RUBBER ROADS

Waikato Independent, Volume XXIII, Issue 3147, 6 December 1923, Page 2

RUBBER ROADS

SILENT ,SAPE, DURABLE. INTERESTING EXPERIMENTS. It had to come. Having discovered that rubber was the best material for tyres for modern vehicles, some one was sure to get the idea of putting the rubber on tho roads. Rubber paving is not quite a new idea, but now for the first time roads paved with rubber are "practical politics" in heavy traffic areas in big cities. The only objection to rubber paving is the cost of it. Admittedly the cost is heavy, but nowadays all paving.costs are high, and rubber wins in every other respect. It is resilient, silent, unaffected by wet, is oil-resisting (important in motor traffic areas), and is-not slippery. It is easy to lay, and it has a long life. Rubber blocks were laid at St. Paneras station yard, London, in 1870, and some of the original blocks arc still there, showing a life of 53 years. (Arrangements have just been completed 'for another interesting experiment with, rubber block paving in London streets. The Cenotaph, the nation's memorial to the soldiers who fell in tho Great War, stands in Whitehall, amid the din of heavy passing traffic. A British company formed for the purpose of developing, if possible, the use of rubber for road-making, has made an offer to the Westminster City Council to lay with 'rubber blocks an area round the Cenotaph. Tho idea is that this spot, to which thousands make pilgrimages, should be a sacred place, unprofaned by the noise of the living. Rubber paving will muffle the din. The City Council has accepted the gift, and an area of 1500 square yards of rubber paving is to be laid. It is admitted that the high cost of tho rubber roadways will forever prevent the use of the material generally for paving, but in big cities there are special areas where silence and freedom from vibration will be considerations outweighing that of first cost, to say nothing of such advantages as the long life the rubber will bring. Two or three projects for the laying of rubber roadways in streets of American cities havo been seriously put forward. One of them concerns Havard bridge, Boston, the purpose in this case being to stop vibration. Apart from vehicular traffic roads, station platforms and much-used stairways have' been laid with rubber with complete satisfaction, in many city buildings. For stair treads rubber is the best material. It is durable, it is cheaper than any other tread that can be made, and it is safe because there is less risk of passengers slipping on it. Perhaps one day rubber will be used in all public places where there is constant and crowded foot traffic. No longer need there be- doubt about the sufficiency of the world's rubber supply. Only by restriction of output have the producing companies been able to maintain a price to show a profit. It is, after (ill, the smallest working profit. The Bonanza yields of prewar days will never come again. Increased production will instantly follow increased demand, and increased production may mean even more econocical working, and still lower prices. There will be plenty of rubber to make roads as soon as the road layers docido to use it. Much usoful propaganda and experimental work is being done by the organisations already named, Rubber Roadways, Ltd., a company supported by some 150 producing companies.