The Denison review. [volume] (Denison, Iowa) 1867-current, 1915-09-22
"STREET PAVING"
H. Dodge Meeting
Of Municipalities Held Council

| In attempting to make a report fol
the paving committee of the League oi
Iowa municipalities, ] am not unrnind
|'ful of the responsibilities placed upor
me by the officers of the state associa'
| ton. There is such a diversity of opin.
| ion as to the various kinds OF pave.
ment and the method of laying and is
maintenance. that all hope to accom-
| plish in this paper is to open the sub
| ject for general discussion. If | should
! succeed in offering a single suggestion
as a result of my experience, that might
| be of assistance to some Interested lis
tener, | will feel well repaid for the
time and thought consumed.
| have always been of the opinion
that the best way to reap the most ben
eft from the subject of this kind is to
hear the actual experience of others.
This is perhaps true of paving more
than any other subject Of civic inter-
est. There is certainly no question that
should require study and serious thought
on the part or municipal officials as that
Of paving.
The kind of paving to be put in: the
quality of material: confidence in your
engineer; the best method in laying;
the awarding of the contract and the re-
SponSibility of the contractor, must all
be given careful and deliberate consid-
GRAFTON.
The paramount question in which you
are interested, in the selection of pave
mentS to be constructed. is whether you
shall expend the greater portion of your
money in the building of pavements well
established and thoroughly known, or
whether you shall eXpend the major por-
ton of funds available in the construc-
ton of pavementS OF uncertain value. IT
you are a successful business man you
would not experiment in your own bust
ness beyond a certain limit. Treat the
work you are doing for your city as If
ii were your own Put the affairs of the
city on Il business basis. Be Just as con-
scientious for the city and your constit
uents as you are with yourself. This
rule is always, wise and applicable in eX
pending public money. You are always
justified in satisfying yourself with the
experience of others. Learn from the
experience OF larger cities. and from
men who have made paving and paving
material a study. BE sure You are right;
that you. have the worth. the va'ne, the
economy, the durability. the quality, the
workmanship, and in fact, all the re
ouirements sought for in permanent
street Improvement.
The Fort Dodge Way.
In Offering these suggestions, ! would
not have you believe that FIT. Dodge
has been perfect in the construction work
of her paved streets Like every city
here represented, we have made mis-
takes show me city that has made
no mistake, and whose officers claim
perfectly paved streets, and ] will find
for you more flaws than you ever
Of These things must be, and
the best we can do is to profit by the eS-
perience Of others. That is why we are
here today. and that is why ! am going
to tell you what has happened in Fort
Dodge.
believe that ! can safely say. with
out fear of contradiction. that Ft. Dodge
can boast more miles of pavement than
any other citWin Iowa, according to pop
,llaton We have at this time; thirty ana
miles Of paved streets. Of
this there is one mile of brick, three
miles, Of cement Generate. one mile OF
creosnted wood block. eighteen and nine
tenths miles OF asphalt and seven miles
of asphanic concrete Our experience
with tthase various kinds Of pavement
has been no different from yours in the
cities you represent We have the good
and the bad and at this time we are try
ing to do the hest we can to Tighten the
burden ot the property owners
Our first brick pavement was laid IN