GOOD ROADS PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LVI, Issue 232, 1 October 1925, Page 9

GOOD ROADS PROBLEM.

] QUESTION OE UTATCRIAT,. INITIAL COST AND MAINTENANCE. Abo-it two haadred attended at the Strand Theatre at 10 s ra. to-day in "resoonse to an invitation from the Nenchatel Asphalte Co.. Ltd.. to listen to ; a descriptive talk wr Mr. JL W. T. Park- . hurst. CE- on "Bitumen in Roadway Construction." Those present included i mayors, chairmen and members oi local I bodies, also engineers and road con- , tractors. The address was illustrated hj i a number of interesting films. Mr. A G. Lunn- who introduced the i speaker, explained the reason he was ■ asked to t-reside -was because he was not , interested in any asphalt or concrete i company. Like everyone else, he realised i the Importance of good roads. He noticed jthat concrete roads seemed to grind away under trafSc. and that raised the question of the advisability of putting th i asphalt surface on top of the concrete. ! The great point to be considered was | economy, not merely in initial cost of ; construction, hut subsequent mainten- ! ance. I; was not economical to raise | loan? to lay down roads if they were te 'be aaickly ground away by the traffic. Mr. Parkhurst said there were a lot of engineers present, who knew more l about local reouirements and conditions 1 than he did. He referred to the altered ! condition? resultant upon the immense j development of motor traction, that had ' added greatly to the importance of hayI ing good roads and created a new traffic 1 problem. Mr. Parkhurst advocated the 1 regulation by local bodies of the weights 1 carried by vehicles, also a r-eriodic traSc ' inspection of roads. He made it clear ' that the roadin? problem in the city. ' with congested traffic, was very different i from tha: in country districts. Roads I w;th proper drainage, solid foundations, ! and a* suitable ' traffic-resisting surface ! vr?T. the need of t-e-day. The paints Ito be aimed at were the lowest initial I ens:. with length of life of the road when j male, and the relative afterwards cost |of maintenance. Those points had to be ! considered in determining the kind ol i road to be laid down. The best road I was the one that proved the cheapest -ver a long period. Roads in country i districts siiould be made -o suit the requirements of the particular traffic. ! The cheapest road was the one for which 1 the total annual cost of road service ; was the lowest. While concrete roads ■•ver? suited to traffic- in country districts, ! ,-i bituminous or asphalt surface was required for the denser traffic in the

The first road war put down with | | bitumen from Lake Trinidad in 1579. but centuries before that King Nebuehad- j • nezzar used bitumen to make bricks for I the roads in Assyria. Fifth Avenue, in J New York, had to stand the hardest j .traffic in the world, and it -was made j , with a bitumen surface. Concrete cement i road? had only been in use for abo-Et j i twenty years, and were therefore to some j ettent still on trial, but asphalt surfaced j | road* wenf back for 40 years. j Mr. Parkhurst then described the pro- . per method of laying down luttfmino'JS j j roads, and his remarks were illustrated Jby picture? screened. Roads made -of bitumen, sand, and metal chips were, he i said, quite satisfactory for secondary j traffic. He claimed tha: the annual cost iof maintenance of concrete roads was ! greater than that of those laid down j ; with bitumen. Interesting pictures were screened of I ! the work of getting bitumen at Lake ! Trinidad, an : a!—-, at Laic Bermondez. I Venezuela. Lake Trinidad, he said, had j an area of 114 acre?, and Bermondez of! acres. The main point emphasised 1 'by Mr. Parkhurst was that it was use- ' less :■-■ lay down roads without proper \ foundat:ons and good drainage: also ; i that where there was dense trafSc bitu- j ' minous surface was the most economical ! in the long ran.