Arizona republican., 1915-08-22
TOUCH |S
 APPLIED ID THE
 GLENDALE ROAD
Oiling of Stretch of State Highway Northwest of Phoenix Makes Road to Sugar City One of Finest in the State
SAME TREATMENT
 FOR TEMPE ROAD
Stretch East of City Will Make Almost Ten Miles of Dustless Highway. Constructed by the State

Iil1IlNdN NoilSli tt'tCN p.F
 the State
 With the oiling this week of four and one-half miles of state highway between Phoenix and Glendale the work of constructing q dustless road from the fair grounds to the Sugar City is practically completed. The two and one-half miles Of caliche road will be treated with oil within the next ten days.
 Methods and machinery similar to those employed on the roads in Los Angeles county, California were used on the Glendale road, with the result that the stretch northwest of the city is one of the finest in the southwest. The oil distributor. built especially for the state engineering department bv the Baker Manufacturing company of Los Angeles. was designed by W. E. Cannon. chief road oiler of the California county It consists of 1000 gallon tank. mounted on an au- tomobile truck Inside the tank, and connected with the main shaft, is bump which keeps the oil al pres sure of 20 pounds, and forces it in q spray through a battery of nozzles into the surface of the road.
 The oil used on the Glendale road is what is known as a 92 per cent oil, that is. it is 92 per cent solid at - degrees Fahrenheit. It is applied to the road at a temperature of 300 degrees having been heated in special retort and kept hot in the tank pv means of an asbestos lining. So perfect is the insulation of the tank that oil can be pumped in in the evening and used the next day on the road. the temperature loss be- ing practically nil
 Before the oil is applied the surface of the road is swept carefully a number of times with a mechanical sweeper. in order to remove all the dust The road is then sprinkled with water and as soon as this is dry the oil is applied. The distributor covers one half of the eighteen foot roadway at one trip. spreading the uil on in a smooth even sheet, in the uniform amount of four-tenths of a gallon to the square yard. It leaves behind a smooth black ribbon nine feet wide. and very sticky. Usually the oil is covered in a short time with a thin layer of fine gravel and sand which takes up the oil. making firm smooth surface. resembling in every respect bitulithiC pavement.
 In some cases where the oil was allowed to stand on the Glendale road over night it proved an excellent trap for catching insects and small ami mals. Rats, small chickens and even rabbits were found dead in the morning. having exhausted themselves in the effort to escape from the sticky oil
 The work of improving the Glen dale road was begun by the state en- gineering department last winter. At that time four and one half miles of gravel roadway. IS feet wide was constructed, and two and one-hali miles of old caliche road repaired It was seen at the time the work was done that the road would have tC be oiled in order to protect it against | the very heavy traffic. and prepara ] tions made to apply the oil in the most efficient way
 The cost of grading and surfacine l the gravel road. and of culverts foI
 same was approximately s4S00 pel mile for the 4.26 miles, or approxi- | mately AS cents per square yard | For the two and one-half miles ol l caliche repaired and reconstructed tn, | total cost was about S600O, making | the total for the road construction | and culverts, before the work of oil | ing was begun s26.6S0. The cost ol oiling is estimated at $500 per mile | making the total cost of tn
 new highway from s4500 to s5500 pei mile. The figures given are approXi-
 nations. as the segregated cost o
 the entire work will be published | later.
 Traffic on the Glendale road i | fifty per cent heavier than on th' | Tempe road" said State Enginee | Lamar Cobb yesterday. "A count O
 the vehicles passing on both road
 one Saturday showed 900 on thu Glendale road as compared with 60 l on the Tempe road. Of this numbe half were automobiles, and it is tn
 suction caused by automobile traffi that removes the cushion of dust a~'
 sand necessary to protect the road | A second coating of oil will b' | applied to the Glendale road in abou six months. after that it will be un necessary to oil the road again for year and a half.
 The work of construction and oil ing on the Glendale road has bee;
 done under the supervision of Stat
 Engineer Cobb. Assistant Erginee
 F. N. Atwood having had charge of tn
 work. As soon as the last bit of oil
 ing is completed the distributor vii
 be put on the stretch of Tempe roa'
 from the city limits to the GraHt canal Here d lighter oil will D
 used After the oiling of the thre
 mile section east of the city, the dis tribuor will be rented to the countie for road work not on the state high way system.