"THE TAR HABIT."

Press, Volume LXVI, Issue 13713, 21 April 1910, Page 6

"THE TAR HABIT."

The condition of our streets and roads •is so closely connected with the problem of dust-prevention that the two can hardly be discussed separately. It may be taken for granted that anything which improves the surface of a street tends also to keep down the dust, and for this purpose there is nothing within the means of average municipalities that is better than tar. That, at least, is the opinion of the Dust Committee of the Royal Automobile Club in England, a body which is as much, concerned in the maintenance of a good surface on the roads as in the prevention of dust. In its report for last year, the committee says:— "The treatment which has been most successful in rendering our roads dustless has been by the surface application of tar applied either by hand or by machine. By this method great lengths of road have beon rendered dustless for a whole summer season, the mud in the winter following has been reduced in quantity, and in some cases the application has lasted for more than one season. Moreover, there is almost unanimous testimony that the whole cost of the treatment is more than saved by the increased durability of the road, and already many surveyors are able to make a strong case for the extension of the treatment eolely on the ground of economy alone." What a light dressing of tar will do for streets is shown in the statement of the surveyor of Fulham, that in that borough last year it reduced the quantity of sweepings and mud removed from the streets from 390 tons per mile to 190 tons. As tho committee points out, this means that not only was the amount of material worn by the traffic from the surface greatly reduced, but the working up of the subsoil to the surface was also prevented by the application of tar. Mr Walker Smith, the city engineer of Edinburgh, upon whose opinion the committee place great value in dealing with the question of efficient road-making and maintenance, asserts that tho binding is the crux of the whole matter, and that if macadam roads are to be constructed to meet the needs of present-day traffic, " a bituminous bind- " ing or matrix must bo employed." Mr Gordon, the city surveyor of Sydney, fully agrees that tarring provides the solution of the problem of road maintenance. Ho quotes the case of ono street in. Sydney that was treated with*tar ten yeara ago, and Is to-day "practically dustless.". That Sydney has got what is called "the tar habit" is shown by the fact that whereas last year the City Council spent £970 on tar-paving, this year they will devote £5000 to similar work. Tho Chxistchurch City Council's officers are no doubt well acquainted with the literature of road-makingj and are desirous of adopting the best methods as far as the funds at their disposal will permit. The report to which we have drawn attention should, however, be of interest to tbie general public, to whom good roads and the absence of dust are matters of some importance.