The review. [volume] (High Point, N.C.) 1908-19??, 1914-09-10
ROADS AND STREET CONSTRUCTION
From an Economic Standpoint by
Charles E. FOOte.

Several essential factors must b.
considered in the construction o
city streets and country roads if thu
greatest value is to be secured fo
the money expended.
One of the first, and really domi
mating factors, is competent engineer
ing. The city or community, which
by reason of a false notion of saw
ing money, employs cheap and in
competent engineer will invariably
find, in the long run, that the inferi-
or services rendered have proven
very expensive, by reason of unnec'
essary amounts of money spent, and
inadequate construction designed
and carried out. The best engineer
ing services obtainable are always
the cheapest in the end.
Whatever surface is to be laid on
a street or road. the foundation
must be practically the same. Con
crete founds tons ar nee ssary for
practically every pavement that
may be laid on the principal streets
of cities, and on some country roads
of unusually heavy travel.
But there are different kinds of
concrete, and it is the business of
the engineering to make a careful
survey of local materials with view
to finding that which can be utilized
at the least cost In or near almost
every community can be found
some material which will make up
most of the mineral aggregation for
Gancrete which will make salts
factory foundations. In the absence
of supply of stone other materials
may be utilized. Washed gravel,
or creek gravel makes an excellent
aggregate for concrete; coarse sand
is sometimes used, though it usually
requires a larger proportion of &C.
ment; blast furnace Stag is usually
considered satisfactory; and cinders.
and d variety of other materials,
after proper tests have been made,
may be utilized for the purpose. If
neither the Municipality Ler the
engineer have The facilities for max
ing the tests, the United States Of-
fee of Public Roads will cheerfulIy
make them, without cost, except
that of the transportation, of the
samples to4and from Washington.
For country roads, and for resi-
dence streets of cities, where con-
crete may not be considered neces-
sary, gravel which has good c.
menting qualities makes a good
foundation. Broken stone may he
used of softer quality than would
be proper in the surfacing material,
especially if the sub base be careful
ly compacted with p heavy roller.
In the surface, only the best ma
terials should be used, because it is
on the surface that the entire wear
becomes effective, and the question
of cost must be considered, not from
standpoint of the original invest
ment, but on basis formed by the !
addition to that original cost of
maintenance for a period of ten or
twenty years. The use of Inferior
materials not only makes less sat
isfactory street. but doubles or tre-
bles and sometimes quadruples the
annual cost of maintenance.
If Asphalt be used in the surfac.
ing, either in the form of street as.
phault, Asphaltic Concrete or AS
phalt Maoadam, only Natural Lake
Asphalt should be used and the
sand, or the sand and stone viii h
form the mineral aggregate must be
carefully selected, with view to
making surfacing material which
will last twenty years and upward.
1t is worthy of note, in this con !
nection, that the laws of the Ger
man Government prohibit the use f
the term Asphalt" as applied to
other than the Natural Lake prof.
uct, Residual Asphalts;" oil AS
phaults;' and the other aspbaltic
products of petroleum, prepared in
imitation of genuine asphalt must
be so designated as show their ex-
act character, so that no errors NAV
be made either in specifi cations by
the engineers or in bids by contract
ors. While none of the States of
the Union has as yet enacted such
legislation, competent and honest
engineers may be relied on for the
proper carrying out of the expressed
wish of the governing officials
considering that the Asphalt it.
self is simply the adhesive and CO.
hesive cement which bind together
the stone and sand PARTICLES which
form the aggregate of the surfacing
material of a pavement, and is there
fore but a small part of the cost of
a finished street; considering also
that the difference in cost between
the Natural Lake Asnhalts and tho