New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1914-08-16
Syndicate to Supply Ma
terial at Nominal Price
for Experiments.
PROPONENTS CLAIM
GREAT ADVANTAGES
High Initial Cost Is One of the
Drawbacks. bit Surface
Lasts for Years.

60 will be q matter FOR general re-
r-c- g. The present sorry state Of az
.i-s in Europe, which will cause
rose or less serious rubber famine
there as we'll as in America, causes
delay ia the plans OF English highway
experts to experiment with rubber
roaJvays. This is the latest and, eX-
CD, ror ,hc huge initial outlay per
mile for cons tructiou. one Of the most
loriasl prooositiors thus far advarced
.r the effort TO develop the IDEAL high
osy that viii be durable, dustess,
quiet and safe under all conditions OF
weather
Almost every other form Of road sur
face has been tried out. and not with
out success. but the methods that have
gwen the greatest satisfaction involve
heavy expenditure. and the surface has
yet TO be devised that does not require
steady attention.
The rubber roadway scheme is still
a i,- inception. so that q comparison
between SIS cost bon large amounts and
lat OF the most durable OF the other
.Encs cannot be made. IT 10 has. how
over. an the advantages that are
t.aiucd "a heavy initial cost would be
more than made up IN It's length OF
service without expense Of upkeep.
Some years ago. when roads and road
cons ruction were under animated dis
,.ssioU, S. i. Edge. an English auto
mobile man. ventuyed 60 predict that
ODE street of the future would oe paved
With rubOcc
As that commodity at the time was
selling very near TO 50 80 pound,
there Was some reason for the Smiles
he lroused. but to-day he is qualifying
Tor prophets mantle.
The Rubber Growers Association has
made . free grant Of 1000 tons OF
t.antation rubber and has offered an
additional .0C0 IONS per gnnum during
..c next five years at the nominal price
ci IS cents d pound TO encourage ad-
venture and experiment in laying down
!ubbcr-surf2ced roadwsys IN Great
Britain.
q section or the Old Kent Road in
Bcrmo1jsey has already been rubber
.urfaccd on the Dessau system, ana
tfc results are such that, despite its
high initial cost something approNl-
rating S25 q square yard IS eX-
pcc-ed 90 prove quite az economical as
The ordinary and much inferior sys-
TENS
A thi-ty-yard length Of ruober-sur-
faced road has been In use at the en-
trance 90 Eustcn Station for the last
tffrt~ years. during which time II has
required no upkeep. although u shows
.i-ns Of considerable wear from the
steel j1ds of the thousands Of motor
..-o- which have passed over lt weekly
curing the last few wears.
That section is simply a series OF
iugc slaUs Of rubber laid on WOODEN
base. but in the Dessau system the
,ubbcr IS dove-tailed into the surface
90 small blocks Of Jarrah wood. lheSe
u God blocks interlCck. so that they are
HOMOGENEOUS when laid. have water
eight joints and yet are easily removed
ard replaced for the many rndel-sur-
face oDerations. which city streets are
r.rpetually being broken up to admit
y, fs claimed that with a rubber sur
face the road foundations do not re-
cuire TO be more than One-haN as deep
a. those now necessary with wood sur
faces. for which a 12-inch concrete
base ., required iu London, and which
often fails 20 support bus traffic.
Traffic shocks. which in the latter
case are communicated direct 10 the
foundations. are absorbed by the rub
Der surface. and so the latter admits
Of a lighter construction, which, added
20 SIS UNNECESSARILY longer life, turns
the financial balance i'm its favor.
These calculations are based on the
results Of the Old Kent Road expert
INERT. where. after 295 days OF traitic,
amounting 10 ninety tons per square
foot per hour throughout the whole
period. the rubber surface was not per-
ccDt.oiy worn. while the adjacent 4
inch wood paving had lost one-halt
inch of road surface depth during the
same time. Naturally, knowing the
properties Of rubber-su surfaced tires, mo-
florists will ask how rubber roads viii
act in wet weather. The common i'm
preston is that they must cause skid
ding. and yield a rather treacherous
surface TO all kinds Of traffic. This,
however. is not borne out in practice,
Tor even when smeared with oil, or
black-leaded, there is no tendency for
motor traffic TO slip on them.
10 Is pointed out that, whereas the
Dcssau people had 20 indemnify the
local authorities against claims on tins
score when their experimental section
was laid down, and insurance experts
quoted almost prohibitive rates for We
hicles habitually using IL, there have
been no claims, and insurance rates
have reverted TO the normal.