IC-NRLF T D . 1 1 ', r REESE LIBRARY OK THK UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA. Deceived , igo . Accession No. 82624 . Class No. MUNICIPAL PUBLIC WORKS A DISCUSSION OF MATTERS OF INTEREST to MUNICIPAL OFFICIALS By ERNEST McCULLOUGH ERNEST M'CULLOUGH LEWISTON, IDAHO MUNICIPAL PUBLIC WORKS AN ELEMENTARY MANUAL OF MUNICIPAL ENGINEERING BY ERNEST M'CULLOUGH, C Country Roads; Farm Drainage; Topographical Surveying; The Vrooman Act; etc,, etc. 19QO A. S. ALOE COMPANY, ST. LOUIS. , COPYRIGHT 1900 by Ernest McCuIlough. LEWISTON, IDAHO: THE DAILY TELLER PRINT. WOO. This Work is Atfectionately Dedicated to MY FATHER. BEESE 82624 IN PREPARATION. WILL BE ISSUED SHORTLY. COPY- RIGHTED 1900. A MANUAL OF MUNICIPAL ENGINEERING With Especial Reference to Field Work and Office Records, and Mainte- nance of Public Works FOR CITY ENGINEERS AND STUDENTS BY ERNEST M'CULLOUGH. Svo ABOUT 300 PAGES. CUTS, TABLES, DIA- GRAMS. CLOTH $3.00 TA BLE OF CONTENTS W W CHAPTER I. Concerning Streets. CHAPTER II. Drainage and Sewerage. CHAPTER III. Water Supply. CHAPTER IV. Street Lighting and Fire Department CHAPTER V. Plans and Surveys. CHAPTER VI. Municipal Ownership. CHAPTER VII. The City Engineer. PREFACE TO "PUBLIC WORKS." The following articles were written for the trus- tees of a California town, the intention being to discuss from an engineer's standpoint, the various problems with which the trustees would have to deal. As the subjects of municipal ownership and bonds are economic propositions it has been con* sidered that there is nothing amiss in an engineer having his say about them. In the r^elief that many municipal officers would appreciate the work the articles are now published. It is hoped they may prove useful to some. San Francisco, Cal., Sept. 1894. THE AUTHOR. PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION. There still exists an inquiry for the little work which met with a reception so gratifying to the author and as the book is out of print it has been entirely re-written in this new edition and the title changed to better express the character of the work. The number of pages has been more than doubled and a few illustrations added. Chapter IV. is en- tirely new. Chapter V. containe the gist of the matter in the former Chapters V., VI., VII. Chap- ter VI. contains practically all that was in the for- mer Chapters VIII. and IX. together with much new matter but the opinion of the author on muni- cipal ownership has undergone no change in six years although he has altered his ideas on many other points. Chapter VII. has been written for the engineers of small towns, who were the most appreciative and numerous purchasers of the former edition, and con- tains much of the matter .given in Chapters V., VI. and VII. of the first edition, together with new matter of interest to engineers only. The book however is not written for engineers but for non-technical readers for whom it may be a primer in municipal engineering. The subjects discussed come under the jurisdiction and control of thousands of men annually elected by their fellow- citizens to positions of trust and honor, but who gen- erally are not well enough acquainted with such mat- ters to deal intelligently with them. Lewiston, Idaho, June 1900. THE AUTHOR. WATER TANK WITH STEEL TOWEtf Cut loaned by the W. E, Caldwel! Co., Louisville. Ky MUNICIPAL PUBLIC WORKS OP THB UNIVERSITY CHAPTER I. CONCERNING Perhaps a logical method of treat- STREETS. ing the subject of streets would be to commence with the laying off of the town, next take up the subject of grades and then discuss the various methods of improvement, commencing with the cheapest, and thus step by step parallel the steps taken in the improvement of the thoroughfares of a city. But the streets have already been laid out. The cupidity of the owners of the land or the advice of the real estate agent fixed the lines. The grades were perhaps left to take care of themselves. The question of getting out of the mud in winter and the dust in summer concern the people far more than anything else at the time we step in to advise on the subject of "fixing up" the streets. There- fore the truly logical method is to commence with materials and say a few words later about grades and lines. It is an axiom in street paving as in all other work that the material cheapest in first cost is the most expensive in the cost of maintenance. There- fore when improving a street get the best pavement which the taxpayers can afford. But it is some- times cheaper to put down something to be replaced 12 later by the best rather than wait indefinitely for improvement. A first-class pavement may mean bankruptcy to many property owners and the effect be to retard improvement and thus delay the pro- gress of a town, while a cheaper 4 pavement would arouse enthusiasm and cause many other parts of town to be improved. It is easy to generalize and easy to give the ex- perience of other cities. The average taxpayer will not take any other person's word, but will judge for himself when it comes to spending money for im- provements. If a desire for improvement is mani- fested it is a wise lot of City Fathers who will allow the property owners, to be taxed for an improve- ment, to vote on the material to be used. Of course it is premised that an endeavor has first been made to educate the property owners on the merits of the various materials and then if a mistake is made "I told you so" is a sweet remark to repeat a few times later on. But rather than kill the desire for im- provements by advocating high priced pavements remember the German proverb "best kills better," and seek merely for improvement until conditions render perfection possible. Away from cities with good railroad cornmumca- tions the question of material is entirely local. Where one material can be laid down as cheaply as another the fancy, of the individual may be indulged and the city streets be a patchwork if the people vote that way. But when freight rates are high and first-class material is imported at great cost the question is a burning one. This should be remem- 13 bered in reading articles on paving in magazines and other publications. The writer in New York or London cannot settle the matter nearly as well for the people of Timbuctoo as the people of Tim- buctoo can themselves after they have had some lit- tle education and have a slight idea of the compara- tive merits of all materials used. A little knowl- edge is a dangerous thing and the little knowledge * AN ASPHALT STREET possessed by the average citizen on the subject of paving has been responsible for the mis-spending, stealing and otherwise wasting of millions of dollars of good money on worthless pavements. Still every citizen believes he knows all that is to be known on the subject after a hasty jaunt through a few cities. And the little knowledge possessed by many City Fathers (obtained at large cost to the taxpayers by 14 jaunting trips investigating tours, save the mark) has proven dangerous alike to the purses, streets and consciences of the people. But a little a very little more knowledge may be useful and saving. "It is n< t knowledge," said the wise old bishop of Canterbury, "that makes a man conceited, but the want of it." Gravel is the first thing tried. There is one kind which is very fine and has sharp edges. It is not rounded like marbles and cobblestones and is pretty good material to use on streets with little travel. But it is the most expensive form of improvement which the taxpayer can fool with. If rounded river gravel is used there is no improve- ment at all. When stone is used it should pack and bind by reason of the corners and angles inter- locking and preventing a movement. But if the stone have rounded sides and there are no angles and corners it must hold together by some binder or cementing material. If this cementing material sets and never softens, as in the case of cement, then there can be no objection. But if it is a clay or earth which will soften when wet the stone gets a chance to move around and the larger ones work to the top by reason of the smaller ones sliding under first one side and then the other, the cement- ing material acting as a lubricant. Yet many peo- ple use gravel and advocate its use because "it will let the water through." This after a century of education in roadmaking. It is well and highly desirable that the earth on which the road metalling rests should be porous and 15 -easily drained, but the -endeavor of the road engi- neer is to get an impervious covering which is termed "metalling" when composed of gravel, cin- ders, stone, etc., and which is termed a paving" when composed of something more durable and neater. If the edged gravel can be obtained easily and at a low cost it may be used by placing it on the road in layers of from two to three inches in thickness and covering it an inch deep with sand. Then wet it and roll it thoroughly. It cannot be rolled to much. It is not advisable to make the total thickness much over six inches. The foundation should be well compacted before the gravel is put on. The only way to use rounded gravel is to put it through a rock crusher and when it gets through call it macadam and put it on the road in accord* ance with the best possible specifications for mac- adamizing. It may be pretty good then. And this brings us to macadamizing, one step farther in street improvement. It is an old story how MacAdam went through England in the early part of this century and reno- vated the roads of that country. How he took the roads which annually had enough broken stone and gravel dumped in to make them good and yet with each load became worse, and fished the stone out of the mire and mud and cracked it into small pieces and put it back again properly. How he became famous and his roads became famous because he possessed a vast amount of common sense. Hence it is that streets and roads improved by placing on them regular layers of broken stone thoroughly i6 rolled, are said to be macadamized. Mac Adam placed the stone on the natural earth after rolling it until it was hard. Another method called Telford, after the engineer of that name, is to excavate the road some depth and roughly pave it with large stone to form a foundation. Then on this founda- tion place the crushed rock (broken stone) in regu- lar layers well rolled. As to which method to adopt local considerations must influence. When the gravel has been tired of and a better pavement or covering for the street is desired the question of material is agitated. It is first necessary to decide between macadam or something else. The arguments for macadam are few when its use in a city is considered. It is cheap in price, that ,is first cost; is low, but expense of maintenance high, though not so high as gravel. It is a good hing when the people are unable to pay for anything bet ter or think they are unable to pay for anything better. Properly made it should be several hund- red per cent, better than the best maintained earth or gravel road and can be kept fairly good looking under considerable travel. Sometimes it is an excellent thing to commence improving the streets with and when worn down to a thickness of six or eight inches it can be cleaned off and a covering of good pavement laid on it. Though it must be borne in mind that in such event if any openings are made in it for sewer or gas or water connections the pavement can never be replaced over the cut and kept in good shape afterwards. To replace the material the earth should be well tamped back in place and a shoulder cut in the macadam around the end of the opening and a concrete covering substi- tuted at that place instead of the macadam. If there is any sinking afterward in the trench the concrete will prevent the pavement sinking or giv- ing way. While not possessing all the advantages of a pavement, macadam has been fairly satisfactory in many places. A good macadam street is composed of broken stone in three layers usually. The first layer should be half the total thickness of the completed job. It should be covered with about half an inch of clear sand or stone dust which should be wet as thoroughly as possible and then rolled until a nar- row tired wagon loaded with about a ton in weight can be hauled over it without materially disturbing the surface. The stone in this layer should not ex- ceed a four inch cube and there should be no fine stuff or dust and the various sized material should be well distributed. The second layer should be composed of stones not larger than a two inch cube and this layer should be about one-third the total thickness of the completed job. It should be also covered with the half inch of sand or rock dust and rolled as the first one. The third layer should com- plete the job and be composed of stone running from half an inch to one inch cube, the larger size predominating. This should be covered with an inch of sand, not rock dust, and thoroughly wet and rolled until the surface is harcT and smooth. For repairs the city should own a rock crushing plant and road roller, for no street lasts -forever. i8 The u stitcli in time" method of repairs is the lest and cheapest. The City of Lewiston, Idaho, re- ceived in May, 1900, bids foi the following outfit: A five ton reversible horse roller, a rock crusher with a capacity of eight tons per hour, a twelve horse power portable engine and a long elevator and a revolving screen for separating the different sizes of stone. The bids ranged from $2,473 to ^3>35- Bids for ten ton steam rollers ranged from $2,450 to $3,750 laid down in Lewiston. An idea can thus be had of the possible cost o such an outfit. It is an advantage for a city to own such a plant and rent it to contractors who do work so that by this means competition can be had which will serve to reduce the cost of street work. This is an encouragement for the energetic men with small capital and keeps money at home. Or the city can crush the stone and sell it at cost to the successful bidder besides having all on hand that is needed for repairs. There are few better investments for a city. Bven after it grows beyond macadam the plant will be needed for concrete. A light roller five tons at least will do as good work as a heavy roller but the material should go on in thinner layers and the work takes longer, therefore the light roller is the more costly to use A steam roller will do more and better work than a horse roller for the same money in ordinary cases. But a steam roller costs from five to six times as much as a horse roller ^.nd unless it is pretty con- stantly in use is apt to be a white elephant for a small town. It takes high priced men to run it and 19 such men cannot always be obtained when needed. Unless it is well housed and thoroughly cleaned and looked after when used it will be ruined. If it weighs more than seven tons careful regulation of the laying of water pipes is needed as it is apt to open the joints if the pipes are laid close to the sur- face. A horse roller should not be less than five tons nor more than seven tons in weight, be reversible and have little wood work. A two dollar man and cheap rented horses can operate it. When through with a job the roller can be left on a vacant lot until needed elsewhere (although the writer does not advo- cate such methods of dealing with machinery). When needed again it requires only a little greasing to make it as good as new. For a citizen, or a contractor either, having only occasional use for a roller a five or seven ton horse roller is best. If there is contant, or almost con- stant, use for the roller then it is a vain and foolish and expensive thing to use a horse roller. And when getting a steam roller get the heaviest the street can stand. OTHER The considerations influencing the PAVING adoption of materials for paving, MATERIALS apart from strictly local considera- tions, which we will take up later, are as follows. Appearance, ease of traction, clean- liness, healthfulness, noise and cost. A perfect pavement is durable, noiseless, cleanly, healthy, easy for purposes of travel and cheap. The per- fect pavement has not yet been discovered. The loads which a horse can draw on a perfectly level roadway, each day of ten hours is given by Haswell, as follows, for the materials mentioned: Asphalt 6,095 Ib s 5 stone block 3,006 Ibs; ordinary stone block 1,828 Ibs; hard macadam 1,391 Ibs; hard gravel 1,279 ^ S 5 nal "d earth 1,193 I DS > worn stone block 1,137 ^ S 5 cobble stone 730 Ibs; ordinary earth 456 Ibs; sand 228 Ibs. Brick is not given but it is close to asphalt. The following figures given by asphalt companies show the comparative cost of haulage on streets paved with various materials. There is little reason to doubt their close agreement with observa- tion even if presented by parties advertising a par- ticular material. Cost to move one ton one mile by horse power (estimate made in Indiana); asphalt 2.7 cts; block stone pavement (average) 5.3 cts; macadam in good order 8.0 cts; gravel road 8.8 cts; earth road, hard and dry 18 cts; macadam with ruts 26 cts; wet sand 32 cts; earth road with ruts and mud 39 cts; dry sand 64 cts. Again there is no mention of brick but it is close to asplalt. Next there is the question of slipperyness on pave- ments. From observations made in various cities in different parts of the world and the authenticity of which there is no reason to doubt, it is claimed that on asphalt as now laid a horse travels 583 miles without falling; on granite block pavement 413 miles; on basalt block pavement the same as granite until it gets smoothed by traffic when it be- comes extremely dangerous; on wooden pavement 272 miles; on rock asphalt pavement (which will be later mentioned) 70 miles. No observations on brick but it should be at least as good as asphalt in this particular, if not better at some seasons of the year and when wet. Now as to grades. Asphalt should not be laid on very steep grades. Granite and basalt blocks can be laid on about the same grades as asphalt. Wood perhaps a trifle steeper and brick on steeper than wood. Macadam can be used on all grades. As to cleanliness. This affects the health of the community and the cost of keeping the streets clean and in good repair, asphalt easily takes first rank, brick second, granite or basalt blocks, if grouted between the joints, third place. If not grouted be- tween the joints the stone blocks rank next to wood, carefully laid. Macadam comes next and last, for earth and gravel roads are not capable of being kept clean in any degree. Macadam if swept regularly and sprinkled occasionally and rolled once in a while can be maintained in a condition, or state, several degrees this side of a nuisance. Durability is another question; as it is closely connected with noise they might be considered to- gether. Cobbles are the most durable, they are an antediluvian pavement and can never be made to look any better by taking up and relaying so their noise can never be lessened. u The cars rattling over the stony street" rattled over cobble pavement. They last forever if the people do not tire of their 22 ugliness and replace them with something better. Granite blocks come next. They are, as everyone knows, durable but as they wear they get noisier every day. They can be taken up, trimmed and relaid at times and thus made a little smoother but on the whole they have only one thing to commend them durability. Basalt blocks are as durable as granite but wear smooth much sooner. It has been found by actual experience that asphalt is about as durable as anything short of stone blocks. Brick comes next and then wood. There are instances of an extremely long life on the part of wooden blocks. Macadam is the least durable if we except gravel which is only a bad makeshift. Asphalt is the quietest and brick and wood close competitors for the second place as regards noise. The writer does not condemn rna- AVACADAM cadam streets for a city. It is good with which to start the improvement ball rolling and gives fairly good service until there is considerable traffic on the street. Being so much superior to earth and gravel it is excellent for streets with light travel and for residence streets and all streets to be improved at low first cost and so situated as to call for little maintenance expense yearly, as for instances on streets with steep grades where better pavements would be slippery. The stone used for macadam, and for all concrete foun- dations fcr other pavements should be clean, hard 23 and durable, free from clay and dirt, not subject to disintegration by the action of air or water, and free from seams or marked lines of cleavage. A rock of igneous character is best and all rock should be tested in a rattler. The rattler is a box which can be partly filled with stone and revolved for a certain length of time to test the wearing power of the stone. It is used in many places for testing macadam and brick for pavements and is a modifica- tion of the rattler used in foundries to clean castings. Cobbles are egg shaped pieces of gravel COBBLES varying in size from six inches in length and breadth to as much as ten inches. They are laid in a bed of sand upon the shaped street surface and tamped into place with heavy tampers and then covered with sand or very fine gravel and wet and rolled. They are an abom- ination. They are noisy and not particularly easy to travel over. The first cost is about the same as macadam but they will wear forever with travel which would wear twelve inches of macadam in a year. The interstices cannot be cleaned and hence cobble pavement is extremely unsanitary. 24 Granite blorks are durable and much STONE better than cobbles, which in the pro- BLOCKS cess of evolution they followed. They are, or should be, cut regularly to shape, and set as closely as possible to make the joints small and thus lessen noise and make them more healthful. The question of healthfulness and noise has been met of late years by filling the joints with cement grout (which some- times makes the pavement a difficult one on which to gain foothold), or with an asphalt grout. The joints being filled the street can be easily kept clean. Formerly they were laid like cobbles in a bed of sand two or three inches thick on the natural earth surface. But the difficulty of keeping a nice sur- face has led to the placing of a concrete foundation' six or eight inches thick over the surface and plac- ing the blocks on that. Indeed it is this concrete foundation which is the real pavement. The other materials placed on it are only wearing surfaces de- signed to protect it. When granite is difficult to obtain it is customary to use basalt. With the ex- ception that it sooner gets slippery and dangerous it is equal to granite. In some parts of the world there are varieties of sandstone which make beauti- ful pavements. They can be trimmed into more regular blocks than any other stone and thus lessen the size of the joints and the consequent wear and noise, while at the same time giving good foothold. If any city is located near a good quarry of such stone the business streets should be paved with it. Still along the line of evolution we WOOD come to the wooden pavement. This was tried and used after stone blocks began to show their undesirable features. As laid in various cities and countries of the world wooden pavements have been alternately praised and sworn at. There is no doubt that wooden pave- ments are in use today which have been down from twenty-five to thirty years and are very satisfactory, while there are other places where the pavements have to be replaced every five or six years, and in some places two to three years has been the life. Cedar block pavements have been extensively used in the United states and it is to be hoped they will vanish forever. Many inventors have wasted mil- lions of dollars of the peoples' money in endeavors give a lasting wooden pavement at too low a first cost. It is now generally understood that a close grained wood must be used. If soft and lasting wood is used it is a disappointment when placed in the street for it is found that mere durability is not enough. Cedar has been a failure because too soft although its lasting qualities in ordinary situations is well understood. But a hard wood is not desira- ble because it gets too hard and smooth and after a little use the edges of the blocks become worn and it is as bad as a stone block pavement for noise and filth producing properties. The proper kind of wood is therefore a close grained wood which cannot be classed as a hard wood. It must be sawed into blocks of a regular shape. Four inch planks cut 26 into six inch squares make the best blocks. They are set on end thus giving a depth of six inches and the travel comes on the end of the grain. It is ab- solutely necessary to place the blocks on a concrete foundation and put over this foundation a thin coat- ing of coarse sand to bring all the blocks to a uni- form surface. Then the blocks should be dipped in hot asphalt and put in place while hot The writer knows that many people do not believe with him in the dipping part of the business because they say the asphalt wears off the top and each block becomes a pocket to hold moisture. The argument in favor of the asphalt is that each block is thoroughly coated and the asphalt cements the blocks together, thus reducing the danger of water getting through. The blocks are isolated and the occasional soft block gets saturated, after which the surplus water runs off the surface until it reaches the gutter. When the sun comes out evaporation takes the surface water away and capillary action brings the con- tained water to the surface and it is evaporated as fast as it rises and thus each block acts alone. If there is no asphalt on the bottom the water can go through the soft blocks and when it reaches the concrete foundation will spread all over and rise by capillary action through every block. In this man- ner one or two soft blocks can destroy several square yards of pavement. A few years ago the United States went wild over the Nicholson pavement which consisted of wooden blocks laid upon thick planks as a foundation. In wet weather the blocks swelled; in dry weather they 2 7 fell apart and the joints filled with dirt. When the wet weather again came around the expansion of the blocks was checked by the presence of the non- expanding material in the joints and -the blocks arched over the street until sometimes horses would break through and the pavement would have to be broken clear to the gutter to enable them to be res- cued from a ridiculous position. The city of San Francisco suffered particularly during the Nicholson craze and hence all wood pavements in that city are called Nicholson, and because they are wood another generation will have to arise before the modern wood pavement will gain a foothold there. By that time freight rates may be so reasonable that wood cannot compete in first cost or cost of maintenance with brick or asphalt and will have no show. An expansion joint must be provided in the wooden pavement. The Australian method is to put a two or three inch plank alongside the curbs and lay the blocks in the roadway between the two planks. When the blocks are all down the planks are taken up and clay tamped in their place. When the blocks expand the clay is forced out. The asphalt between the joints prevents dirt from getting in so there is never afterwards any dangerous bulging. The writer believes the joint made by Thomas K. Muir of Portland, Ore., to be better. It consists of cloth asphalted and coated with grated cork. Laid between the joints it takes up all the expansion and allows for the subsequent contraction. It is cleanly and not expensive. 28 Wooden pavements have given satisfaction for many years in England, France, Germany and Aus- tralasia. They are being replaced by asphalt and brick whenever competion permits a reasonable dif- ference in price to make one pavement as cheap as anather. For cities in the vicinity of a plentiful wood supply it may be the best material to use until asphalt or brick can be put down at the same first cost. Wood can be treated with creosote instead of asphalt but it has been found cheaper in San Fran- cisco where either method could be adopted, to coat with asphalt rather than creosote. A mistake made in the United States has been to use wood only on streets having light travel. It is almost impossible to have too much travel on a wooden paved street as experience has proven. The travel compresses the ends of the blocks and makes them lasting. A wooden street also requires plenty of water. The sprinkling cart should keep the surface in order to insure long life as alternate wetting and drying hurt it. One objection to wooden block pavements in California cities is the long period of dry weather. It is thus seen that several things are necessary in order to secure a satisfactory wooden pavement. First there must be a concrete foundation and on this the blocks must be laid as closely and com- pactly as possible in regular shapes and well coated with asphalt or treated with creosote. The wood must be close grained and in Portland, Ore., yellow fir has proven to be the most satisfactory. There should be expansion joints provided and over the top of the pavement should be spread a thin coating 29 of hot asphalt and a half inch of clear sand. The sand to be brushed off after a weeks use of the street and the asphalt coating to be replaced every year or two. The question of the healthful ness of wooden paved streets has been urged against them. Statis- tics have been given of the immense numbers of germs found in the joints between paving blocks. There are germs and germs. Our only danger from germs is from a comparatively few species which exist on living matter. The kinds found in the joints of wooden block pavements are our best friends who spend a short but useful life converting dead animal and vegetable matter into matter which becomes plant food and they thus help to render human life possible. With the filling of the joints with asphalt and the covering of the blocks with the same material the opportunities for the existence of germs are lessened. With the old round cedar block there was danger to health because of the op- portunity given for harmful germs to live, but with a modern wooden block pavement the talk of germs is like the nurse's tale of the "bogie man." Next in order chronologically conies as- ASPHALT phalt. The asphalt used in Europe for many years was an asphaltic lime- stone or limestone impregnated with asphalt (bitu- men). It was good but very slippery, being put on the street in its natural state after just enough soft- 30 ening by heat to make it easy to lay and roll thin. In wet weather it was necessary to sand it to keep horses from slipping. This slipperiness was a great objection and therefore asphalt did not grow rapidly in favor until the discovery 'of the asphalt lake in Trinidad and the formation of great asphalt paving companies with American capital. It has grown steadily in favor ever since and many other sources of suppty are now exploited. In fact within the past year it has been claimed that an asphalt trust has been organized which controls all the known sup- plies. The material is refined and brought to the street, in barrels where if is softened by heat and mixed with sand and a filler of very fine material, preferably limestone, and laid on the street hot. Before it completely cools it is compressed and rolled to its final thickness with a heavy roller. It is useless without a concrete foundation or a founda- tion of good macadam used several years and thor- oughly cleared of dust before the asphalt is laid on it two to two and one-half inches thick. The mix- ture of asphalt, sand and limestone or rock dust must be varied according to climate, grade of the street and conditions of traffic. For this reason it demands an amount of skilled scientific supervision few small places can afford or are unwilling to pay for or cannot command. This, then, the proper supervision, is one of the local considerations influencing the selection of paving materials. It must be given proper weight. If the small place is bound to have asphalt pave- ment without expert advice and guidance the audio- rities should be careful to award the authority only to some very strong company which can afford at a small profit to put in a good pavement and guaran- cee it for at least ten years. Yet a large company is not always so careful about a small job in an out of the way place as a small company might be with a small capital to lose and a reputation to jealously guard. A smaller company to whom non-success might mean absolute failure and bankruptcy is sometimes more particular than a large company overcrowded with work and sometimes pushed to obtain competent foremen. The writer does not advise the putting down of asphalt without compe- tent advice and careful selection of inspectors, for every ordinary man is not fitted to be an inspector on asphalt work. A properly laid and maintained asphalt pave- ment cannot be too highly praised. Being mono- lithic (in one piece without joints) it is cleanly and sanitary, can be cleaned and repaired easily and on account of the rubber like consistency of the ma- terial is practically noiseless. It conies as near being the perfect pavement as anything yet dis- covered. There is another form of asphalt pavement known as "bituminous rock." It differs from the asphaltic limestone of Europe in that the bitumen impreg- nates beds of sand instead of limestone. It is a fairly good material and in all respects but one, the equal of the best asphalt. The one defect is that as all beds of sand contain more or less loam and earth and decayed matter the mixture is not uniform. Therefore when laid on streets it goes to pieces ir- regularly. Some parts may last for years and some parts for only a few months. It has been largely used in California, where the best deposits have been found, in cities where the freight rates pre- vented competition with asphalt brought in from the East and before any good deposits of California asphalt had been developed. Where it has corne into competition with asphalt its use has been prac- tically abandoned. Brick pavements run asphalt very BRICK close. The use of brick is another in- stance of the part local considerations play in the adoption of a paving material. The ma- terial of which vitrified paving brick is made can- not be found in every part of the country. The clays known as "surface clays," which every brick- maker has knowledge of, cannot be successfully used for this class of brick, the range of temperature at which they can be vitrified being very narrow on account of too much silicia or too much lime. So the brick will be either un burned and thus be too soft or else will be misshapen and cannot be used. It is well to remember this when dealing with the local brickmaker who pleads for an opportunity to burn brick for the paving of a street. Surface clays have been abandoned for this purpose. An impure fire clay can be used and the more impure the better for the purpose. Care must be taken however to 33 see that the brick is not too soft as it requires a very high heat to vitrify the fire clay. These clays make a tough brick when properly vitrified. The impure fire clays mentioned are better known by the ma- jority of persons as "pipe clay.'/ But the material which should be used for vitrified paving brick is a shale found generally in the vicinity of coal meas- ures. The common names are u soft slate" and "soapstone." They must be ground up and then when mixed with water become plastic and can be molded satisfactorily. It can be readily seen that if the proper material is not found in sufficient quantity near the town it will be difficult to count on vitrified brick as a pav- ing material The price in the Middle, Central and Eastern states is from $5 to $8 per thousand and in the West from $15 to $25. At a price not to exceed $15 they can compete in price with asphalt. When the brick is brought any great distance the freight kills all consideration of its use for paving. The cost is too great, for it must be 1 orne in mind that the whole wearing surface has to be transported, whereas as in the case of asphalt the asphalt alone is brought in and it comprises about ten per cent of the wearing surface. The sand and filler mixed with it are local materials. It was because the en- tire wearing surface comprised in a bituminous rock pavement had to be transported which led to its use being confined to places near the mines as it was ninety per cent sand. Brick pavement in every way gives as good satis- faction as asphalt where tried in competition, 34 speaking generally again. There are enthusiastic believers in the superiority of each material. The writer prefers brick if found close enough to be laid at no greater first cost than asphalt. The cost of maintenance is no higher. It is practically as noiseless and the clicking sound of the horseshoes is a pleasant one. If not properly put down there is apt to be a distressing rumble under continuous traffic but it is not a characteristic inseparable from the use of the material. The great argument in favor of brick as in the case of wood is that the highly trained scientific supervision is not so neces- sary as in the case of asphalt and there is no neces- sity ior a complete reliance upon the honesty of the contractor in the absence of special counsel. Given proper specifications, a careful selection of material by an honest man of the most ordinary education, with honest supervision by men of little or no education but with common sense and an abil- ity to do well what they do, and the use of brick and wood pavements ^an be made possible. Each place must study carefully local considera- tions and improve the streets iu the best way possi- ble in that particular place with reference to the good of the community and the least legitimate cost. Penny wise and pound foolish methods are not the best. Any of the leading materials will make a first class pavement under the proper con- ditions. It only requires common sense and a re- gard for the value of the advice of men possessing a training in the work and possessed likewise of com- mon sense in its application. 35 No street will last forever without some sort of repairs and maintainance. Constant attention is required and there must be wise ordinances well en- forced to keep the streets properly preserved in a state to travel upon with comfort and satisfaction. The laying of street car tracks in streets has a great tendency to shorten the life of a pavement. When a franchise is granted for a street railway it should specify the manner of constructing the road- bed and should prescribe the kind of rail to be used. There is only one kind to use and that is a grooved girder rail. It has been the practice of street railway com- panies to lay as light a rail as they could but ex- perience has shown them, as it has shown steam railroad managers, that a light rail is a costly thing. A gauge was used which enabled every vehicle in the city to "track" the rails and when wagons followed the tracks with one wheel on and the other outside (in order to turn out of the way of a car easily) the streets were badly cut up. Of late years cities which have had expensive pavements ruined by this "tracking" have investigated the rail question with the result that European practice is being followed more and more and grooved rails re- quired. These rails are flat on top and are flush with the pavement on each side. Down the middle runs a groove for the flange of the car wheel to travel in and this groove is too narrow for wheels to catch in. It is almost impossible for any wagon to track on such rails. There has been an objection on the part of street car men to the use of grooved 36 rails, claiming they are difficult to keep clean. The difficulty is overestimated and in actual practice not found to be a valid objection. Even if it were it is better for the company to do something to prevent destroying the streets they occupy as a privilege and not make the suffering taxpayers stand all the cost. In the case of macadamized streets it has been found by actual observation that a street car track on such a street increases the cost of maintenance fully one third. On such streets a T rail can be laid under proper specifications but a provision should be put in the franchise that when the street is paved with wood, brick, stone or asphalt that a grooved girder rail will be substituted. As tending also to the preservation of the streets may be mentioned the question of electrolysis. This is a matter which becomes of vital importance when electric street railways are built. If the single trol- ley system is used the return current goes back underground and at every possible opportunity it leaves the conductor and attacks metal pipes in the ground. This necessitates frequent opening of the streets to repair bieaks in service pipes. The only remedy thus far proposed which has been found effi- ciemt is to require the double trolley system to be installed, if a trolley system is used at all. To avoid destroying a street by too frequent open- ing for water, light and sewer connections, some regulation of pipe laying is necessary. The subject needs too long a discussion to be handled in a work of the scope of the present volume. Briefly, how- 37 ever, it would be well to have every pipe on streets running in a certain direction at one depth and on intersecting streets one or two feet deeper. They should be certain specified distances from the curb and before a street is paved house connections should be run from the pipes every 25 feet to a point one foot inside the curb line. Maps of the lines with locations of all house con- nections should be kept in the office of the city en- gineer. The cleaning of streets is an ^xpensive item which becomes yearly greater. Until some good way of utilizing the refuse is devised there will be no escape from it. It has been stated in public print that in Belgium several cities let the contract yearly for the removal of street refuse to the one who will give the most for the privilege. The re- fuse is used by stock breeders and manufacturers of artificial manures. This may be true but there must be some exceptional facilities for refuse dis- posal. Every street requires a curb. It serves CURBING to definitely fix the line between the roadway and the sidewalk, to serve as one side of the gutter and to improve the appear- ance of the street. On macadam streets wooden curbs are often used. The best are sixteen inches deep and four inches thick. The grade of the 38 street is two inches higher than the top of the curb and the wooden sidewalks when built are spiked to the top of the curb. Concrete curbs are very satisfactory in appear- ance and when well constructed are durable and be- ing lower in cost than granite are so far preferable. Granite curbs are laid in pieces averaging from four to eight feet in length. In some cities they are clamped together but generally however they are laid end to end and well bedded. Granite and con- crete curbs are generally six inches wide on top, eight inches on the bottom and sixteen inches deep. The top is on the official street grade and elevation. The shaping of corners presents considerable va- riety. The most handsome street intersection is one where the two intersecting curbs meet on a ra- dius equal to the width of the narrower sidewalk. For this reason concrete curbing is desirable, for molds can be made for any radius. It might in- crease the cost of granite curbing if stone had to be cut for a different radius on every job, in the case of a city where there are many streets of different width, so a common corner of about 10 foot radius can be used. But many cities use a radius as small as three feet and some of eighteen inches. The ap- pearance of the corners is not at all handsome and the corners jut pretty far out into the roadway Wooden curbs can be placed on a radius by either cutting the four inch plank into sections about one foot in length with a bevel or by driving 4x4 posts into the ground, on a curve four inches inside the 39 curb curb and about three feet apart. Four thick- nesses of one inch boards can be bent around these posts and spiked to them. In general the sidewalk space on SIDEWALKS each side of the steet should be one- fifth of the total street width. The roadway would then be three fifths the width of the street. The curb will define the line between the roadway and sidewalk reservation. On business streets the whole space will be utilized but on resi- dence streets the sidewalks can be narrow and on each side the space be planted with grass and trees. Wooden sidewalks are only temporary affairs and should not be allowed to remain after they com- mence to wear. The boards get loose and the nails stick up. They trip the pedestrian in summer and Squirt muddy water on him in winter. They should be made of two inch plank not more than eight in- ches nor less than six inches wide and be spiked with about a 2O-penny nail. The top of the nail should be driven a quarter of an inch below the surface. Stone flag sidewalks are not satisfactory as they wear unevenly and get loose after much travel. Brick sidewalks have the same objection although they look neat. If constructed with vitrified paving brick grouted with cement they are not bad. The best sidewalk is the concrete and rement walk properly laid. There should be good specifications 40 and competent supervision an I every property owner should be compelled to comply with specifi- cations prepared by the city officials. The glare of the light colored sidewalk on a sunshiny day is ob- jectionable but it may be overcome. By the use of lampblack or other colored pigments the color of the sidewalk can be greatly modified. There is danger, hower, of injuring the cement by such mixtures and they also fade out after a while unless the work is done by skillful men. There are some preparations designed to be mixed with the water used to temper the mortar. These preparations are very satisfac- tory in use and are lasting. There are no set rules to follow GRADES in establishing grades and im- AND proving streets. The streets IMPROVEMENTS are to look well, are to serve as drains c.nd as avenues of travel. They are to be improved at the lowest possible cost to attain these ends. All other considerations are matters of detail. Business streets should all have if possible, a level cross section, or a cross section nearly level. They should be improved from property line to property line. It is generally easy to do this as the business portion of a town is as a rule laid out in the first place in the most level part of a tract of land. A level cross section is one where the curbs on each side of the street are at the same elevation. For drainage the sidewalks slope toward the gut- ter and the roadway is high in the center. The shaping and crowning of the roadway depends upon the width of the street and the material used for paving, as a smooth impervious pavement needs very little crowning. When one side of the street is a few inches or a foot higher than the other con- siderable study may be required to secure the proper crown. Some towns are laid out on a hillside and the streets follow the contour of the ground. In such cases the difference in elevation of the two sides of the street may be as much as ?o or 30 feet, although 10 to 15 is more common. These sidehill streets are generally residence streets and should be im- proved at as slight cost as possible to give them a handsome appearance and accomplish the desired end. The grade when established should be the grade of the roadway. This need not be more than 20 to 25 feet wide. On the inside next the bank should be placed a curb and gutter and on the out- side a curb and sidewalk and railing. The sidewalk need not be more than five or six feet wide. Ter- races should connect the edge of the sidewalk and the curb on the inside of the aoadway with the ground at the fences on each side. These slopes can be planted to grass or flowers and cared for by the adjoining property owners. In fact in some places the adjoining owners are permitted by the city to fence down to the edge of the improved por- 42 tion (on a lease terminable at the pleasure of the council) and the effect of the narrow winding road- way through flower beds and nicely sodded slopes has an enchanting park effect. By some such method of improvement it is possible to save hand- some old trees by winding the roadway round them. In establishing grades two things must be con- sidered drainage and traction. Any slope will cause water to move but the least grade should be limited, if possible, to four inches in 100. The writer however, has had to establish grades on streets of one and one-quarter inches in 100, and has known of some towns where the streets were per- fectly level from one end of a block to another. This is not good practice to follow but it simply em- phasizes the remark above made that there are no set rules to follow and serves to show how necessary it is to have proper advice in such work. A grade cannot be fixed for one block alone but each block has to be studied with reference to surrounding blocks. For streets having a light grade or no grade, a grade for the surface water is created in the gutter by raising one end or by raising the gutter in the middle of the block. This can be done and the curb be level although it is not the most sightly thing to do. It having been shown that water can be made to run off a level street it is necessary to see the limiting effect of traction. Horses can do with- out it y therefore street grades should be limited between the lightest possible for efficient drainage and the steepest a team with loaded wagon can as- cend with ease. The steepest grade should not ex- ceed, if possible, a five foot rise in 100. Heavier grades, as well as extremely light grades should only be adopted after most careful study. Calling the load a horse will pull on a level sur- face 100, then on a grade of r in 100 a horse will pull 90 2 in 100 /) -a| 3* 5 -o W p s a o 3 i 05 -j~ " O o o w Lot surveys ........ ...... ........ *.......%.-....., ^. 14 Macadam^ 15-16-20-22 Mains, water, size of . 72 Maintenance of streets 35 Marking survey points ./, 139 Marks, benches for levels... 93 Material, furnishing of .. 94 " low and high cost... > I![ " paving .. *...............,. 12-20 " for pipes . 76 Measurements, hints on .... .. 136 Method of sewage disposal .. . 58-64 Meters, value of 70 Michaelis' test for cement v .. 148 Monuments, govern distances '. > v 91 " description of 132 tied in .. 133 Municipal control 120 " ownership 107 " " of water . 79 " " arguments against 116 Nails in curb for lines 133 Nicholson pavement 26 Note book for engineers , 152 Notes of work ........ 128 Oil engines for pumping 69 Old plants, valuation of 114 Openings in macadam 16 Ordinance for plumbing 55 Original Hues of surveys , 90 Ownership, municipal .. 107 Pamphlet library .. 124 Pay of engineers 102 Payment for records 133 Pavement, best is cheapest .............v it " general considerations 19-20-21 ' Nicholson 26 Paving materials (see material wanted.)... Placing of street lights 83 Plane of reference for levels ; ; 93 Plans 95, and specifications 128 Plants, value of old , . 114 Plats, best for record 128 " filing of 135 " for study of lines 133 Practice and theory 99 Percentage on cost of work as fee 103 Periodicals, engineering 121 Precipitation, chemical 58 Pressure in mains 74 Pipes, friction in 72 " in streets , 36 Private sewers >. 50 Points for surveys 133-139 Police vs. lights 84 Politics in cities 108-110 Pollution of water supply 56 Profiles ". 135-138 Plumbing inspectors 71 " ordinance 54 Pumping, economy in 74 <4 plants...... 67-68 ESTABLISHED 1871 BOSTON. MASS.. U. S. A. C. L. BERGER & SONS SUCCESSORS TO BUFF <5c BERGER Precise Surveying and Engineering Instruments. Surveving and Engineering Instruments adapted to all Field Work in all climates- Special features: Fine Finish, Accurate Graduations, Powerful Telescopes Precise Levels, True Adjustment?, Largest Variety, Equitable Prices. ILLUSTRATED CATALOGUE AND MANUAL ON APPLICATION. TRANSITS AND LEVELS ARE US ED IN ALL THE PACIFIC COAST STATES AND ARE THE STANDARD J. C. SALA SUCCESSOR To JOHN ROACH. Established in New York City 1834 Established in San Francisco, 1855 SEND FOR CATALOGUE CON- TAINING VALUABLE TABLES AND SPECIAL PROFESSIONAL PAPERS ...... : ............................ 429 Montgomery St., SAN FRANCISCO, CAL. Transits, Levels, Current Meters, all kinds. Mine Transits, with or without D. D. Scott's Auxiliary Interchangeable Telescope for Top and Side, (Buff& Berger style) a specialty. Steel Tapes and Band Chains, all styles and lengths. Tape Reels, wood and metal , Level Rods, Poles, Pins and Bobs, Hook Gauges, Anemometers, Improved Plan Meters, Etc., Etc., Etc. C. G: LEDDER Formerly with Buff & Berger and Keuffell A Esser Co. PERSONAL ATTENTION GIVEN TO REPAIRING AND MAKING OF IN- STRUMENTS. "Promptness, despatch and accuracy" my motto. Prices moderate. 302 Washington Street, - - - BOSTON, MASS. Purity of water . 63 Quantity of water required 69 Rails, street car lines 35 Ram in water mains 73 Rates, insurance 72 " water 78-114 Record books 134 " of surveys 9~93 Records of work 121-128 Reference plane for levels 93 " marks for monuments 133 Refuse in streets 37 Rental of hydrants 113 Repairs on streets 35~45 Repairs on water mains 73 Report on plans 96 Reservoirs, covered and open........: 67 Residence streets '. 41 Resurveys 90 " of lots 140 Rock, bituminous 31 Rollers for streets 19 Roman water works in Salt water for streets 68 Sand nitration 64 Sanitary sewers 50 Scraping sewers 55 Stadia surveys 131 Stakes on original surveys 90 " " street work 145 " " sewers . 146 Stand pipes 67 Standard tapes 138 Separate sewers 50 Separation of sewage 58 Septic tank 60 Sewage disposal 56 Sewerage 49 Sewers, grade stakes for 146 " pipe on water works 78 " cleaning of 55 " in general 50 Setting stakes for street work 145 Specifications 94 Streams on fire 72 Streets, car lines on . 35 cleaning 37 cost of poor 46 drainage of. 42 intersections on 93 lamps for 81 openings in macadam 16 refuse on 37 repairs on 17 setting stakes for work on 145 Sidewalks 39 Sixteen candle power light 82 Sizes of catalogues 127 " water mains 72 Slippery pavements 20 Spring balance for tapes 136 Sprinkling wooden blocks 28 M'CULLOUGH TAPE LEVEL PATENTED JULY 26. 1892. WEIGHT ONE OUNCE. INSURES ACCURACY IN TAPE MEASURE- MENTS. ENDORSED BY ENGI- NEERS GENERALLY... PRICE $LOO Sold by J. C. Sala, A. C. Leitz Co., H. S, CroKer Co.. Edward Denny & Co., in San Francisco, Cal.; A. S. Aloe Co., St. Louis, Mo.; C. L. Berger and Sons, C. C. Ledder, Boston, Mass. ORGANIZED 1882 INCORPORATED 1891 OFFICERS D. McAlister, President; R. M. Downie, Secretary; R. G. Forbes, Treasurer. DIRECTORS D. McAlister, R. M. Downie, H. H. George, J. G. Downie, J. D. McAnlis. Capital Stock $!5o,ooo Keystone Driller Company BEAVER FALLS, PA- FOR WATER WELLS, OIL WELLS, GAS WELLS, Making Soundings for Bridge Piers, prospecting for iron ore, lead and zinc, and TESTING PLACER GROUND, BURIED RIVERS AND OLD LAKE BEDS, or drilling deep test holes in any formation gravel, boulders and rock. Drives 5 to 12 inch pipe, drills holes that size in rock and produces at the surface everything found. Can be used on boat to explore river beds to bedrock. Water no hindrance. Drills water and oil wells quickly, cheaply and without skilled labor. Each outfit complete. Made for any depth up to 1,500 feet. Set up in an hour and operated by ordinary workmen. Made both to be moved with horses and, also, self-moving Unexcelled for lead and zinc testing. Multitudes in use in United States, Mexico, New Zealand, China, Siberia and South America. KEYSTONE DRILLER CO., Beaver Falls, Pa. Stingy lot owners 93 Soundness of cement 148 Shortage on survey 142 Stone block pavements 20-24 " testing 150 Sludge of sewage 59 Subdivision of land 93 Suffrage 109 Supervision, competent 30 Surplus and deficiency 141 Surface waters in reservoirs 67 Surveyors and engineers 98 Surveying lots 140 Surveying an art 144 Tanks.\ 67-69-75 " flushing, for sewers 52 Tapes and levels 136 " standard 138 " testing 136 Taxation 81-113 " in cities with poor streets 47 Telford pavement 16 Tensile tests 147 Theory and practice 99 Testing cement 146 " stone 150 " tapes 136 Ties for survey points 139 Topography 129 Trolley lines 36 Uncertain surveys 92 Underground waters in reservoirs 67 Value of old plants 114 street lighting ... 84 technical advice 97 Valves and gates 73 Voters in cities , 109 Water filtration 64 meters 70 pipe connections 70 quantity of . . . : 69 ram 73 rates 78-114 supply 63 uses of 63 waste 69 works design, good and bad 73 Wells for water supply 57-66-68 Widths of streets 93 Wood paving 25 Wooden pipe 77 Work in cities 104 " on streets, setting stakes for 145 Wrought iron pipes 77 l\e Expert Engirt 44^1-Ilv vocation of llu consulting eng tieei become firmly re ^ nized as a true profession, and in this line of work there ' : ly ! ;v' ising demand for the young, pell educated man. '''' I ienl si : - * rt some one who has made a sp< designs forwork with which he is nol familiar, he is sun I fa t, .-.. alv , s tpkes many successes to balance one failure. It may then- assumed that an <" , : ej, of good reputation ma] sal .. \ /joyed a: an exnert. "At times the client is placed upon the horn of a dilemma ani I sil nation is often v-er^ i omples : ' fan i alls fo ' : id i com ra< t< re 1 I - ~ ~ * ' ' ' ' ; ; : : prices, well as the plans, will be found to differ so widely make a sel Action th< best for the least expense a very difficult matter If he have an expert prepan plans ind vacations, then all bids directly comparable, and practice bas ; ro ! time and time on account of the inon din i jetition between the bidders, the re THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE STAMPED BELOW AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY WILL INCREASE TO 5O CENTS ON THE FOURTH DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY OVERDUE. T933 JUia8l990 LD21-100m-7,'33 YC ?338C