El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1915-05-25
ROAD
BEST BY TEST
Expert Shows FL Pasoans
How They Are Built and
Tells How They Wear.

Concrete roads in the making and IN
their completed state and their al
vantages over other pavements were
shown in an illustrated lecture given
By A. n Bowles. representing the
American Portland Cement Manufac-
turers' association, at the chamber OF
commerce building Monday night 10 d
fair sized audience Of varied callinEs-
Mr. BoWles, in his Introductory re
marks told how a few years ago Ne
fore the advent of the automoplles -
eineers felt that they had reached the
perfect pavement in the macadam roao-
Then came the automobile, with It's eA-
cessive wear and tear upon roaGs' ne
cessftating the discovery Of new type
of pavement He spoke Of the RAPID
increase in the number OF auto trucks ..Ai5
manufactured, the output in the Dnlueu
states in 1914 reaching $4,000 lie pre-
ficted a heavy increase in the NUMBER
ZACH year, necessitatiug the more gen
eraI construction of strong paVements
to meet the new conditions. TINS ne"
pavement, he declared, must fs tne
concrete pavement -..
There are several fancied objections
TO the concrete road, said M BoMIes.
THE first is hardness and It's erect
upon horses Horses are lnJur req. hOt
by hard roads. but by those Iull Oh
small holes and by unevenness OF sur
face-by small loose rocks
Objections COmbatted-
Another objection is on the ground
that il is slippery But the ROAD can
be broomed and besides the slight
crown Of a concrete road makes snip
ping nothing to be reared. The same
objection can be raised TO other hard
pavements-
The fact that a concrete pavement
is noisy is another objection raised
Yet il is no noisier than brick at any
time or any other pavement in winter
time.
still another objection raised is that
concrete will crack Properly laid con-
crete rarely cracks. but even If II does
crack, II is no objection for the cracks
can be filled with bitumen and sand
with ease"
shows How It's Done.
The speaker. with the aid Of lantern
slides, took his audience through me
processes Of concrete road making The
first essential, he stated IS proper
drainage TO protect the sub-Dase- II
natural drainage cannot be secured II
is necessary to lay thing along the
sides below the level Of the suu-base-
The material of the sub-base must De
uniform in size, and the crushed rock
and sand must be clean, ne declared
in order to get best results n the
mixing, he advocated the type Of mixer
that moves down the center OF the
work To get best results, the mixing
must be thorough The mixed material
should be OF consistency that when
poured il viii stand up, requiring
spreading The water used should be
free from oil, acid, alkali or vegetable
Building Concrete Road
''The sub-base should be flat, where
the width Of the road is to be l6 feet
or under. Where the width is over
&c feet, the sub-base should be crowned
ore-eighth OF an inch for each add1-
tional foot width. The forms should
be preferably Of metal but If wood
is used it should be protected from
warpinE by angle pieces
Joints should be provided every 50
feet across the paVementss and the
edges should be protected with SOFT
joints should be filled with tar paper,
tarred felt or waterproof bituminous
material
How to Finish.
'In finishing, the rough places in the
surface should be smoothed out with
a wooden float the men working from
a bridge spanning the concrete When
the concrete is sufficiently. hard, broom
1t with a coarse stable broom II IS
necessary then to sprinkle as soon as
possible. If the weather is very hot,
il is advisable TO first cover the con-
crete with a tarpaulin, then when it
hardens a bit spread one-half inch Of
loan or dirt and keep damp for five
to traffic for ten days after the con-
crete is placed In pavements over %
feet in width it is necessary to use re
infOrcing, unless a joint in the center
is provided Plain steel rods or steel
mesh are used as reinforcement"
The average cost Of laying concrete
pavement in the United States, the
speaker said, is $1-24 per square yard,
which is much cheaper than any other
pavement he declared In Wayne
county. Mich, where the pavement was
first laid in 1909. the average nam
tenance cost is SIS per mile per year
and consists in repairs to joints solely.
Galveston Likes Concrete.
Mr.. BoWles also told Of the work
done at Bellefouutaine, o., at Spencer,
Mass, and at various points in The
south, including Galveston, where
900 square yards Of concrete pave
ment have been laid and where so, 600
square yards more are to be laid Ex-
cellent results have been obtained at
al points he declared.
Mr.. BOWles took occasion to show
several views Of the condition Of the
macadam road north Of FL Paso. One
OF the scenes showed a driver taking
the side Of the road in preference to
the paved center. All the scenes showed
dust in the air and broken places in
the pavement. The rock Of this vicin-
ity. he stated, is admirably suited to
concrete work, and the sand, il washed,
will meet the requirements.