How the Streets of a City Are Surfaced
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HOM,INO TIIK STONE IIASE WITH 1110 HOLLER Photo by n Staff ArtlBt. PUTTINO ON TIIK ASPHALT SURFACE Photo by n Staff Artist
T
IWKNTY years ago lliurn was not u
foot Of HHplllllt street paving ill
Omaha. UiHt Tuesday night wan
laid llit laxt Hiimru yard of a ill J -trlct
that briMiKlit tliu nggrcgutu
Ui to 31. C mlli'a of HtroolH covered with tlilH
material.
Tliat first Job ilono two decades ago was
ot nn expense of $2, 1)8 a 8(iiaro yanl. The
work of this fall ami winter Man been no
cnmpllshcd at an nvernge cost of $l.f0 a
square jard. That Ih exceedingly low, much
lower than any llguro that lias before been
secured In normal (lint's. In lS'.i", however,
when tin' big competitive light between
three pnvlug comianles was on, Omaha illil
some paving at a price of $1.10 a square
yard.
Omaha wiih u pioneer In asphalt paving.
The II i Hi work of (bat kind done In the
Fulled .States was of an experimental sort
In llrooklyn In 1870. Fifteen years later
there were but two cities In the countiy
that had as much asphalt on the streets as
tliu (late City. Omaha now stands seventh
In the list. When the llrst asphalt was laid
hero only two cities, Washington ami
llrooklyn, had any nt all.
The last thirty days has Been a race be
tween tliu pavhiK companies and Jack Frost
In Omaha. Dolnyod by IUIkIoiir complica
tions (ho city engineering dupnrtmi'iit de
spaired for a tltno of over gutting Btnrred
on the. work planned for this year. When all
obstacles were finally clenred away and
the labor begun It was put forward with a
rush. As a result thero Is now 10,000 yards
ot additional asphalt surface for street
trnvel.
Aee omiillnliiiient In Iteinarl. utile.
This Is faster than paving was ever before
laid In Omaha and the most satisfying
feature of It nil Is that the work Is well
done. The mixture lias been even richer
than usual this year, ami the layers bavu
been rolled and compacted I ImiDUIily,
UioukIi rapidly.
Thi) total length of the streets that have
been covered In this short time Is two
miles, and that Is a great deal of paving to
lay In thirty days, It has meant absolute,
system, extensive equipment and tliu em
ployment of great numbers of men and
teams.
At one time during the progress of tho
work on Twenty-eighth street thoru were
120 men working on tho spat, llesldes this
there wero llfty more getting out tho ma
terial at tho plant and 100 more driving
wagons to and fro with loads ot tho com
pleted mixture.
Most of tho work this fall has been dotio
by the Western P.ivlng and Supply company
PUTTINIi ON TIIK FINISHING TOUCHES WITH A "LlOIlT" STEAM HOLLER-Photo by a Staff Artist.
The Cranl Paving company did the re
mainder, about MOO nquaro yards. In addi
tion to tliu entire repavlng ot streets done
In tho last month thcru was mime, patch
lug earlier In the fall, the total expense of
Ibis being J S.r.OO. This Kin also of asphalt
and l.fiOO yards were laid In tho holes on
Sixteenth street, while It took 3,000 moro to
repair Cuming street.
All the work dono since November 1 has
been repavlng and In all cases It has been a
matter of replacing cedar blocks with as
phalt. That has done nway with the neces
sity of laying a concrete base, for tho six
Inch bottom ot this substance which sup
ported tho blocks was used again.
I'ecnllnr I'entnre nf Kepin Inn.
This has greatly facilitated the repavlng
although some time was consumed in (tiling
in the extra depth with broken stouo.
Ctilar blocks aru six Inches long and they
tiro set on an inch ot sand. This makes
seven Inches above tliu concrete which must
be tilled In order to keep the pavement at
Its old level. The asphalt top surface is
but an Inch anil a halt In thickness, the
binder of the samu depth. That leaves
four Inches to go. llrokcu stone is called
into service as a substantial material for
the tilling Wero It not for the fact thai
the height ot the surface must bo main
tallied, this stone could be left out with no
injury to the pavement, and it is not used m
the original asphalt paving.
Hostile the low cost pur square yard
this repavlng Is In still another sense n
light llnanclal burden to tho taxpayers who
must eventually settle for It. Poyment Is
provided for on a ten-year basis. Tho ex
pense to each foot of abutting property Is
divided equally over this period of time,
m that In few cases will It become, a
troublesome tax and In none an oppression.
These 10,000 square yards of broken
stone, binder and asphalt represent a great
amount ot material, both In quantity and
weight. In the llrst place, 320 carloads of
broken stone were used In tho base. This
An s laid In depths varying from four
liuiics to nine. Tho total weight ot It was
about 0,000 tons and Its slzo 7,000 culil.
yards. In the binder that came next were i.lo
cars of small stone, or 2,300 cubic yards,
and fifteen cars of Trinidad asphalt, or 30'j
tons. Hinder stone ranges down from Inch
square blocks to those of pea size.
Next came the top layer, the asphalt
surfacing. This comprised fifteen more
cars of asphalt, ninety cars of sand, or
1.S00 cubic yards, eighteen cars of lime
stone dust, or 210 cubic yards, and 100 bar
rels of oil.
liriiaku Mnlerhi! In I'nimI.
This material Is gathered from all parts
of the country The asphalt comes from
Trinidad Island, off the coast of llrazll.
From tho sandheds of tho Missouri and
I'latto rlvors come that Ingredient. The
stone Is from quarries at Weeping Water.
Thus a Kinslderablu portion of Omaha
pavement Is of Nebraska products.
Tho three layers aro put down in the
order named, stone, binder and asphalt.
Each Is rolled ami compacted. No special
period of time need Intervene between tho
laying of one and the addition of the other
nbovo It.
Tho uso of tho binder Is a comparatively
now method. It Is found to bo tho best
satisfactory method of binding and Inter
locking thu wearing surfaco to tho bnse.
Another method Is to have a layer ot as
phalt In place of this binder, nnd the wear
ing surface on top of this. Of very slmplo
composition Is tho binder. It Is raeroly a
mass of stoncB glued together with tho
bitumen or asphalt. The wearing surfaco,
or what Is known as tho nsphalt Itself, Is
more complicated In Its structure, This
top layer is In reality but an artificial sand,
stone. In which tho asphalt and oil comprise
the matrix which keeps tho sand together.
Its Impervlousness Is rendered still moro
absolute by tho addition of tho limestone
dust, which nils every little crovico and
Intorstlco loft between tho grains ot sand.
Tho proportion of the components In tho
asphalt layer shows that it contains but n
small amount of asphalt. Fully 80 per cent
Is sand. Five per cunt more Is oil and
limestone dust. The other 15 per cent Is
tho bitumen. This asphalt Is very pure, be
ing refined at Long Island. It Is hewn
out In chunks nt Trinidad by miners with
picks, and shipped to this country In that
condition. At the refineries all tho foreign
substances are removed, liquefaction being
tho principal process. Then thu asphalt
comes to tho Omaha plant In barrels, solidi
fied onco more.
Hero It Is melted In great cauldrons, and
then the mixture is made In vats. When
sand, dust, oil and asphalt aro properly
commingled to the desired consistency, tho
v. win int-it-ii I'd in I in 1 1 I mi in m'iMrwi iirtsti.-
".imnis, especially prepared to keep It Cot
till It reaches the plaeo where It will bo
laid. It leaves tho plant with a tempera
ture of 400 degrees Fahrenheit, and Is nuver
below 3S0 degrees when It arrives on the
scene.
The workmen nre ready to receive It, and
here Is where they put In their careful
work. Tho hinder lies ready nnd tho top
layer Is dumped on In wagon loads. Then
It Is quickly scattered and n huge steam
roller run over It, compacting, leveling nnd
smoothing It. In cold weather, when It la
feared that the compowltlon will cool too
much boforo tho big roller can do execution,
a very small roller Is first used, then larger
ones by degrees. Places along tho sides
which tho roller cannot reach aro smoothed
with heavy Iron mirfnees on n handlo which
men heat In a nearby flro nnd shovo hack
and forth along tho spots where nttcntlon
Is needed.
CleurliiK Anil) I lie llulililoli.
Tho task Is completed, but the millions
of old half-worn paving blocks which wero
torn up from tho concrete base in all theso
district Just completed nro yet to be ac
counted for. A glniico through tho back
yards and woodsheds of Omaha peoplo will
show where tho cedar has gone. Tho poorer
classes swnrm nfter thu blocks all day long
by tho hundreds, bringing overy method of
conveyance, from nn apron to n wagon and
team. They will tnko all they can got. and
tho paving peoplo never have any troublo
In gutting rid of this material.
Other peoplo buy them In largo quantities,
hiring men with wagons to got them. Fuel
Is tho object of nil. Tho sand, meanwhile,
and tho small chaff nnd rubbish from tho
blocks, Ih scraped up and carted awny to
somo dump, thero to become a portion of
some future geologlcnl strata In tho ngos
nhead
jjjl
HOW THE OMAHA SCHOOL CHILDREN CONTRIBUTE TO THE All) OF THE NEEDY SAMPLE PHOTOGRAPHS TAKEN HY A STAFF ARTIST ON TIIF DY UFFORE TH