The Birmingham age-herald., 1924-09-10
MORE AS TO "RAWHIDE" PAVING

| III d leLCtE pIlHIeu III tHe OTuIn Ol the People on this page, MT. R. V. Glenn, president of the Interstate Rawhide Paw ing Corporation, takes exception to a re- cent editorial in The Age-Herald dis cussing the pavement known as rawhide which the state is to lay in Greene coun- 1 ty. The Age-Herald expressed the opin ion that this type of paving has not been proved suitable for main-traveled high ways. A careful reading of MT. Glenn's pamphlet fails to establish any reason why that opinion should be changed. The people of Alabama want paving that has been tested sufficiently to receive the highest engineering approval, for the people of Alabama have already spent far too much money in types of construc- tion that do not give permanent results. The contract is let for Greene county, however, and the results should be studied under the only test that amounts to anything, the test of actual heavy traffic. The Age-Heralds only interest in the matter is that the people of Ala | their highway expenditures.
 MT. Glenn denies the statement that the paving consists of a "cold mix," and says that the asphalt fused in raw hide pavement is put down at tempera- ture as high as if not higher than any other paving known to me-" As mat ter of fact it seems that the specified tions call for an asphalt temperature of 250 degrees Fahrenheit. That to be sure constitutes the necessary high tempera- ture to liquefy the asphalt, but it is cold mix as far as the native ingredients are concerned, if we are to accept the following description taken from MT. Glenn's pamphlet:
 The process consists in mixing Lirt with asphalt. First the roadbed is graded, the surplus dirt being thrown to
 one side. Next thin layer of asphalt
 is placed on the bed then a layer of
 two or three inches of dirt is placed,
 and on this comes q layer of asphalt t.ss
 Then tooth harrow. not quite reaching
 the first layer of asphalt, is used to mix the dirt and top layer of asphalt. Other layers of dirt and asphalt are put on until the required thickness is reach
 ed, seven or eight inches, then the whole
 road is tamped with roller equipment
 with tamps about 4x6 inches each, the
 weight being 450 pounds to the square
 inch. After this the road is given a
 "seal coat" of asphalt to keep the water
 out from the top, as it is kept out from
 the bottom by the first layer. Then dirt
 is sprinkled over the top and then the
 whole road is rolled off smooth. The
 thickness after rolling is about five inches.
 It might be remarked that thin layers of asphalt even at high initial temper ature will soon cool on contact with the earth.
 MT. Glenn attempts to refute The Age Heralds statement, that ''the federal bureau does not endorse this type in it's specifications, by citing letter from the bureau 'in which it advises me that it will be glad to consider any project submitted from the states in which I am interested" To be sure, but that is not endorsement. On the contrary, the off, flee of federal engineers at Montgomery states that the federal government has not endorsed rawhide paving, but has retained neutral position while awaiting to be convinced of it's value." If the arguments and proofs submitted by MT. Glenn were convincing, evidently the federal government would not have to await further evidence. It is possible that rawhide is all that is claimed for it, but the highway commission of Alabama owes it to. it's stewardship of the public money to withhold it from such expendi- ture until the federal government has taken an unequivocal stand in favor of rawhide. It is noted in this connection that the city engineer of Montgomery is "not prepared to say whether the paw ing is satisfactory or not" but there are other observers who are not enthusiastic about the results so far obtained with the paving of Martha street in that city with rawhide.
 As to cost, MT. Glenn says that "this pavement can be placed anywhere in the state of Alabama at a cost not to exceed $1.35 per square yard" The people living on Martha street may we'll ask themselves why they are paying a con tract rate of $1.55 a yard for this paw ing. As to the editorial statement that the cost of rawhide is very near the cost of high type paving, it may be added that the concrete slab in Chiffon county is costing around two dollars a square yard and that black-top is laid at similar cost. In Montgomery, where sand and gravel abound, this co would probably be much less. There is also the further consideration that maintenance should be taken into account over the long period of years, for maintenance enters just as surely and just as intimately into the cost of a road as the initial outlay. Mainte Nance for the first five years vvouId A atura11v hn Iess than for the naxt