The Detroit times., 1915-04-19
PORTLAND
Cement IS
ENDURING
its Use Makes Possible
Best ncrete
Roads
HAS STOODLONG,
HISTORIC TEST
Grows Better and More
Durable With
Years


J, thing In the successful construction
OF stone roads Is tenacious bind.
. ing material. Search the history OF
highway construction from the
earliest times up to the present and
II VIII be found that the nfe or
every type OF stone road has been
determined by the tenacity and en-
! during properties OF its binding ma
terial Without a tenacious binding
material early failure Is certain I'm.
1 less usage be restricted TO light
horse-drawn traffic. Even without
traffic of any kind whatever. ordi-
/, nary stone roads will be destroyed
In time through natural disrupting
influences. Torrential rains have
often destroyed fine macadam roads
within an hour.
The most enduring binding mate
rial ever invented Ia Portland ce-
ment II has supplanted lime and
natural cement. II is the only avail
!. able structural material 10 which
y time and exposure gives Increased
strength. II Is the only available
structural material whose strength
, In Increased In contact with water.
II has made feasible engineering
projects practically impossible OF
achievement with other materials.
II has led 10 the construction OF the
concrete road. the most durable.
the most economical and most sat.
. isfactory highway ever built at like
| cost. The utility and economy OF
the concrete road are due 10 rort.
land cement alone.
All stone roads are In a sense
! concrete roads.
!. The Roman roads. which have en-.
dured for centuries, were concrete
roads with large stones or aggregate
hound In puzzolana, the volcanic ce.
( ment used BY the Romans. which
does not exceed In strength our
modern Portland cement.
80 4. The best type OF brick road Is Q
concrete road with a Portland ce-
! ment concrete foundation and the
snperstructure OF brick held in the
tenacious grip OF Portland cement
, mortar.
The water.bound macadam road
IL concrete road held together by
week and unstable mortar composed
Of rock dust This rock dust was
; created through the wearing down
\ OF the stones by iron-shod hoofs and
steel tires in the days when horse
I trafic was the rule but the motor
car dfsperses the dust and stones
are ripped up and cast aside, result.
ing In the rapid destruction OF the
road.
All stone roads bound by bItumin-
Gus compounds are concrete roads.
The SPECIFIC type may be designated
by the binding material or the name
Of some individual owning patent
process.
The Portland cement concrete
road means exactly the thing i'm
; piled by It's name. stone road held
/. In place by indestructible Portland
/. cement mortar Neither patents nor
secret processes attend It's construc.
ton. and the materials used In its
1 construction are available in practi.
caliy all sections OF the United
States.
An indestructible. indlssoluble ma.
teriai like Portland cement Is re-
I CURED TO keep the stones OF which
the road Is largely composer in ex-
actly the position they are placed
! when the road Is finished, Each
piece OF stone should be bound so
hard and fast that travel cannot
4 displace II. The binder OF road
should be as indestructlble rs the
stone itself.
In every well-conducted highway
department samples OF stone are
tested for abrasive qualities. When
q stone Is found representing the
maximum OF resistance to wear and
impact we say that II Is fine stone
70 use for road purposes. This
means that Il will not crush easily
or wear rapidly.
Having found such stone. sup
: pose Il were possible 10 quarry II
out In large slabs 30 feet long and
Is feet wide and. that these could
be transported to a road and placed
one after another In the middle OF
the highway. We would have TO all
practical purposes and intents the
equivalent OF the enduring concrete
road. by Embedding IN Portland ce-
ment mortar a hard stone OF the
high quality described. there results
q rnonolith as tough and strong az
though composed OF q solid block
OF stone. A matter OF fact, II fs
a solid slab OF stone.
Portland cement mortar possesses
a strength far In excess OF some OF
the stone used In modern road con.
struction. but when the stone Is
right there results the everlasting.
Il Ideal road.
Other uses OF Portland cement
I mortar point 10 its value as road
material. Because OF It's endurance
and extreme tenacity. its great com
presslve strength and the fact that
water improves rather than harms