ROAD BUILDING
NEW CONDITIONS AND NEW SCIENCE
GOVERNMENT SCHEME URUED
Problems of road construction wer discussed very briefly in a talk to mem hers of ■ Parliament yesterday aitcmooi by Mr. Leonard Sandston, M.A., B.Sc. in the Government i'ilin Censor's room The time of the meeting was during- th dinner adjournment of the House, ; time when members liko to have leisure but the available space was quite filled Among those present wero Sir Josepl "Ward ami the Hon. J. B. Hine. Tin meeting was arranged jn tho first m stance by Mr. P. li. Climie, organise of the Canterbury Progress -League am the Minister of Internal Affairs (Majo Hine) issued the invitations to member of Parliament. Mr. Sandston said at the outset tba he was venturing to put forward 111 opinions, and such information as he h»< at command, because lie was interestei in road engineering problems, and tie cause he was anxious that these problem, should he tackled intelligently in tin. country. The day of tho water-bourn macadam road had passed, and it hm passed through the coming of rubber tired power driven vehicles now beini used for all sorts, of traffic. Tho ritboo tiro' sucked from the road surface mi nute particles of stone and threw them t the winds, and the wear on water-bourn roads from this class of traffic nai made them impossible of maintenance cxcept at prohibitive cost. So it hat liappened in the older countries 01 tin ivorld; and especially in America, tJia new methods of road construction liai been studied and evolved by engineer! l'ho use of tars had been tried, and th method was still in use, but thefe weri better materials for the making ot per aianent roads which, though heavy 11 capital cost, would be maintained h tucli low cost that they would in tin >nd prove very profitable investments r Io did not come forward as the advo •ato of any material, or any system o •oad-making. There was no best road. !n determining the class of construction ind'the materials to be used, there mus ilwavs be considered the traffic the rca< vas to be required to carry, the mater als rkdily availably and the cost o hese and other materials. • He was a lome pains to show that concrete w:u lot the perfect material it was popu arlv supposed to be for the making of i lermanent road. In brief his reason vero that N concrete was, subject to <le erioration from a number of n&enerc lot yet wholly understood. It expands iv heat, bv absorption of moistures. an< ,'y age, and the fact that these agencie; lid not all operate 011 the whole. TOlunii if the concrete body evenly led to tii lestruction' of the material by interna tresses. So in course of time the sui ace cracked and broke away, and m 1 einnrkably short time after wear com nenced the whole r 9 ad mwbt 1» ess And it was incapable of lepan Jut on the other baud concrete was ai xcellent' foundation, which could b nade to last for all time if <»vmd *it ome waterproofing material.. i en n vent on to tell something of the tin oads iuado in America with the use 0 CiUritt of asphalt, .made from the na nral asphalt of. Trinidad or Beriuudcz r the product of the distillation ot pe roleum. J-'his method covered/the m rith a perfect waterproof carpet, lurable, and not subject to F" 1 .,"- '•eather. It was not his advice tlui his carpet could be laid only, on , emulation of concrete. " .might b nid ouitc safelv 011 a macadam ioau irovided the surface and foun {^ ° n he road wire sound and net Iron ipongv places. It was bv this inetl.o, hat lie hoped much might be done 11 'what he urged was that the Govern nent should establish a central bumi ,r department for education, researcn nd experiment, and skilled supervision •duration would be by fte.disseimMtooi I information by ,lecturers or n order that the upeplo might be> shp*» hat it would be good policy for then o submit to taxation if in return the fere to have improved.road sen ice. 1 he use of professional road J™ mrcau should have a library of all litna urc 011 the modern science of road build ng. The Department would ' aboratorv for the.analysis °nd if materials, and for trials of dlfferen (instruction under < liffoKnfc q TO "i\S if traffic, climate, and so n- tho Government would be dearam n order that tho Government; might ■«. hat the money voted by Parlian eiit « leinsf wisely used by, the local author'hes t shou'ld not 'be supposed that his ide. mfi that., the State should abrogate ani ,f Ihe powers of die local authorities, bir nther.that it should help them in tin xeTclse of those powers. A good or imitation could never be obtained linlefi he Government tool; action, and it wa: rith the object of having something doni n the matter by tlio Government thai ie was speciallyconcerned. By the <-.cn mment alone could a policy or n sclicmi f .road construction be devised and ear ipfl through. Mr. Sandston besau to spoilt of financi I*>. but them was no time for a fill realm en t of tins phase of the prol< em Ie did enunciate the proposition,, how ver that ?ome method of finance shouK ,e adopted ns bad been adopted 11 imerica and elsewhere which woyld pro ide for tho redemption of ?oans lwfort hp roads bad worn out. Incidentally lie told .of heavy trafli hovoughfare* In America and the, U c Vorld laid down t>.v modern method? fhicli bad shown ratraordinary' economy n durability and low maintenance costs It the conclusion of his talk, lie shmied film be bad brought with him to lllusrnte tb<« nature of asphalt and the way h which it was used for the making ot oads of different types, according to he weiaht and volumo of traffic they i-ere de=isned to carry. On belWf of of Parliament irpsent, Sir Joseph Ward thanked. Mr. landston for his interesting undress.
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Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 299, 13 September 1919, Page 8
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1,017ROAD BUILDING Dominion, Volume 12, Issue 299, 13 September 1919, Page 8
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