impetus to
road building, it is believed that Bis
narck and many other cities will be
stimulated to the building Of moro
city pavcments and inaugurate a gen
eral movement for the laying out of
boulevard system which will be
credit to the city.
Bismarck is sadly in need of clear
and dustless asphalt pavements and
while there has been a general desire
on the part of the property owners
to have them, the city funds for this
work have been low. With the money
at hand, the street departments
have done good work in the way OF
grading and leveling, and while this
has helped. it has not accomplished
the desired purpose of a majority OF
the people.
During rainy weather the down
town streets are sometimes in a de-
piOI dblC NoIlSkIlIoIl III IuC SAooo" !
are generally muddy. This mud Is
tracked onto the sidewalks by pedes'
TRANS and later into homes and
stores. The appearance Of the
streets during periods like these de
tracts from the beauty of the city
and gives visitors a bad impression
City street paving is nor a luxury, ii
is q necessity, and ii has been proven
that it is one Of the best Investments
any city can make. =
Good roads and good pavements go
hand in hand. The taxpayers are the
ones who in some form pay the bills
for both, and as the state and many
cities are about to engage upon an
era of highway and street improve
ments, a close study of the situation
should be made by the engineers, and
only the best materials selected fol-
| such work. ASA 49, y"
Experiments Were Costly.
1t has been found that brick pave
ments prove satisfactory on streets
| where there is light traffic. On streets
which are heavily traversed it has
been found that brick chips, very Of
ten expands, and makes an uneven
ness which produces a loud noise
when a vehicle passes over it. The
| principal reason for the building o.
brick pavements is their low cost, vel
the maintenance charges of brick are
greater than on asphalt, wood block:
or bithullthic. ..,
Many cities have sent engineers
east to make a study of the various
kinds Of pavements which are being
laid on streets where the travel Is
heavy. The majority of eastern cities
have a greater yardage itrNnaturaI
sheet asphalt than in any other kind
Of material. Thousands Of dollars
we're wasted in the east from expert
menting with various amterials. The
solution of the paving problem was
finally reached in the adoption of the
standard specification calling for the
construction of a pavement properly
mixed with natural lake. asphalt,
Every man who owns a bit of real
estate on a street, whether used for
business or residence purposes.
should apply to the selection of pave
ment in front of his property the same
tests that he would apply to any ar.
ticle he would buy for, personal use.
The idea Of a pavement is to benefit
a. property. 1t is an improvement.
A brick block pavement is an i'm.
proyement in the sense that any
pavement is an improvement of a dirt
road, but in only''a few instances is
- pr i~1 y Wv ~ oy,$ ~, {ha. crrc,o t1,oS II
increasesVthc money value of the abut-
ting property. There is a great dr.
versity or opinion as to what consti-
tutes heavy traffic, each person using
this phrase having a different men,
tai picture to which he aplies 1t. 1t
is for these persons that there are
found such widely divergent ideas as
to the durability of brick pavements.
1t is natural that in samll cities the
principal street should be thought to
have heavy traffic. while with metro
politan standards it would be found
exceedingly light traffic. A street up
on which a vehicle passes a given
noint every thirty seconds, for ten
hours, would be thought by some to
be a very busy street, while this
would really mean 1900 vehicles in
ten hours. p
True Merits Of a Pavement.
The situation today in regard to all
forms of pavements SO far as the pub.
&c, and much to the same extent so
far as the municipal engineer, are con-
cerned, is such that it is impossible
for them to determine wherein the
true merits of any form of construc.
ton lie or whether there are any in.
herent defects in it. There has been
a continuous tendency to be led by
the spacious and historical claims OF
the advocates Of the latest novelty,
merely for a change from some stand
ard form which, in particular in.
stances, has not been entirely sat
isfactory, owing to the construction
of surfaces of a type not suited to the
environment to which they are sub
mitted, or to lack of maintenance on
the part of the municipality.
Statistics are extant and tests have
Jeen made which prove that a load
which one horse can draw on steel
rails one and one.half horse power
can move on natural lake asphalt;