PREFACE. The subject of pavements and roads is here presented at the request of Mayor John D. Higgins, for the con- sideration and discussion of the Oswego common council and board of public works, and of the citizens who may be interested. If this presentation were made for the usual purpose and in the usual form of a consulting engineers project for an actual work, there could then be briefly stated the best methods for the several parts, with estimates of their cost and with specifications for their detailed exe- cution. ...
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PREFACE. The subject of pavements and roads is here presented at the request of Mayor John D. Higgins, for the con- sideration and discussion of the Oswego common council and board of public works, and of the citizens who may be interested. If this presentation were made for the usual purpose and in the usual form of a consulting engineers project for an actual work, there could then be briefly stated the best methods for the several parts, with estimates of their cost and with specifications for their detailed exe- cution. The present purpose, however, is not the making of pavement, but the forming of public opinion. For this it is necessary to describe the various methods which and the several reasons may be and will be proposed, why some are to be avoided and some are to be accepted and used. The application is therefore not limited to Oswego alone, but may equally well reach almost any city containing twenty to thirty thousand people who are awaken- ing to the need and the gain of having good roads. Such cities should profit by the costly experiences of others, so far as they can be applied to the case, and thus avoid building apparently cheap roads whose repairs will afterward make them cost more than the most costly, or costly ones which are not adapted to the local needs or means. The general reports and results of seventy-five cities, together with many recently published articles by ex- perienced engineers, have, with personal experience, formed the basis of this discussion while most of the data relating to brick pavements has just been obtained by direct application to the city engineers of various cities, and by personal examination of pavements in progress and in use.OSWEGO, NEW YORK, October 1, 1894. W. P. J. Oswegos street area, Narrowed roadways, Sub-drainage of roadways, Amount of rainfall, 1 Rolling the earth roadbed, CONTENTS. CHAPTER I. LOCAL CONDITIONS. PAGE 1 Effect of roller ondirt roads, Wide tires for wheels, Pressure of traffic on roadbed, 5 ..... 6 Pressure of structures on earth, 7 CHAPTER II. THE VARIOUS PAVEMENTS. 2 3 4 4 .6 Comparative ease of . traction, . . . . . 8 Table of cost of block-stone, asphalt, and wood-blocks in 32 cities, ........ 9 Pavements for steep grades, 10 Falls of horses on different . . . pavements, 11 Car track construction, .11 Use in the United States, Mode of construction, CHAPTER III. WOOD-BLOCK PAVEMENTS. Cost of construction and maintenance, . . . .14 London wood pavements, Australian wood pavements, 13 13 14 15 VI CONTENTS. Local use, Recognized evils, CHAPTER IV. BLOCK-STONE PAVEMENTS. PAGE Block sandstone only desirable on steep grades, . . 18 Cost in 32 cities, . Sizes of blocks, ., . . . . . 18 .19 . . i . 17-19 Cost in Rochester, . . . . Filling- joints between blocks, . ., . . . 19 CHAPTER V. ASPHALT PAVEMENTS. Comparative qualities, . . . . .20 History, .... . .... 20 Various companies and materials, 21 22 Latest method of construction, To be laid only in summer, ... . . . .23 Old pavements as foundation, . .. . . 23 Causes of failures, . . . . . . . .24 .... Cost in various cities, ., . 1 17 25 Guarantee, . . 26 Application in Oswego, . . . . . . 26 Asphalt blocks, . 27 CHAPTER VI. BROKEN-STONE ROADS. Types of construction, . . . . . . .28 Character of material, ... . . . 28 Objections to use of . . . field-stone, .30 Macadams system, . . . . . . . 31 Need of binder, . . 32 1 Various modes ofusing binder, 33 Telfords system, Details of construction, . Cost, . 36 Amount of rolling required, 36 34 35 CONTENTS. Vll PAGE Excessive cost of maintenance, . . .... ...
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