THE CITY STREETS.

Press, Volume L, Issue 14886, 28 January 1914, Page 10

THE CITY STREETS.

FUTURE MAINTENANCE. THE USE OF TAR. The letter from "Proud of my City, ,, which appeared in 'The Press" yesterday, putting in a good word for tho city streets which had received tar treatment, was read with much satisfaction and appreciation by the city engineer, .vlr .A. l>. Dobson, who has always beea a consistent advocate of the use of u\r for street maintenance and construction. Tho letter came as a refreshing change to the many caustic complaints 'concerning the city streets which the engineer lias had to put up with. in an interesting statement, to a "Press" reporter yesterday, Air Dobson made it clear that for the futinc, as in the pa.st during the last lew years, tar woula play a leading part in road construction and maintenance work, especially in tho central streets and in arterial streets whero good surfaces and non-dust-producing are more urgently required, especially in view of motor traffic. Already about thirteen miles of street Tiad beei> tar dressed. In several localities, notab'e in Manchester street, where a good foundation was wanted, the regulation tar macadam road was pu<- down, but Tn other cases tho road foundation already existing was quite good enough, and on this was spread a thin layer of tar dressing, which gave the road a good skin, which with a little, attention when required would last for many years. Tho cost of tho Manchester street formation, which on account of the conditions was tlie most expensive undertaken,- worked out at 4s per superficial yard without taking credit for the value of the excavated material which was used in other places, and which would be worth at least is per yard. The cost of laying down sections of other streets where it was not necessary to make the work so elaborate, was much lower. Armagh street, between Colombo and Manchester streets, cost Is lOd. sections in Durham street south and Casbel streetIs 53d, and a- length of Park terrace Is 5Jd. Although they cost so little, these were all good surfaces and permanent ones. Cashel street, for instance, was first tar treated in 1899, and all that had been done since then, except an occasional tar painting, was to put down a layer of "fine, metal for a width of twenty feet along tho centre. With an' ordinary water-bound road, the filling washed out in wet weather and *".ieu up ana blew away in dry weather, and it was consequently a matter of great difficulty to keep a good hard surface on tlio, water-bound roads. Tho cost of maintenance was greater, and the results were not anything like so satisfactory as in the case of tar-eur-faced roads. Last* year there was used 150,000 gallons of tar on the city roads, but double that quantity could easily have been employed. Ho proposed in the future, if the Council granted tKe money and the tar could be obtained, to goon with the- tar dressing of the streets rather than patch them up according to the old water-bound system.