ASPHALTING THE FOOTPATHS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume XII, Issue 216, 12 September 1877, Page 2

ASPHALTING THE FOOTPATHS.

To the Editor of the 'Evening Mail. ? , Sir— Your correspondent in your Saturday's issue deserves thanks for the much wantc i suggestion, which the City Council certainly ought to adopt, especially, in Trafalgar and Halifax streets, where newly formed pavements could be cheaply made into permanent ones by the following process .— Rake out (or break them) all the biggest stories, then when the surfacVis dry saturate with the following composition : Take one peck of sifted hydrate of lime to every ten gallons of gas tar, mix well together, then saturate the dry surf ace with the mixture, and rake it a little to make the saturation even and the surface level. If the tar should prove too thin, put a little fine sand in addition to the lime to make it more cohesive. Then when it begins to harden run a heavy iron roller over it to make it smooth and level. All the pavements can be made in a similar manner which have been gravelled lately, and in the old ones the gravel loosened a little to dry, then done as above. I have endeavored to induce the different Road Boards to construct their culverts and small bridges (from two to ten feet apan) of asphalt and boulder 3 from the streams they cross, also the abutments of the larger bridges and protection to river banks and railway embankments, but so far I hare not heen successful, although they all acknowledge the usefulness, cheapness, and desirability of it, but there seems to exist soms local prejudice in the way of making any permanent improvements or work by our public bodies. Of this I am certain, that what I have above stated, if properly constructed, defies ali the force of a flood or wave, and when once set it puts the pickaxe of a sturdy miner afc defiance. I hope you will find space for this in your valuable columns.— l am. &<?., Erick Ohr. Nelson, Sept. 10, 1877.