The Morning Tulsa daily world. [volume] (Tulsa, Okla.) 1919-1927, 1921-09-11

There * one paving gang In the
city that has not appeared In the
letting Of several million dollars
worth OF paving contracts by the
city and which has otherwise re-
NAMED out Of the limolight But II
has been funCtioning since May | of
this year, unoftcntatiOusly but ct'
iiciently, Around the city hail IT Ia
known as the "Stciner-Grigrs paw
ing gang" This appcllatiun was
given because It IL employed and su-
pcrviscd by street Commissioner q.
A. Steiner and city Engineer G. Il.
Griggs
Furthermore, the improvements
this gang makes in Tulsa's streets
arc not assessed against the property
benefited. The cost Ia paid out of
funds in the street missionerH
depart mont. whether this repair
work Is to continue depends largely
upon the action OF the county excise
board In approving or disapproving
the city'a budget. steiner has aske1 l
for approximately $50. 900 ia he used
for street repairs during the coming
year,
The "Stciner-GrigRs gang" wa'
put to work on May / Since then II
has patched approximately 1000
holes In the paving, from small ana
apparently insignificant breaks 10
largo areas like those tha, were
recently repaired on Admiral boule-
ward The gang has laid 6,Sl7
square yards of asphalt surfacing.
which replaces topping that was de
fectivc; 1t has laid l.jsl squar"
yards of siN-inch concrete bas'
where the old base had cracked and
was G"nken, ana 2i4 square yards
OF brick paving has hcou repaired
since 1t started operations.
Up To tho timo ot the last report
on file in tho city engineers ofiicc,
$4,000 had been spent for the re-
pairing Of those 7 200 holes. There
are almost MS many more that need
attention at present, and other holes
devolop constantly, ON one busy day,
45I square yards of asphalt surface
was laid by the repair crew.
Not only is this work paid for by
the street department. but the cost
IL virtually half that charged by
paving companies for similar work,
Tulsa's municipal paving gang, al
though small makes these repairs At
an average cost Of S2.2G "A square
yard. Tho price charged by paving
com panios ls approximately $3.50.
From five to ! 3 men and from one
to three trucks are used almost con
stantly.
on Admiral boulevard whore IN"
crew has been working, the old paw
ing was found to be wocfully d"t"c-
: tive. AT frequent intervals there were
/ long stretches Of waves" whore the
topping Of the paving had become
loose from the base and, during
warm weather had slipped into this
/ wave formation hy the heavy traffic.
| city Engineer Griggs lays this con
dition 10 failure Of tho contractor 10
/ conform TO the specifications which
were on file several years ago whom
| this paving was laid. II was poor
/ pavement, poorly laid, a poor mix
/ turo ~ materials, and improper roll
/ ing. he explained.
In nearly all the district under re-
( pair the old topping had failed TO
adhere 10 the base, and there was Il
space between surfaCinR and base
/ where water and mud had collected.
/ In addition, the paving was not uni
/ form, the asphalt topping in some
places being two or three inches
thick and IN other ple as less than
one inch thick. Instead Of small
stone IN the binder, which Is placed
between base and surface. large
stone had been used and Ina some
/ cases lhtSc rocks almost projected
abov" the top Of the surfaclng.
on First street, which was rosur-
faced only few months ago. the
surfacing ~ even thicker than called
for by specifications and is uniform
from one end Of block To the other
This surface IL cited by Gr,ggs ~
] one of the best Jobs hat mas over
/ been done In IN" r', a. spr,iflca-
] tinns were followed strictly Be-
cause Of improper rolling, the old
surfacing on Admiral boulevard can
. easily he crumhlod by ones fingers,
while the samples from First street
must be chippcd with a hammer or
knife.
Paving specifications on file with
the city now are more rigid than