Evening journal., 1919-01-21
Continued from Page Five.

OOnlluucu from rage rive.
on the stone bed OF the old pike. As
this stone bed contains broken stone al
most foot deep throughout, which has
been driven solid by more than a hun.
dred years OF travel, we feel that II is
the equivalent Of a concrete base. An
eight-lnch flush curb, protecting the
edges Of the surface from raveling and
projecting downward TO guard the sub
grade from moisture, extends along the
entire length Of both the brick and BIZ
luminous sections. Under the curb on
the Hill are tile underdrains to inter
cept drainage from springs which were
discovered during construction. The
portion Of the surface macadam which
was removed from the old road was
placed on the shoulders, giving a hard
surface driveway on the sides. which
is much used by horse travel. Because
Of the closing Of the main artery. lthe
Philadelphia Pike, which is unde. state
construction the Concord Turnpike
has been subjected to the concentrated
traffic Of army and commercial trucks
all season.
Town OF st. Georges Road.
Cement concrete construction was es-
lected for the half mile stretch through
the town OF st. Georges, a typ
ical incorporated town, with no revenue
for street improvement and the first TO
be benefited by the Act Of the last Cen
eral Assembly, which authorized the
Levy Court TO proceed with construc-
tlon through. such towns to connect eX-
isting improved county roads. This
stretch was one OF the most miserable
in the county. presenting a sea Of mud
annually from Christmas to Easter and
halting all through traffic from Odessa
20 Wilmington du-nig this period. Al
ready we have received several express
sions OF appreciation for this improve
ment. which no doubt benefits the resi-
dents Of lower New Castle County, and
in fact those Of all lower Delaware,
more than any recently undertaken In
this county.
The road Is constructed in i-2-4 mix
ture Of concrete. i6 feet wide, Inches
deep at center and inches at the sides.
with a Nat sub-base, giving a crown OF
, inches. The surface was brought to
true contour by use OF template cut TO
the exact crown and finished by the
belt and roller method. Expansion
Joints Of elastic were placed at the
end Of each days work or when the
the contract had been completed, sew I
mixer stopped for over one-half hour. |
When the little less than One-fOurth OF |
eral obstacles which delayed the MIX |
beyond the named date Of completion,I
arose. or course, as the roadway across ]
hn &c o.
type OF construction required that traf- /
fic be prohibited, we proposed TO close
the road. This proposal met with in /
slant opposition and we were notified /
by the United States Government au-
thorities that they would prevent our
blocking Of this road as the long detour
entailed Ove- dirt roads would seriously
interfere with the progress OF construc-
tiOn work on a necessary munitions
plant at Port Penn. We advised the au-
thOriiies that as this road would be
impossible during the winter, we felt
that the inconvenience caused during
the construction would be more than
compensated by the great advantage Of
continuous all-winter use. About this
time the United States Highways COun-
ell was created and the embargo on all
road materials, unless the individual /
project was approved went into effect.
Because Of this double opposition, we
were about TO abandon the work tenn /
pOrarily when the munitions plan!
managers. an army officer as
suming control Immediately he inter-
ceded in behalf OF the project before
the Highways Council and was granted
permission TO obtain the sand and ce-
ment needed At this same time the {
material embargo for work under way 4,
was lifted until November 4. Mean
while the major had proposed TO bear
the additional expense OF constructing {
the road in two parts, eight feet at
a time. to permit regular traffic during {
HIS suggestion was car {
rled out. An extra mixer and concrete
gang was added 10 speed the work.
First the rough grading was complet-
ed for the full width OF the road and
rolled without interruption !