ROADS MADE OF COTTON

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 55, 20 March 1937, Page 15

ROADS MADE OF COTTON

New Uses For Material

NatnraUy when we think of cotton cloth, we associate it with clothing or decoration of some kind, said Major H> A. Froctor, M.P., in a B.B.O. broadcast address. But with the growth of science, and the desire to find new usea for cotton, experiments have taken place in variqua parts of the world in order- that cotton may be nsed for other pnrppsqs. The making of roads, using cotton cloth, has, for instance, passed'the experimental Stage. How the cotton is u'sed depends upon the kind of road that is desired. Iu the case of a con-er-ete roads, strips of cotton cloth, made of vary stout strands, are laid on the foundationj then the upper concrete surface is poured over it, while bales of raw cotton have in some places been used for the purpose of making a firm foundation for swampy ground. The advantage of the nse of cotton is two-folds First it prevents the road cracking; and when the rOad has to be repaired, the npper surface may be removed by means of a pneumatic .drill withont injury to the foundationj the ' cloth making it possible to retain the level foundation surface upon which a new cement eoating may be laid. But in so far as our Empire ie eoncerned, the great value of cotton cloth is in the making of what are known as second-class roads, which in many parts of the Empire are. merely rolled earth. These Toads become mud-trackfc in winter, and dust-traeks in summer. Thousands of miles of such roads are in Australia, South Africa, and India and other parts of the Empire. The method of application of cotton to such roads is thfe: the earth is levelled, and if possible rolled until there is a

ha®4 surface, an* o&. ton strips. The. cotton m cifiier covered with bitumen ox ta«^ isnd i?rith stone ehippinga If these amt «vefi^dfie. It is remarkable how ihe oottcm fiabric binds the earth firmly together^, and prevents its becoming a quagmrre, jpztd in the snmmer-time prevents Ihe earth being pulveriaed into dust, As to their wearing qnaHties, cotton roads laid down in 1926 are stiU in good order. The only renewals have been the roeoating of the fabrie with bitumenj In the United States of Ajneriea ^oring the last year, over twenty States of the Union have appUed for eofeton fabrie to reinforce over 600 mfifca of these tar-snrfaced roads of the aeeond class, that is, those which are 18-20 feet in width. TMs eo-operation of the highway authqritiea, aided by the American Government has resulted in the laying down of over one thousemd miles, Not only is the cotton used as a reinf orcement in the manner which I have just described, bnt it is being used to assist in the "curing" of the concrete for road-surfacing. Over 80,000 cotton mats have been made to prevent the concrete drying out top quickly^ It has been found that ihe nsn of cotton fabrie preserves Ihe. road surface by preventiqg cracking and holes, and by holding together the edges of the road surface. It nsed to be Said in Lancashiro that the increase of an inch on a Chinaman's shirt would make great prosperity for Lancashiro. But if the Road Authorities throughouf the British Empire would adapt British eotton fabrie for Empire roads, it would mean an immense gain to LancaBhire, which during the depression has been hgxd hit.