ROAD FORMATION.

Taranaki Daily News, 20 March 1920, Page 3

ROAD FORMATION.

| AND THE USE OF TAR. "TAR-SEALING'' PROCESS. i At the last meeting of the Horowhemia County Council the engineer's rennrt contained reference to foad formation and the use of tar in connection therewith (-avs the Wellington Times). Following are extracts:— "I attended the conference of civil engineers held in Dunedin, and although there were not many subjects of immediate interest to us discussed, at the same time I got much valuable information. ; 'ln reference to the tar-seali?ig of our roads, I think this is the most important subject a3 far as we are concerned at present. The discussion on this subject was rather limited, as there were none of the Taranaki engineers present, and so far Taranaki seems to be tjie home of tar-seal. Mr. Dobson, the city engineer of Christchurch, read a most interesting paper on tar paving, etc., and this elicited a great deal of discussion, and many ' contradictory views on the differon* methods of using tar. The author of the paper would not see any virtue in tar unless all the ammonia and liffht oils were first extracted from it. This \ he does bv distilling it at about 350 degrees of heat- I may say I had the pleasure of inspecting his work, and I must confess it is the best T have seen. Tt is now laid in many of the principal treets in Christchurch about three inches thick, and it is subjected to all sorts of traffic, yet he claims the main- | tenance is very little. ! "A well-known North Island engineer I gave it as his experience that raw or i crude tar can be used equally well as > boiled or distilled, if it is ripened to a certain consistency. I will have more to' say on the subject when the year's estimates come on a month hence, as [ am futlv convinced we will have tn do something, and all are agreed that concrete is out of the question on account of its cost."