A PENDING EXPERIMENT.

Dominion, Volume 4, Issue 968, 8 November 1910, Page 6

A PENDING EXPERIMENT.

STREET TARRING BY MACHINERY. A method, new in Wellington, of treating road surfaces with tar, is to be tested shortly by the City Corporation. Some months ago a tar-spraying machine was imported from England, and the city engineer stated at the last meeting of the council that it would be tried during the present month. The machine is of comparatively simple construction. It consists of a tank, for the tar, mounted on wheels. Underneath the tank in front are a small fire-box and boiler, communicating with a series of hot-water pipes in the tar tank. The hot water and- steam after passing through these pipes return to the boiler through a condenser, so that there is a constant circulation. At the rear of the tank is a pump, .driven by chain gear from the axles, and intended to drive the tar, as it leaves the tank, through, a spray, which discharges on the road surface. The maximum width of surface that can be covered by the spray is about five feet six inches, and at will this can be reduced by one-half. The spray is fitted with two interchangeable sets of apertures, to suit different consistencies of tar, and provision is made for straining, tho tar as it is poured into the tank and again as it enters the pump. The advantages gained by using the machine are obvious. The tar. is maintained at a steady heat and deposited on the 'road surface with even regularity. It is stated to be an essential preliminary to success in this method of. treatment that the road surface should be clean swept and dry. Machines of this type have been used with great success in Melbourne. Should they prove equally, satisfactory here there will probably have been found a cheap and effective method of combating the dust nuisance.