Adolf Cluss

“ The popularity of this pavement in the two largest cities of Europe, where, with immense traffic and most extensive experience on the relative value of pavements, the demands on the municipal authorities are inexorable, serves as a proof that smoothness of surface does not cause any danger with this material. Being elastic but not soft in summer, and hard but not brittle in winter, it possesses with a slight yield the power of readjustment in a high degree, so that horses and drivers ever seek it, if it is "laid intelligently by practised bands, with a low crown" or flat profile. ”

“ The asphaltum pavement is clean and fit for traffic a few hours after being laid, while new or repaved stone roadways must be covered for months with heavy layers of sand, to be drifted by the breeze in dry weather and added to the mud in rainy spells. Repairs can be made to the asphaltum pavement in dry days of a cold winter, while with stone pavements any defects must be endured until spring. ”

“ In such a complex organism, the roadways and sidewalks are not merely spaces set apart for light, air, and traffic, but they are component parts of the wonderful machinery devoted to these purposes, and bear close relations to the dwellings which they separate and connect, and the restorative veins of which they cover as a protecting crust. ”

“ THE most distinguished sanitarians of the age have established the fact that our modern cities are mostly so located that public health depends much less upon climate and position than upon rational conditions and modes of life. ”

“ A little rain transforms these streets into broad slush-beds from which every thing within reach is bespattered by the hurrying wheels of vehicles. Ladies with modern garments cannot cross them, and whoever visits along such streets must leave a certain quantity of dirt on floors and carpets. ”

“ Vapors still more noxious than those from the road-bed of the streets rise from the gutters, the subsoil of which is saturated to a considerable depth by more concentrated matter of the described composition, and also from the surface of alleys on which are the houses of great numbers of people of limited means. Crowds of dirty children, whose tender lungs breathe the air immediately over this miasmatic soil, here contract constitutional predispositions, which doom them to a languishing and miserable life, and render them an easy prey to epidemics. ”

“ In place of the mastic, which attains consistency, by the congelation of the melted mass, without application of pressure, this "merely compressed body, in which the molecules of bitumen and limestone are soldered together by heat and ramming," obviates all tendency toward brittleness, without in the least interfering with the advantages of perfect homogeneity or water-proof qualities. It stands to reason that the mastic, which, notwithstanding its mixture with grit, is more or less pitchy, would be surpassed in elasticity and pliability by a merely kneaded mass. ”

“ Enforced cleanliness, and the progress of sanitary works in cities, are followed by an enhanced vitality and elasticity of mind still more than by longevity of the inhabitants. Among sanitary works, improved pavements are classed along with sewerage, water-closets, and water-supply under pressure; since it is a prime condition of public hygiene that every street and alley should drain as promptly and thoroughly as the houses erected on it. ”

“ The success of this bituminous rock pavement is by no means due to the lucky hit of one individual; it is the legitimate result of the persistent efforts of some of the best engineers of the age, by which all obstacles have been gradually overcome. The first trials were made with mastic, consisting of the powdered rock melted with mineral tar as a flux, and mixed with sea-grit which was laid upon an ordinary concrete foundation; they were followed by experiments with mastic, cast into blocks at the workshops, and laid with wide joints, which were filled in again with heated mastic. ”

“ Under the same influences an enormous wealth, formerly unknown, has been amassed in the cities, and whole streets have risen, lined by majestic buildings, in uninterrupted succession; while, even in the older or less pretentious streets, houses of a mere utilitarian character disappear, to make way for structures with an elevated standard of architecture. ”

“ The smooth surface intensifies the downward motion of the wheels while decreasing the friction of the hoofs of the horse, which furnishes the power of resistance against the downward motion of the vehicle, or serves for affixing the power necessary to move the vehicle up-hill. With these precautions relief is afforded to the horse, this faithful companion of man, which, being dumb, is so often brutally ill-treated and abused. ”

“ There is still another feature of stone pavements in the heart of cities, which affects the inner man more than the physical frame, viz., the rattling and noise, under heavy traffic, accompanied, in alluvial soil, by vibrations of the adjoining buildings. People with strong nerves, and accustomed to this rattle from early youth, may to some extent become hardened, but they will never get to be insensible to it ”

“ A low crown is practicable because there are no surface-obstacles to drainage. It is also needful to prevent horses from falling on any spaces with a heavy decline toward the gutter. What is essential for the transverse profile of these streets is no less essential for their longitudinal profile: they must have easy grades—say a pitch of less than two per cent.—since the momentum of inertia of the masses in motion enters the problem. ”

“ Simultaneously with the higher wants resulting from greater wealth and closer contact, whole cities have been transformed from loose aggregates of irregularly-scattered houses into well-organized systems, all the elements of which, though serving individual purposes, are intimately connected by the complicated net-works of pipes supplying fresh water, discharging waste water and soil, and furnishing light during the night to the streets as well as to the houses, from cellar to roof ”

“ Nothing but the constant torment has partially dulled us to this evil. If cities had never been afflicted with this noise, and if, in a competition with other more suitable materials, stone pavements were adopted, a storm of opposition would soon sweep them out of existence again. Some of these difficulties have been obviated by using smaller and harder stones; but the objection to the improved Belgian pavement in general use, on account of the germs of disease stored in the wide joints and under the blocks, still remains. ”

“ Manufacturing industry, commerce, and railroads, those important motors of modern civilization, have combined to increase the number and size, and to concentrate the internal traffic of large cities, so that horses and vehicles have steadily increased, absolutely as well as in proportion to the population. ”

“ After these explanations, based on personal observations, as well as on the results of the experience of the leading engineers in this branch, the conclusion may well be drawn that asphaltum roads are destined to be the city pavements of the future—a destiny which is determined by the progressive spirit of the age, and which cannot be retarded for any length of time; it involves the interests of all, both high and low. ”

“ The nature of asphaltum is frequently misunderstood, because the mineralogist, in speaking of asphaltum, has reference to the brittle bitumen usually found in Nature, while the civil-engineer designates by mineral asphaltum a porous limestone, in combination with tough bitumen. ”

“ It would lead too far to enlarge upon the numerous official experiments and observations made in Paris and London by which, though made under circumstances most unfavorable for the new pavements, the proportion of accidents to horses and vehicles has been shown to be considerably less on the asphalt than on stone pavements, except in the rare case of a muddy street during wet weather. Ordinary care can achieve much, in that direction. ”

“ Not affording any escape to the terrestrial heat through joints, they are kept warm and open from below in most cases when block-pavements present an icy surface. Their smooth, seamless face, being almost entirely free from abrasion by attrition or atmospheric action, meets the mechanical and hygienic objections to block-pavements, both of stone and wood, as well as of macadamized roads. ”

“ In hot and dry weather these nauseating deposits pass into the atmosphere in the form of unhealthy vapors, or, pulverized and drifted by the wind, cause inconvenience and poison our lungs. Indeed, in repairing old pavements, a black layer of ground, saturated with sulphuretted hydrogen, is found below the stone blocks, and bears witness to the infection of the subsoil by the soakage of contaminated water. ”

“ An investment of about $5,000,000, a sum far in excess of that in any other city of the globe, has been made there within little more than three years in wood pavements, nearly all treated; many of them are now in an advanced state of decay, and, from the degree of preservation after two or three years' use on suburban streets with hardly any wear, one cannot approve of any of the processes applied, since none of them have effectively neutralized the destructive local agencies, or made up for inferiority in the quality of lumber used. ”

“ The material for pavements is mostly decided upon by non-professional municipal authorities, and upon these an enlightened public opinion must exert a beneficial influence. A condensed review of the subject, in the light of history, technical science, hygiene, and finance, will help excite reflection, and to mature rational views, and will furnish a timely contribution to the literature of the day. ”

“ There is no doubt that asphaltum pavements may occasionally fail, but, when they do, this is attributable not to the material, if unadulterated, but rather to the method of its application, which requires skilled workmen, whose eyes and hands are quick and directed by an intelligent mind. ”

“ What at an earlier epoch was the proud privilege of the famous capitals of Italy, the exceptional luxury of their dwellings and mansions, is now to be found in most modern cities, though the effect be not as overpowering, on account of a want of harmony in the style. ”

“ When driving on to an isolated asphaltum road, to which, in wet weather, mud has been dragged from adjoining streets of old construction, the change ought to be managed by checking the horses and gradually returning to full speed. ”

“ If the most elegant and most frequented streets have the privilege to lead the van, it ought to be appreciated that the luxurious life of the higher classes depends upon the strength and activity of the children of the industrious classes as much as upon the toil of the farm-hand who, fortunately enough, is enabled to recruit his strength in open fields ”

“ An average decrease of thirteen per cent, in the death-rate has been traced directly to the influence of modern sanitary works, introduced into cities mostly during the last twenty years; and a thorough reform in pavements must give still more striking results. ”

“ Square, polygonal, wedge-shaped, and undressed round blocks, of pine, spruce, and juniper wood, set in rows, interlocking or parted by interstices, upon sand, board, or concrete foundations, were tried, so that all classes of patentees had chances to trot out their hobbies and gratify their passion to serve the community. ”

“ Allusion to these minor details was deemed à propos, since the human mind is so constituted that little is generally thought of accidents of daily occurrence, while we are apt to be severe and even unjust against novel improvements, which, of course, in the beginning present more or less difficulties to be overcome under actual tests. ”

“ These, with steady march, have conquered the markets of the world. The deposits known as Neufchâtel rock contain, with a constancy not found anywhere else, from 11 to 12 per cent, of bitumen—a most favorable proportion. Besides, they have absolutely greater toughness as a result of their degree of oxidation. They were formerly extensively used as a mastic for sidewalks, and form an excellent material for carriage-ways. ”

“ A proper observance of these maxims has materially contributed to the reduction of the annual death-rate of London within the last two centuries from forty-two to twenty-two per thousand, notwithstanding the unprecedented increase in the numbers and density of the population. ”

“ While the artificial mixtures soon require expensive surfacing, the native asphaltum when taken up for piping, or otherwise, after many years' wear, may be used again by simply heating and treating it as at first. ”