WET PAVEMENTS

Auckland Star, Volume XLVI, Issue 66, 18 March 1915, Page 2

WET PAVEMENTS

CAUSE ENDLESS ACCIDENTS. A PROBLEM IN AUCKLAND. CITY COUNCIL MAKES EXPERIMENTS. How many honses come down ajid injure thiemeelves on Auekihvnd'a cfety streets on a wet day? Year in and year out, this is a perpetual problem. Yesterday there were ecwrei* of accidents all over the city. A slight shower is followed by fciKs everywhere, and Queen Sbraet, Slvortland Street, and every thoroughfare paved in asphalt becomes the terror of hore'edrivere. As time passes, bhe surface of these roadis apparently becomes more and more smooth and elippery. with the result that a passing shower gives a glase-tike -surfa-ee, and ■hon=as cannot maintain a fo-othold. The position is one which has kmg occupied the attention of thn inspector appointed by the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (Mr. H. Aider). "It is a problem which becomes more and more serious ac we put additional street down in permanent mat€Tia:l," said Mir. AldeTs. "Yesterday, wHia the first shower of ram, there was "a procfi-sion of falls aJI over the city. Once a hors« its down, it is a big undertaking to get it up again. Grafton Bridge, though a perfectly level thoroughfare, ha« proved one of the most dangerous localities. 1 have seen no k-:ii than six horees down on the bridge at th'? o-n-e time. A day or two ago a well known contractor, who lives in Edinburgh Street, had (his arm badly bnoken as the result of the ho-nse ihe was driving elipprng on the bridge, and throwing him out. The very next day a valuable horse, worth at least £50, slipped and fell, breaking its leg. The same evening, just about 6 o'clock, at the v«ry busiest period, tram cars were hung up in Symonds Street, all the way from East Street to iC'ty Road, in consequence of a badly scared horse refusing to budge off the tram rails. The horse had slipped and slithered all over the smooth" wet surface of the permanent roadway, and had only been saved by getting on to the rough surface between the tram lines. Once there, on safe ground, it refused to budge, and consequently huna up the whole tramway service for quite a while. These and other eases could be quoted ■ without end. Queen Street, the -wharves, and other main thoroughfares were yesterday the scenes of a series of serious falls, sacks, sawdust and sand being before the horses could be got ton to their feet again. People ask, "U'here is the Inspector?" added Mr. Alders, "but what can the inspector do? It is rather a matter for engineers than inspectors. The problem is one exercising the minds of the authorities in all part* of the world. In America it is met by the I construction of a special kind of horseshe, hollowed out, so as to contain a filling made of rope, and this enables the horse to obtain a grip. Last week the fire brigade horses nearly came down in Queen Street on the wet pavement outside Queen's Theatre, and I have supplied the superintendent with sets of these Vat-foot*-, , as thir American shoes are called. It will be interesting to see how they work." Mr. W, E. Bush, city engineer, said the problem was a difficult one. A shower of rain always made an asphalt surface slippery. The question immediately became one of relative skill in the handling of horses, and the careful driver took care not to let his horsee down. The Council, in putting Pitt Street down in permanent material, waa using a new preparation known ac "nacovia," consisting of asphalt and grit, which would, it was thought, provide a better jrrip. An experimental length of roadway was also being put down of what was known as "mexphalte," consisting of macadam and stone mixed with bitumen, from Mexico. Also, between the tram rails, the road was being constructed of tarred macadam. These experiments would be of value in indicating whether a permanent road-making material could be found which would give a eurer and safer footing for 'horses, and at the same time provide a satisfactory street paving. The problem was one which had been before the Council ever since Queen Street had been put down in asphalt thirteen years ago, and was one exercising the minds of engineering authorities ail over the world.