San Antonio light. [volume] (San Antonio, Tex.) 1911-1993, 1924-03-30
Ancient Predecessors Not
Only Outclassed But Road
Builders Of Today Get
Better Results With Less
Labor and Cost.

If proof were necessary that the
United States, which. thanks to the
development of the motor vehicle, is
now passing through the most inten;
sive period of highway development in
the history of the world, is building
roads that surpass in quality anything
of the kind constructed since the days
of the Roman Empire, that proof is to
be found in abundance. 1t exists not
only in the quality and quantity of
American high .says but in the devel-
opment of bodybuilding methods and
materials. The road builders of this
country have not only outstripped
their ancient predecessors in the use
of the most ancient materials but are
getting better results with greater
speed, less labor and lower cost, says
Q. s. Lee, director highways Informal
ton service.
Motorists may be interested in
knowing that in the United States are
now " pt lOuilu VI tllt UltSl us
tinctive as well as the most unique
and interesting highways in existence.
The United States possesses the long
est paved motor road in the world. the
Pacific Highway, running from Van
couver. IL. T., along the Pacific coast
to the Mexican border, distance of
1476 miles. s5
Have Highest Road.
In .N.... ,la., n.
the highest motor road in the world
that on Pixies Peak in Colorado
Sprinss, Col. 63i0 feet above sea
level is the highest paved street in
the world and Market street, Phila-
delphia, is the widest. The shortest
ana narrowest paved motor road IN
existence is likewise American. 1t
traverses Smiths Island. one of the
little islands in the lower Chesapeake
Bay, near Chrisfield, Md. This road is
less than mile long and is just wide
enough to permit the passage of one
motor car at time. At intervals there
are sidings, or passing tracks,
where the cars pass each other.
In this country is to be found not
only the most unique paved street in
the world, but three of the worlds
most beautiful and famous asphalt
paved mountain roads-the Columbia
River Highway in Oregon. the Storm
King Highway which overlooks thu
Hudson River and Americas Valley
of the Rhine' from the Pcckskill
Mountains in New York. and the
Lackawanna Trail which runs from
Delaware Water Gap through the Po
como Mountains in Pennsylvania. The
unique street referred to is Lombard
ttreet. San Francisco. twisting thor
oughfare which climbs steep hill
side at so per cent grade in much
the same manner as n grape vine
climbs a pole.
Asphalt Used Extensively.
Various ancient paving materials
have entered into the construction Of
these thoroughbreds, chief of which
is asphalt. the oldest waterproof adhe.
sive known to man and the most an
cient of all road materials since it
was first used in paving street in
Babylon by King Nabopolassar in
2500 Il. c., or nearly 1900 years ago.
At different times in the centuries
that followed, asphalt was discovered
first in the form of rock asphalt &C.
curing as limestone and sandstone
impregnated, with asphalt and later
mixed with vegetable and mineral
matter in pools and lakes. notably
those in Trinidad and Venezuela.
Within the last ten years it has been
found in apparently inexhaustible
quantities embodied in the heavy pc
troleums of Mexico and California.
These petroleums are now subjected
to n refining process by American
asphalt producers BY which the iig1ter
oils are removed. The asphalt thus
made available constitutes the finest
of all asphalts and is 99.5 per cent
bitumen. Sixty-eight per cent OF all
the asphalt used in the United States
at the present time is obtained from
Mexican asphaltic petroleum. l. is in
this respect that American ingenuity
and skill have greatly improved fo'
highway work the most ancient of oil
paving materials and have rlaceI at
the service of the of the American mo-
torist the finest paved roads ever con-
structed.
Unusual Roads and Streets.
While the United States is rapidly
coming to the front in the matter of
distinctive highways this country still
has far to go before il can take fram.
European. nations other records for
unique thoroughfarcs that feature
their highway systems. The shortest
street in the world. for instance. is
to be found not in the United States
but in France. 1t is the Rue Bile of
Paris. The narrowest street in the
world is the Via Sol in Havana. Cuba.
a thoroughfare only AZ iaches in
width. The most unusual paved motor
road in the world is that of the Via
Mia. an asphalt roadway construct
ed unon the roof of the Fiat Motor
Works at ingotto. Italy.
To Nankin. China, goes the rather
doubtful credit of having dirtiest
street in the world-the Tahansti.
The Via CASTLE in Seville. Spain. has
long had the distinction of being tie
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