Grand Forks daily herald. (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1914-1916, 1914-11-25
PAVING BRICK.

PAVING BRICK.
An interesting feature Of the dis
cussion of paving and road making at
the recent meeting of the F~ortnightly
club was the statement by Dean Bah
cock, of the university, that paving
brick Of excellent quality can be made
from the material which lies in album
dance under the surface of the entire
Red river valley.
1t is generally known by those who
have wen a smattering of knowledge
on the subject that ordinary building
brick are useless for paving purposes.
First, because of their softness they
will not resist ear Second, because
of their absorbent qualities they be-
come loaded with moisture. and then
frost readily d~istntegrates them. One
of the tests to which paving brick are
subjected is to immerse them in wa
ter. weighing them before and after.
and thus to determine the percentage
Of water which they will absorb. Tho
more absorbent they are. the less de-
sdrable they are for paving purposes
The ideal paving brick Is N which
Is hard all the way through, with a
texture resembling glass.
Many efforts have been made to de-
wise means whereby paving brick
could be made OF the ordinary surface
clays of the valley, from which build
ing brick are made. There was great
interest In the subject locally ~ tho
beginning Of the paving era in Grand
Forks. but no method was found
which rave won fair promise Of suc
cess. In some Of the experiments a
fair brick was prouced by mixing the
local clays with imported shales. but.
in addition to some other objections,
the freight charges in tho imported
material added too much to the cost
OF tho product
Dean Babcock. instead Of going to
other states for his material. has
merely gone 4 little deeper into the
Garth for 1t, and he has made hard,
vitreous brick, Of suitable grade for
paving. from the tough. heavy blue
clay which lies Just below the yellow
clay found near the surface in most
sections Of the valley. This clay is
rich in the elements necessary for the
production Of good paving brick. and
IL free from lime and other undesir-
able elements. Dean Babcock says
that his experiments have not been
extensfve enough for him to speak
precisely with reference to the cost Of
production. but he II confident that
highly desirable brick can be produc-
ed hero from local material at a price
which will make their very general
Use entirely practicable
Tho Importance Of this can scarce
~ be overestimated. The city of Day.
ton. Ohio. produces enough paving
brick each year to paw a. wide drive
way half way across the continent.
Because of the heavy cost Of carrying
this product its use at great distances
from h point Of production Is not
practicable except for city paving in
some where the value Of abut-
ting property Is too great tina the
high paving tax is not an oppressive
burden. But through Ohio. Indiana
and Illinois. where brick are shipped
but short distances. there are hun
dreds of miles of country roads paved
with brick, the cost being SO low that
it is not burdensome to the commu-
mites affected. It will be some time
before the paving of the country
roads In this state car be consid cred
even as a possibility, but as popula-
ton becomes more dense and tho de-
mand for better and more permanent
roads becomes moro insistent, the
work of %surfactns some Of the main
travelled arteries will be undertaken.
In the absence Of gravel. which in
many would have to be hauled
great distances, the possibility of max
ing 4 durable Dad surface from the
clay which Is abundant everywhere
will be appreciated. In tho can
time, cities and villages will always
be in need Of material for the paw
ing Of their streets.