Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-10-04
10000 NEEDED
FOR RESURFAC|NG
ASPHALT STREETS
D. C. Engineer Department
Cites improvements Now
Urgently Required.

approximately s1,500.000 would be
needed to resurface the number of
asphalt streets in Washington that
are now urgently in need of repaving,
according to officials of the engineer
department.
This fact is contained in a statement
prepared by the surface division in an
effort to make clear to the taxpayers
of the District the large amount of
money that is required under present
abnormal conditions to keep up with
the normal amount of street work.
Extract From Statement.
The statement is. in part, as follows:
Washington is not only behind a
great number of American cities in
miles of paved streets per thousand
inhabitants and in relative amounts
of new paving added each year. but is
also behind in its replacement pro-
gram relative to the pavements now
in place. All street surfaces have an
economic life at the end of which
period replacement should take place.
For decade or more the useful
life of an asphalt pavement in Wash
ington has been known to be not more
than twenty-five years. and reports
from other cities indicate a much
lower average life. Today there are
three and a third million square
yards of asphalt pavement in the Dis
trict. Assuming that none of this
pavement is older than twenty-five
years, in order to maintain the status.
10000 square yards of replacement
should be accomplished this year. and
the amount should increase z per cent
yearly in order to- keep pace with
additional new construction.
Available Funds Inadequate.
With available funds not even one
fhirA nf Snrh y this ia
possible. nor has comparative one
been achieved in the past.
From a survey of the District there
has been prepar list of asphalt
replacement. This list comprises 141
items well distributed throughout the
District and averaging between 2.00e
and $500 square yards each. The to-
tai is 330,025 square yards. and 1t
would take practically one and half
million dollars to replace that amount
of worn-eut asphalt surface with new.
The age Of the pavements in question
range up to forty-six years. with an
average Of twenty-nine years.
I'm making decision in favor OF
resurfacing any particular street.
there are five elements that should
be given consideration: D High cost
of maintenance and repairs; Cd high
operating cost for vehicles: CD COM
fort of passenger traffic; % waste
ance of the pavement from the view
point of civic pride.
First One Only n Tangible.
The aforementioned element is the
only tangible one. The highway en-
gineer can express it in exact figures.
but the latter four elements, the IN
tangible ones, are those which GER
tainly should be of direct interest to
the taxpayer The public must be
educated to appreciate the fact that
large increases for minor repairs on
worn -out streets cannot remedy bad
conditions in the matter Of these lat
ter four elements. Replacement is
the only remedy for worn-out as
phalt surface.
Until such time as the public re-
alizes the relationship between taxes
and expenditures for street paving,
appropriations are going to be in
sufficient and conditions unsatisfac-
tory as to every one of the five above
mentioned elements"