V l hlnl WW ' * WI» WW I l ‘ 40 ms; 11 came .1me \ AN ANALYSKS BY THE PAVEMENTS 3F BWGSSD, WEh‘iGAN THESIS FOR THE DEGREE OF B, S C. J. NOONON £929 .— m.‘rm A '- 5...: Tums .- ‘4“WW ._, x can“- 5.;— 'ffiEifilS ilfiiL av: 90* at I :1 053 P0“ as M a“ Q '4 -K a a :4“ I \ v . P m 7 ‘ I -A I . s - ‘1 C“ P EMENTARY 319 iii _ 3‘ if". a“ 11ft .fi -\. "h An.Analyein of the Pavemmnte of Owoaso, Michigan A Thesis Submitted to The Faculty of 110me STAB GOMEGE o: AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED SCIENCE. By 0- J- 3922211 Candidate for the Degree of Bachelor of Science June 15’ 1929 O t .‘:_I‘ Aliiu. .'1? {THESiS BI BLIOG BAPHY '"i'he Construction of mad- and Pavements" By ”0 Re A88. Review of i'heeil "Analysis ci'iPavementl in Lansing" By Clark and‘ Wernette - 1920. "Handbook of Cost Data." By He Po 6111.tt.e Portland Cement Association Bulletins. I "Highway Gomtmction Administration and Emma" By 30 We Jan... "The Constmction or Vitrified Brick I’mrememzen By Nat. Pavizg Brick H'fgrs Au'n. Thanks are due to Hr. Raymond, City Engineer of Glucose for his co-cperation and help in the matter of records and eetimtea, along with capiee of blue prints. '1 U {3 3;- 8 53 I NDEX Section in _ P385 1. A Brief History of Pavements in General. Early Pavements Early Pavements in United States. Section Bo Page 4,. A History of the Progress of Paving in Owosso. madam - Sheet esphslt. Brick. Conc re to . Section 0. PBS. 9. Purpose of this Investigation- Section D. P83. 11. Survey of the Different Street Pavements. Section 2. Page 20. Discussion in Detail of Each of the Types of Pavement. canon“. Brick on concrete. Brick on old pavements. Sheet Asphalt. 36031011 Po P39 29. Recommendations For 3 Paving Program. mourfacing 01d Pavements. Present Needed Construction. Future Construction Section Ce P33. 390 Conclusion SECTION A. A BRIEF HISTORY OF PAVING IN GENERAL 30:10:! As A BRIEF HISTORY OF PAVING IN GENERAL Pavements have been a leading feature of civilization, and.their*absence is evidence of’a low degree of’progress. The early history of’pavements is involved in obscurity. The Heman empire de- pended almost as mneh.on its pavements as on its armies. Strabo says Babylon we paved 2000 13.6.. and Livy relates that 170 3.0. Rome was paved from the ox marloet to the temple of Venus. me more important Roman roads had.a paved width of 16 feet, composed of several layers or stone. mortar and cement. the upper surface being quite smooth. Portions of these pavements are still used to some extent, the Appian Way being an example. It is said that the streets of Gordovia. Spain, were both.paved and lighted by'950.A.D. but most of the mediaeval streets were unpaved until the twelfth century, these being only or rude construction, cobblestone being the common materials The Dark‘Ages witnessed the virtual disappearance of pavements and it was not until his king or France was sickened to the point of vomiting by the odor of mud stirred by the passing vehicles that pavements began to be laid in.Paris. Paris first had pavements about 1184. The first regular pavements in.Iendcn were laid in 1533. In the United States cobblestone pavements were laid as early as 1650 in both.BOston and Bew’York. But records or New York.show that streets in.the very heart of the city were in a condition that in these days would be.most intolerable. It was not until the 19th century that paving come to be rearded as otherwise than a luxury to be indulged in only shun 2. the demnds of traffic made it cheaper to pave tin streets than to flounder through mid holes and climb over hillocks. During the second quarter of the 19th century the cities in both EurOpe and America began to look around for better pavements and to experiment with stone and wood blocks and in Bumps with Asphalt. Asphalt was first used in Paris in 1838 and in London in 1869. both cases rock asphalt was used. The first asphalt pavement in United States was laid in Newark, NJ. in 1870. in 1871 some asphalt as laid in New York and Philadelphia, both cases Trinadad asphalt was used. Brick was used to pave roads in Holland as early as the 17th century. The first brick pavement on a roadway in the United States no laid at Charleston, West Virginia in 1870. Since 1900 the increase in the use of brick for pavements both on city stnets and county roads ins been remrnble. Wood block pavements were laid in New York in 1835 an! in 1839 wood pavements were already in use in both Philadelphia and Boston. Stone block of the modern type of 3 by 9 inches, granite. with Iortor Joints, were laid in London in 1840. A concrete foundation was used in London. the first in that city in 1872. Prior to 1849 scarcely any pavements but cobblestone were used in New York. Granite blocks similar to those now used were introduced in New York about 1870. Concrete foun- dations for stone block pavements were not used regularly in w test until 1888. large stone blocks were used in St. Louis as early as 1818. Oomrete as probably first used for a pavement surface in Inverness, Scotland, about 1865. me first concrete pavement in America was laid in Bellefontaine, Ohio, in 1884. Since 1900 concrete has ten very extensively used for street pavements, and since 1910 many miles of country roads have been paved with concrete. In America the pavements now being laid are principally asphalt, brick, stone, wood, and concrete. Another pavement, the compacted broken stone known as needs- or iblford, has been cosmos on streets throughout the United States. Formerly these pavements were known as water bound, frag- Isnts of stone bonded together by a natural cement of dust and moisture. But such pavements have been enable to withstand the traffic of motor trucks, etc., and many of them have either been given a bituminous surface by the application of asphalt or tar oils or have been en- tirely discarded as street pavements. Foundations are to pavements what floors are to carpets. Failure to recognize the importance of good foundations has been the bane of most Amrican, and many foreigi pavements. 1f the founda- tion yields through deficient drainage or bad material and sort-n- ship the destruction of the pavement follows. The necessity of street paving now is no longer a sub- Ject for discussion. It is regarded as much of a requirement of settled communities as water and lighting, and without it the one:~ monr traffic of today would be impossible. 'ihe only questions are as to which pavements are best and the problem is one for the in- dividual engineer on the individual job. In the endeavor to secure a durable and therefore economical pavement for each particular locality with due regard to future as well as present traffic, many kinds of resistant materials have been experimented wifii. SECTION B. A 1113103! OF THE PROGRESS OF PAVING IR OWS$e 4. 5. 3.0th Be A HISTOIU OF 5311‘. PROGRESS OF PAVING IN 0170830. In 1823 the first survey of the land in and around OIUsso use made. i‘en years elapsed after the original survey and yet no rude settler's cabins or stumpy fields defaced natures land- scape. ln 1833 the first land was bought by an individual inside the present city limits. in 1835, on July 4 the day was celebrated by cutting out roads by the settlers, following the Indian trails usually. Ososse township was organised in 1837. In 1855 the Grand Trunk mil Road was built fro. DetrOit through Owosso connectixg the village with the outside world. the year 1837 was an eventful one in the history of Owosso, it wittnessed the formation of the township and the nonpletion of the mill race along which most of the inhabitance lived. In 1838 the first regular store was cpened by Ebeneser Gould, the same year Daniel Gould sur- veyed the original plot of the village. host of the streets were four rods wide except Washington and Main and Exchange were six reds wide. in 1859 Washington St. bridge was built costing $250 before this the river was forded. in 1858 the mushorn railroad between moses ani lensing was built with 30 miles of track, it was fancifully called the "Almighty Long and Tremndously Bad milroad." In 1859 the place was incorporated as a city the pepulation being about 1000 inhabitants. In 1898 the first pavement was laid on North Washington at. from lesson to Main St.; on South Washington St. from Rain St. to contain and three blocks on Exchange and one block on Main St. i'hese 5e streets were all paved with Wrrenite Pavement put in by the Warren Scharf Asphalt company of New York City. In 1899 four more blocks were paved by the same company finishing out the original plan of work. It is thus interesting to note that the first pavemnt was of asphalt. lhe base of the pavement was made of crushed stone and cement mixed. niece materials were mixed by hand shoveling in long wooden mixing boxes, several men getting in the box and shoveling the materials over and over. he £32m mde six inches in thickness. Upon this was spread hot a two and one half inch thickness of sheet sephslt thoroughly rolled. niece streets were made about sixty feet wide with a brick gutter and a concrete curb. Farther out from the center of town the pavement was cut down to forty-eight feet,with sidewalks of plank others of tar, concrete or stone. In 1904 Macadam was put in on North Washington, 5200 squire yards - laid on a six inch concrete base. During the same year about four blocks on South Washington was paved with the same material to Howard Street, all of 60 feet and 48 feet respectively. POr the next five years no paving was done in town but in 1909 a large program was begun. This year saw the advent of brick pavemat which has becane the principal paving material used in the domtown section. During this year about 1% miles of brick on 6 inches of concrete was laid including: 13 blocks on Oliver 8t. 30 feet wide with concrete curb - brick gutter, 2 blocks on North Wash- ington to Oliver 8t., 4 blocks on Hichigan Avenue. mess pavements were all laid on a 6 inch concrete base with a sand cushion. Bis brick were laid from curb to curb in straight courses at right angles to the curb with lug sides all in the salsa direction. Whole brick 7e were used throughout excepting half brick for starting alternate courses, and pieces of brick for closures. mortar filler was used througiout. Considering these pavements have been in continual use for 30 years they have stood up very well. Hater truck traffic in the modern sense of the word was then undreamed of, and it is not sur- prising that its severity has at present caused trouble with these pavements, for they were never planned for it. In 1911 West Kain Street was paved with the same mterial, brick on sand and concrete with a mortcr filler. ibis work consisted of 10 blocks. Concrete curb and gutter was used here. This pavement is liloswise in use today but is badly rutted from heavy trucks. etc. The asphalt got pretty well work" in about 15 years and in 1914 a program of resurfacing all the asphalt and macadsm pave- ments was begun. Brick were laid over the old pavements. Holes or depressions were filled with concrete, then a sand cushion was spread over the pavement about one inch thick and the brick laid thereon. motor filler was used throughout. In this year liain St. was thus repaved. In 1915 Exchange St. was repaved along with South Washing- ton, both of brick over the old saphalt. These streets in places show settlement now, which is due to the asphalt breaking up under5 heath. m. can be expected somewhat for this base is now 50 yeard old. Here brick on concrete with sand cushion was laid on South Washington and Ball Streets along with some brick alley pavemmts. Sheet asphalt we laid in 1922 over a block of old con- crete pavement on East llain St. |Ehis has proved very satisfactory to date and should help solve the problem of how to recondition some of the old brick pavements in the city. 8e Portland cement pavements began to be extensively used beginning in 1923. These pavements were laid in cosperation with the state Highway Department on trunk lines through the city. Thus South Washington to the city limits, West Main to the city limits, met liain to the city limits, Earth Shiawassee to the city limits and Corunna Avenue to the city limits were all paved with standard 7 inch concrete 20 feet wide by the state and the remainder by the city together with curb and gutter of concrete. Host of these pave- ments were undo 56 feet wide. This summer 1929 one half mile of concrete pavement will be laid completing a shall locp of paving about the down town area. more are three bridges in the city each of which is paved with creosoted wood block. keeping the dead load down on the bridges. Eco maintenance is rather large on this type of paving, howsve r. SECTION 0e PURPOSE OF THIS THESIS. 10 Section Ge THE PURPOSE OF WIS 'IHESIS. The purpose of this thesis is to mice a study of the pavements in tin city of. Omssc. and to investigate the relative efficiency of the types of pavements found. This includes a study of the first cost, maintenance. utility, wearing qualities, life. etc., of the various types of pavements in use in the oi ty, to- gether with comparisons to determine which would be the most sat- isfactory under average conditions. This investigation will try to point out a program for future work along the 11m of improving the city streets. It is the writer's purpose to show what type of paving is the cheapest generally, and what streets need such a road surface in order to economically handle the traffic which it is subjected to. 1‘0 do this the several streets needing improvement are taken up separately and analysed as to their needs, and to the needs of the city with reference to tmm. 11. SECTION D. SURVEY OF 'IHE DIFFERENT PAVELLEHE. 12. Section De SURVEY OF THE DIFFBMT PAWTS. There are in Owosso at the present time May l929 about 88 miles of streets, of this mileage about 7% miles are paved. more are four classes. as follows; 1. Cement concrete - - - - - - - -about 3.7 miles. 2. Brick on concrete foundation- - " 3.5 I :5. Sheet 213th - - - ----- " 400 feet. 4. 'éIoodblook--- -- -- - - - n 300 feet. There is also in 0wosso about one half mile of concrete pavement under construction consisting of 2 blocks on north Park St., 5 blocks on mason St., 2 blocks on Water St., 1 block on South 8811 St” and 1 block on Comatook. Attention is called to the map of Owesso in the pocket at the back of this volume. Upon this map will be found indicated, the location of Owesso's paved streets, with a color key to the several kinds of pavements. a survey was made of all these pavements, as regards to their present condition, the year laid anl of the costs, where such was available,tcgether with the location of each section. IDCATIOI m CONDIflON OP BRICK cm COMRETE PAVEMENTS. lrho first brick pavement laid on concrete base with sand cushion was laid in 1909 on Oliver Street from Dewey St. at the east end to First St. on tin west end. his is brick laid at right angles to the curbs. The pavement is worn quite badly in places, in other places the mortar covering and filler has hardly worn off the upper surface of the brick which are fine and in good condition. In some places the brick are craclned and broken on! the pavemnt is rough. On the whole it is in fair condition. lorth Washington from Oliver to lesson was laid the cam year, 1909. It is in fair condition yet. and shows wear similar to tie Oliver 8t. pavement. It is good for perhaps 10 years more. lichigsn from main to the inn arbor milway crossing was laid in 1909. It is in a fairly good condition. A few bricks are rounded and some are brohn but the pavement has held up very well beixg in cmstant use for 20 years, along with the Oliver and 14 lorth Washington St. pavements. In 1911 West Iain from the West Iain St. bridge to the Ann arbor Railroad was paved. Ibis pavement is very rough throm- out. the edges of the brick have been rounded off badly ani mny places the old brick have been removed and patched with new ones. It has been said that in some places "seconds" were and unknown to the city which of course would account partly for the poor con- dition of the pavement. About 3 years so the street car track: were removed and the space filled in with brick none too carefully by tin street car company's nen which rouganess adds to the roughness of the street. In 1915 Ball fit. from Iain to been was paved. mis pennant is in nice condition today al though a bit sagged in a few places. In 1916 South Washington from the 8. Wash. St. bring. to mm was paved at a cost of $2.36 per square yard. nus pavement is in very pod condition. The pavement has stood up particularly we” especially around the street car tracks. ‘mere are very few cracked brick present and little or no humps or depressions in evidence. is the picture shows it mine a very nice pavement for a residential section .Of the city. ‘ “b . 1 ~ \ .. .' . lax ‘ . .w- . . "d? v I ~| Haj-La m " ii: I In 1918 North Ohipmon was paved from lain to lichigen Central Railway tracks. his pavement is laid with sufficient cram for good drainage and there are very few chipped or otherwise injured brick along the route. Oomstock from main to Park was paved in 1919, it is in very good condition and shows little wear to date. 100-81101! AND 00101931017 OF BRICK ON OLD SIEET ASPHAHL‘ OR new. Washington from nascn to the Bridge was repaved in 1915. this pavemnt is in excellent condition generally although there is a depression or two along the my. Iain from me Bridge to Park St. was repaved in 1915. m. pavement is in good condition at present although it has very me heavy traffic. It is about 70 feet wide, and as the accompanying picture shows makes an adequate pavemnt for the traffic and park- ing of cars. . _ . ' I. | . us“ n (,— s. I I . —. vdac. , ~ . ' . je‘ \ K ' ‘ “ - ~_. Q Q \ Q . .. b i »: x. ‘.r Brennge St. from Water to Park St. was repaved in 1915. this is in very good condition, havixg less traffic on it, not many heavy trucks. me bricks show very little wear as yet. this road surface should be good for 20 years. moron m GWTION OP CEMENT commas". PAVEMENTS. mt Iain from Saginaw to the city limits was paved in 1923. the first large concrete Job. his pavenmnt was made 56 fbet wide throughout being laid in oo-OPeration with he State Highuy Dipartmut (as with several other street Jobs) a high stamiard of work was maintained. rho pavement is in very good condition. no shipped placed found and the moth wearing surface intact. his pavement cost $2.41 laid. South Water from Washington to Main was laid in 1923. This pavemalt is in very good condition; being a part of “7 state trunk line the work of construction was carefully don. his road shows little wear. West lain from Ann Arbor milroad to city limits was laid in 1984. this is part of H1 state route. no concrete is in fine condition and should be adequate for many years. north Shiawassee from main to the north city limits was paved in co-operation with State aid (being part of H7) in 18 1924.. this pavement is in good condition although some places show wear, and a few cracks are to be seen. In 1925 South Washington and Gate Streets from Ridge to flu city limits was paved, with state aid, being part of H7. i'his pavuent is in good condition although as seen from the picture the smooth wearing surface has worn off in places. Most of the pavement is only 20 feet wide mich allows for no parking except on the shoulders, which is not a very desirable feature. In 1924 Oorunm Avenue from Washington to the east 19s city limits was paved am in 1927 the street car tracks were taken up and that 10 foot width was paved. the whole pavement is in good con- dition. It is a 46 foot pavement and adequate to the needs for several years. Scum cracks have occurred but no settlement has taken place shynere. South Park from Main to Oomstock was opened in 1926 and in 1927 was paved. This street is in a most excellent condition and should be satisfactory hr my years. IDCAfiON AND CONDITION OF SEES? ASPHALT. There is only one block at present of sheet asphalt in the city being between Park and Saginaw Streets on Main. his is laid over old concrete pavement. he pavement was laid in 1922 and is in excellent condition at pmsent. This means of treatment should serve to put more of the old won out pavements in good condition. SEDTIOH E. DISCUSSION IN DETAIL OF RAGE OF 2133 TYPES OF PAVBHBVT FOUND In 03083. Sec ti on 3. DISCUSSION 1}! D3311}. OF EKCH 0F 'IHE TYPES OF 1%?me FOUND IN OWOSSO . 1. Portland Cemmt Oomrete. This type of pavement is the leading kind used in tin city, there being over 50% concrete pavement in service at present, with one half mile now under contract which will bring concrete up to about. 55%. Added to this most of the brick pavements have a base of concrete. Concrete paving is not new, it has been in use since 1865 at least. In Scotland concrete pavement is still in service after 57 years. Michigan ranks fifth in comrete road pavemnt in the United States which means that the State Highway Department 'thinks this type is superior to aw other type of mad surface. {this conclusion applies equally well to city pavemmt except for some boulevard and residential sections. more are several reason why concrete is so papular: it costs less to drive on concrete than any other type of pavement, WWW any—other—type—of—pavement,’ the mintenance cost is less than for any other of the papular types of pavements; this was proven by the New York State Highway Department ani in Kansas, Wisconsin and other states, and that between wood block, brick, asphaltic concrete, and sheet cephalt, concrete was the cheapest to patch in case openings were made in the pavemnt. Owosso's concrete roads were most all laid with aid from the State Highway, although some were not. 'me section of pavement chosen as being typical of cement concrete construction is on mrth Shiawassee St. near the intersection with Elisabeth St. i'his pavemuit as laid in 1924, at a cost of 81.69 per square yard, under contract, without the cement cost being included. i'his work was done in co- Operation with the State, it paying for 20 test an the city standing the expeme of tin remaining width togetlnr with the curb an! getter. his was of 7‘" standard 132:4 mix. ‘l'his figure 81.69 plus cennt does not include grading etc., only the cost or placing and finishing the concrete. is to the utter or cost, the city this Spring (1929) let a contract with a Detmit fins to pave a little over one bl: mile or concrete at $1.33 per square yard with s 1:2:3‘k mix, and substantially the ease specifications are being used as was used in 1924 on Shiawassee 8t. Incidentally this is a very good price,tb next higher bid beim $1.“ per square yard. this psvasmt torn- e cheap, pement, satisfactory pave-out for all purpOses. The pavement lilne most of the others has no particular provision nude fer underdrainage, except for the cram of the subgrede which amounts to 5 inches in 50 feet. his road sees mach heavy traffic, being a part of H7 state trunk line. It has been in 3 years now, and as the above picture shows, it has mt worn appreciably, no checks nor cracks being in evidence. About the only transverse mrlss are the 100 foot expansion Joints. his pavement is in excellent condition. Below is chem a picture of the but his 3t. concrete pavement, this was laid in 1924 and at the sales price, $1.69 per square yam exclusive of cement. ibis pavement, laid in ”Operation with the State, is in good condition althem it shows to sun ex- tent the effect of the msvier traffic it receives. Around the sen- hole shown, the concrete is beginning to revel and break away some- mte ‘h' \- H ‘e ’ J 1’ , 'b‘ Ihis type of pavement, if designed correctly an if care is taken in laying. sill steal the heaviest kind of traffic: it is also fairly easy to clean, and is a sanitary kind of pave- nent, being pnotioslly impervious to enter. 0n the other mu concrete is noisy, quite slippery and requires about three weeks to set properly. another trouble with concrete is that expensim and outrscticn are liable to cause ugly cracks. Quite recently though, bar mat reinfoming has been adopted extensively, which reduces these cracks mterially. 8‘. 2. Brick on concrete. m. nethod of laying a brick pavusent seems to be the best one. a cmcrete base, of true cross section crowned the some as tin brick surface, is first laid. his base in the case of the pavement shown below was 6 inches thick, of a 1:2g5 mix. this base was allowed‘tc set before further work was done, then li- inohes of fine sani, shaped to the true cross section and rolled With a hard roller, was placed upon the concrete base, the brick being laid on the sand. all Joints were filled with a nut mortar filler. Concrete bases are usually met favored for new con- struction althouds other bases under‘differsnt conditions are satisfactory, for instance bases of rolled courses of gravel, crushed slag or brolmn stone, won: cmcrete pavements, worn Iacadsn pavemnts, and worn gravel pavements are serving. he one type of base can or should be prescribed to meet all con- ditions, but there is no condition that cannot be net with one of the bases listed. The coat of laying tie Earth Chipman street pavement was about $2.90 per square yard complete. The cost of laying a similar pavement today, using current prices for material and labor and tin date from Gillette: Excavation for curb per sq. yd. 0.60 Concrete curb and gutter " 0' " 0.70 Base 6" concrete 112%:5 " " n 1.15 40 Pavers at $2.50 per I " ” N 1.80 Hauling brick " N .. .20 Laying brick " " V' .10 Tatal per sq. yd. $4.55 This estimte does not include grading nor does it include filler or cushion, which would add to the cost somwhat. The greatest drawback to such pavement1 today is the heavy first cost, which become almost prohibitive in cities in central Michigan. A. city engineer told the writer that last year the cost of the three leading types of pavements laid in his city was: concrete 7 inch, $3.08; sheet 3.3th with 6 inch concrete base, $3.25 and brick on sand and 6 inch concrete base $4.25, or a difference of $1.00 per square yard between brick and asphalt an! concreb still under asphalt. Of course one thing will help repay the heavy first cost of laying brick, the high salvage value. For instance tin picture shows a section of old brick on West Oliver St. This pavement was laid in 1909 twenty years ago, these brick are pmtty well worn. A very large percentage of the bricks in these old ‘. ', - A.. *0 ”Aim-i «,l' - #29 4:“. . " -. I I ’ '4“ Oh. 0 ~' ." . d & mg}; g". K'Va’ . ~ ‘ . “ - .. , E \ \I , ,. “ '1" K ‘ l _ . I'l” " ' V- I I , a.“ .,’ J C- .'_‘, I . , l 3-,.’ .- .— rosds end streets are in good ensugi cmditien and could be relsid, it the streets were reconditimed. By follovring such a program a law savixgs could be ads in the cost or repsving these streets. - Brick thus have s rather hid: salvage value, whereas concrete has precticslly no salvage vsl‘ue whatever. we lite or good paving brick is demonstrated by the old brick pavements throughout the comtry. An investigation or the brick in these pavements, some or thich are forty years old, proves beyond a doubt that s. well unnu- tsctured paving brick will render satisfactory service under heavy traffic. 'me unsatisfactory brick pavements are almoat entirely due to four causes; poor construction; sitter no foundation or one tint is inadequate to the traffic; poor sub-soil conditions; and to specification requirements that have proved undesirable. 3. Brick on old sspinlt and madam. me city ins abut ten blocks of brick laid on a sand cushion H. inches thick on old asphalt uni madam whose holes etc. had been tilled up and leveled off with concrete. this brick work 27. was laid over the original 1898 pavement which had been in service 16 years. This pavement made a satisfactory base for the brick and saved the city the extra expense of tearing out this old pavement and putting in cmcrete base. {me brick has been in 15 years and is in excellent cmdition, attesting to the good Judgmnt of the coun- nissioners. m. brick was laid in the regular way with mortar filler. his pavemnt should be @od for 20 years if the base holds up. ‘9 Sheet $513113th Sheet asphalt pavement in Owoeso has not been used for many years except in one block of East Main St. between Park an! Bagnaw St. This asphalt was laid over an old concrete pavement which had been in use a number of years. Over this old concrete pavement was laid a 8 inch asphaltic binder course upon which was placed a % inch wearing course or sheet asphalt. this is the usual say sheet asphalt pavements are laid, with s 6 or 7 inch concrete base, a 2 inch asphaltic binder course and a if to 1 inch sheet asphalt wearing surface. Such a pavement in Lansing last year cost $5.25 per square yard complete with curb and gutter, a 6 inch concrete base am a 2%“ asphalt and binder above. Owosso paid $Z36 for the 2% binder and asphalt surface alone, the curb ani base being in place. This was because the city had no plan; of its own, a city owned asphalt plant pI‘Opel‘ly managed can save the city a large amount on its asphalt bill. An asphalt pavement should cost a city with its own equipment about $3.25 to $3.50 per square yard. As the unit cost of Owesso's curb and the original concrete pavement are not known 28. new, it is impossible to compute the total cost of the won: but it would doubtless run high. That is the principle drawback as far as asphalt pavement is concerned 'i.e. the extra cost of getting in a temporary plant to landle the 515th mark along with the fact that an sephalt pavement is more expensive than the comrete pavement. East Main Street sheet asphalt pavement has been in use for seven years and has proven very satisfactory. It is un- desirable to use sheet asth on streets where vehicles continually stand along the curb unless that portion of the street is paved with blocks of some kini. The slipperiness of sheet asphalt pave- ment is about the worst objection to it. Grades should not exceed 4 or 5 per cent usually. Sheet asphalt requires s certain amount of traffic to keep it alive, in light traffic streets the part of the pavement next to the curb becomes granular and sonntimes cracks badly. Sheet asphalt also deteriorates under concentrated traffic such as my be eacpected on a narrow street with busy double track car line 0 29. SUCTIOH P. ECOLE$1TDATIOITS FOR A I’IJ'IITG PRCGBAH. Section I. RIDOIEIENDAHONS FOR A PAVIIIG PROGRAH. Owosso has done very little sort toward the pavement improvement of her streets within the last five years, indeed only one block on South Park Street has been paved in this interval, that with 7 inch concrete. 60 feet wide. This is a poor condition me: only one block from the very center of the city there is only gravel streets and bad gravel at tint, most of the graveling having been done 16 years ago am little work has been done on them since, except occasional scaritying and grading. The principal reason for the deplorable condition of Greece's streets at present is the lack of funds. in. city's over- head expenses are pretty well fixed. men are bonds to retire. interest to be not, and running expenses to be paid. The depart- ment of public improvements usually takes what is left for the maintenance of the streets. For instance this last year the de- partment got only $15,300 for the streets and departmental expenses. Out of this all sun had to be paid the fixed expenses of the de- partment, leaving virtually nothing for street improvement. his is shy no extensive repairing or even gravelling of the streets has been undertaken. The city from 1914 to 1928 has raised an average of a little over $7,000 a year for paving purposes. It will cost about $5,000 per mile to properly repair the rutted am almost impassable streets. of which Owesso has 80 miles. The Invim improvement of dwosso's streets naturally divides itself into three parts. The program should include (a) tin resurfacing of old more out pavements, (b) present new con-- stmction that should be undertaken now, (c) future paving needs to care for increased pepulation and traffic. Resurfacing. Of Owosso's 7‘} miles of pavement about 2 miles is of old brick pavement that has been laid for 20 years. This brick west is very badly worn especially on West Main St. for about a mile. This stretch of pavement has had very severe usage from continml traffic fmm "West town” to the main part of the city and tithin recent years from cross-state traffic along 11-21 and H1. It is sin-prising hos sell this pavement has stood up, but today it is entirely worn out (or nearly so) and definite steps should be taken to put it in a more serviceable condition soon. This pavement has beconn very rough and is constantly getting worse at a rapid rate due to the heavy trucking. A glance at the picture of this pavement on a previous page shows one that the bricks are gemrally badly won. with rounded edges, ail—many are chipped and bronn under traffic, with the filler pretty well out of the Joints. This street receives the heaviest traffic of any in the city. It is very poor economy to let an old worn out street rennin in place, for it costs much more for gasoline for an auto- mobile. more for tires, and for maintenance of a car, to run it over poor roads. 32. There are several means of improving these old won: out brick pavements by resurfacing. 'Ihe brick could be taken up and the better ones tumed over and relaid, of course not 100% would be serviceable so mw brick would have to be bought which alone cost 34.2 to $45 per thousand so either a surface of concrete or sheet asphalt would be superior probably. If the proper mix sens used,either type would be satis- factory, so it would probably resolve itself into one of economy. tl‘he sheet asth wearing surface could be built over the old brick, made 2% inches thick.with binder, for about $1.25 per square yard. (lensing did this last year on a street for $1.20.) A satisfactory concrete surface could be laid over old brick using I. 1:8:3‘} mix, and bar mat reinfomement,used with 4 inch concrete for about $1.18. more is little difference in price, concrete being around $0.07 cheaper,but it gives a thicker wearing surface and nuld stand the heavy traffic better and blendsin more with the rest of the city's concrete pavement. This type of cmcrete surfacing can well be adapted for all the old worn pavements. It is satisfactory, for the State Highway has used it along with the Highways cf califcrnia, New York, Indiana, Ohio, Texas. and Idaho for resurfacing old pave- manta. Present new Contraction. The construction that should be taken up imediately includes the blocks shown cross-hatched on the map in the back of the cover. hose include Park from Main to Mason. 2 blocks of 46 ft. wide ; Hason from Park to Water 46 ft. wide to Ball. and 40 from Ball to Water; Water from liaison to main 46 ft. wide; Oom- 35. stock from Water to e'ashington. 40 ft. wide; ani Hall from Main to Gemstock 40 ft. wide. These streets have needed paving for a number of years, for estimtions were made some ten years ago, but due to the lack of funds they were allowed to go unpaved. mess few streets each has store frontage facing them. also apartments, and are completely built up. A good pavement is absolutely essential if such stores etc., are to get trade. Another thing. gravel and dirt streets make poor parking space for cars, no one wants to get out of his car and step in mud ankle deept A gravel street under such heavy downtown traffic simply cannot hold up. may must be scarified and graded two or three times a year.ani then in a month they are a seas of rats and hillocxs to flounder over. Such streets are a very poor ad- vertisement for any city trat wants to grow. Host of these streets are 30 ft. and 56 ft. wide,which is too narrow for cars for angle parking on both sides of the street. he city is very wisely setting the curbes back 6 ft. on each side making most of the blocks 46 ft. wide when paved. this will be a boon to farmers and other Saturday sheppers who find it very difficult indeed to find a good place to park near where they wish to step. Such a hard surface unfit to raise prOperty values along the streets considerably. Another great advantage for the city to consider is the great savings in mintenance costs. New York state over a ten year period (1916-25) averaged: first class concrete. main- tenance $227: gravel $914, or on the same milage of road after concreted, mintenance cost was reduced about 75%. Waukesha county, Wisconsin found its maintenance costs were similiarly Me reduced 66$. So the savings in mintenance alone would go a long way toward paying for the hard surface pavement. The streets above 118.1136. must absolutely be paved. The question is what kind of pavement to use for the work. As was shown previously as far as price is concemed cement concrete has the advantage. Sheet asphalt on s. 6 inch concrete base costs about $3.25 perquare yard, brick on sand and a 6 inch concrete base casts about $4.25 per square yard, and a 7 inch cmcrete pavement costs about $3.08 or $3.10 per square yard. These prices are of course estimated but are close to actual costs. Thus concrete is the most economical. The first concrete pavement in the United States was laid in 1892 and after 37 years of traffic it is still giving perfect service today. So with modern engineer- ing,cement concrete roads should have a life as long as any other type. There ins been on file with the oity,petitions fer pavirg of Washington from Oliver to King: Williams from Washington to Shiavrasseo; 111ng from Washington to Michigan and Comatock from Park to Saginaw. These petitions have been on file for a year or more and some definite action should be taken soon. All of these Jobs are necessary,a.s evidenced by the majority (60%) of the abuttirg preperty owners signatures on the petition. Enclosed in the back pocket of this cover is e. blue print of the preposed loop pavement which is being undertaken this sumer. 35. Future Paving Program. Owosso needs to adapt a future paving improvement pro- gram for her miles of unpaved streets. Out of some 80 miles of streets there is only about 7-} miles paved and these are almost wholly state trunk lines. There is probably not more than a mile of pavement that was not state aid road work. All of Main St. is a trunk line. all of Shiawassee St. pavement is a trunk line, about half of the length of Washington St. is trunk line, am these streets compose the major part of the city's pavements. a five or ten year paving program that would hard surface six or seven miles of Owosso's streets should be inediate- ly planned,for Owosso is far behind in her paving,but like the majority of cities it is difficult to get the funds to carry on an extensive program and my time the street work must suffer in order that the other departments of the city can carry on its not. The only solution to such a plan is to float a bond issue. so planned that it could be handled without increasing the city's tax rate. Such a paving program should be built up on a thorough traffic study of Owosso's needs, for of course for a pavemmt to pay for itself it mast be placed on the streets that get the greater traffic. For only through decreased cost of travel for tin motorist throughout the years can a pavement be rude to pay dividends. The streets selected for paving should be those which . are, oumt to be. or are likely to develop into through traffic streets, and the "feeders." The paving should be distributed over the entire city so that those sections which are fast building up 00. will be provided with proper outlet. The pepulation now is about 18,000 and by 1950 it will approximte 38,500 or about double the present population,» doublim the pavemt now in would be only Just. Since 1912 (17 years) the automobile registration in the United States has increased twenty-five times, an}. it is reasonable to signpose that in Owosso the cars owned have increased in a like propor- tion. But the pvement be increased from about 2 miles to 7} miles or about tripled. 80 it is altogether too ebvious that my pave- ment improvements should be undertaken. The street that should be first planned on for paving should be South Shiawassee from cute to Main street. is tin up shows 11-4? comes into the city on South Shiawassee,turns st Guts, @es down through downtown, then out Kain, then it turns out North Shiawassee again. Shiavassee street rms straight north and south, so directing all traffic down throng) tovn and out the same street causes the thrown traffic to go out of its way about 3200 feet. The average motor transportation cost to the road users for each thousand feet over a hard surface road is approximately 3.023 for each vehicle. m cost, tinrefon. of one thousand vehicles per day would be $2300 or $8395 per year. it is costing the motorists alone. then per thousand vehicles per day about We year. his clearly indicates the necessity of shortening the distance, where practical. on a through-route highway. There would also be a savings of the motorist's time for it would eliminate five corners and two street car crossings. mere would be 3/5 mile less mintenance cost for the city and would relieve considerable congestion in the down- town and lessen the accompanying accidents. So any such shortening 37. of a route like this is surely a large economic benefit to all con- cerned. Therefor because of the large savings, amounting to several thousand.dollars annually, South.8hiawassee street should be hard- surfaced soon. A few words about the other proposed improvements to the city's streets: South Ohipnsn street leads from the center of the vest end.of town directly out south to the city limits, thence to H? about two miles out, and then on to Horrice and other terms. it is a.main.artery for‘the southewestern part of town, as the map indicates. Ibis street serves hundreds of'car owners in that district as well as much outside traffic to the rich fanning land and the more distant towns. the road is in.poor condition now, and because of the inoreastngly'heavy traffic it should be included in.the city's paving program. A 36 foot, 7 inch concrete pavement with curb and getter 'would be quite satisfactory. North chipmn street is the only street going north from Main street to the north western part of’the city. In this section are many families and car owners that would be greatly benefited by this mmch.needed improvement. This street leads directly to the Owesso country Club an). to the town of Henderson. This street, like nest of the gravel ones, is badly in.need of resurfacing. Such resurfacing and reconditioning is estimated by the city engineer to cost $5000 per*mile and.he cannot promdse that it will hold up long either. The only satisfactory way is to plan to pave this to the city limits with.56 foot concrete. North Washington street is not what would be termed a through street, for it ends at the city limits, but is a most de- sirable residential street and is practically all built up. It is another of the streets that is about worn out, and it would surely be more economical to pave this street than to put $5000 per mile into gravel which will soon get rough and hard to ride over. Stewart, North Dewey. King. West Oliver. and East Oliver streets slow with being very nice residential streets also naturally for: feeders to the main traffic streets. ‘Ihe min paved streets cannot serve to their best advantage unless they have paved feeders leading into them. A 36 foot concrete with curb and gutter would be satisfactory. All of these prOpcsed pavemnts are a paying proposition. "be money spent upon pavements is vell invested, not only because it brings in dividends in better living conditions. from a health, cou- fort and.convenience standpoint. but pavements pay dividends to the taxpayers in dollars and cents. So while pavements are practically a necessity they are also good dividend payers in savings in motor vehicle operating costs. MOE 3e COIBLUSIONSs me 380 tion re CCNGIUSI 0113 in concluding--—this study-of the pavements of Owosso several facts are obvious. It is|clear that several of the older pavements should be replaced soon. It is really surprising how these old pavements laid before anyone imagined designing for any- thing but buggies and wagons have held so well throughout the years. All of these pavensnts have long outlived their economic life and have paid for themselves completely. As to the type of pavement to use in Owosso, the presem accepted standard type of paving construction here, is the Portland cement concrete. It is cheaper to lay than brick a: concrete, or sheet asphalt on concrete which is, of course, a big advantage other things being eqml. The economic pavement is the one that will adequately serve the specific traffic, climate, social and local conditions for the least annml coat over an extended period of years representing the economic life of the pavement. concrete pavement will adequately serve practically any type of traffic, far it is used on Woodward Avenue, Detroit mich is one of the heaviest traveled streets in the country, and is giving good satis- faction. It is satisfactory enough for our climate for it is used almost entirely by the Michigan State Highway Department. is far as the least annual cost over an extended period of years is con- cerned, Owosso has no data on the mintenance of different types of pavemnt. But some other cities, states, and counties have such data. For instance Beloit, Wisconsin, has lmpt detailed records of the cost cf pavemcit nintenance on scan 30 miles of streets since N. 1919. Over the seven year period 1919 to 1925 the records of the how Public Works 00mitteesnthe following. 130 pavements over ten years old are included. Average cost per thousand sq, yds. per year. Asphalt pavement on concrete base $.23 Brick pavement on concrete base $1.55 One source concrete pavement .40 Of the Openings made in the pavements of Indianapolis during 1925 for sewer, eater mine or other underground stmctures, concrete showed the least cost of Opening and replacing being $4.53, with brick and meet asphalt $5.12 each and wood block $5.78. Thus the mintemncs cost of concrete ougit to be as low as that of any other hard surface material pavement. (me of the greatest troubles with getting the best con- crete road has been the lack of prOper inspection, and of poor de- sign and too liberal specifications. there are entirely too many cities were the specifications are not followed and as a con- sequence the construction is inferior and renders poor service. This has been the cause of failure in many pavements. The cure is simple in one sense. and can be bmugit about by the employment of inspectors who know their business and will enforce the specifica- tions. The difficulty is,that in many cities politicians limit the engineeringi‘control everything but the supervision of the construction. Their control over the constzuction is through unqualified inspectors who are forced upon them. This fact is the cause of a great loss of money to a city, for unless the inspector is trained and real ob- serving scme contractors men will be found leaving out a bag of 420 ! cement in the mix here and there. or will put in too much aggregate. or will run the batch too wet and put it through the miner too quick- 1y, or will than the slab too thin, or any number of other costly things to the city. It is almost impossible to get around these troubles by specifications etc., the only way is to have enougi thoroughly competent inspectors on the Job. Previously, many pavements were not carefully enough designed,and as a result poor and insufficient slab thickness sas constructedfiith a. result tint the pavenmnt had too short a life. As a conclusion we can say that concrete pavements are among the most variable as to correct quantities and conditions. But by the measurement of all ingredience, in treir proper pro- portions with actual weighing apparatus; have the ingredience thozh oughly mixed and for a full minute in a drum rotating between 14 and 20 revolutions per minute. .men the inspector must see that the preper grades have been established and properly leveled and smoothed down to receive the concrete. He should see to it that the subgrade is sprinkled before the concrete is placed. He should not allow too "wet" a mix to go through,and he should see to it that e. smooth surface is made. If such precautionsare followed (along with my others). and the pavennnt has been preperly designed with reference to width and thickness, etc., a long life, economical first class pavement will result. However if poor inepection is provided. there is apt to places more unsatisfactory seat has been den. and this result applies to all pavement work. The loss to the city and the motorist by continued use of poor gravel roads is very real. The public cannot by any stretch of the imagination be conceived to have more than a remote concep- 43. tion of the economic loss that results from imprOper highway design or construction. This loss is unquestionably enormous but it is made up of millions of small items that are concealed in those every day expemes of vehicle operation or road maintenance that are taken as a mtter of course. The deve10pment of pavement systems has reached tin stage where some clearly defined method of ascertaining the in- fluence of the various types of roadway surfaces upon transporta- tion costs is needed. It often happens that types of roadways are constructed, or old roads continued in service, that require mintenance expenditures in excess of the service value of the roadway surface and therefore place an undue burden on the main- tenance funds. The Bates Experimental Road near Springfield, Illinois, was the scene of extensive tests during 1922. These tests sore run by the united States Bureau of Public Beads. This experimental road consisted of 63 sections of pavement which included all the well known types. Over these a fleet of crew trucks made 23,200 mund trips, at first with bare chassis and then with gradually increasing loads until a gross weight of ten tons had been reached. Only thirteen sections successfully carried all the loads imposed upon them. Of these. ten sections were of concrete. The other three were, one of brick and two of asphalt. both laid on foundations six inches or more in thickness, of the same kind of concrete used in the successful all-concrete sections. mach tests show quite conclusively tint concrete will stand heavy traffic as well,” not better than other types. During 1924 the Minnesota State Highway Comission kept accurate accounts of the total cost mr that year of a paved rad under fairly heavy traffic and of a gravel road with less than half that traffic. Their costs below show that the gravel surface was an expensive luxury: Paved Highway Gravel Highway Depreciation $220 .00 $60 .00 Interest on Investment 1,296.00 296.00 maintenance or Upkeep 162.00 2,745.00 Total Annual Cost per mile “$78.00 $ 3,101.00 This shows an annual cost of a good paved higxmy of about 55% of that of a gravel higmay. These figures and facts could Just as well apply to Owosso's unpaved streets, and surely this is a good argument for beginning a paving program,and yearly adding paved streets for the city's welfare. It costs less to drive on pavement,f0r the motorist, than on gravel or dirt roads, and as the writer pointed out previously such savings run into large amounts of money in a year's time. The White Company of . Cleveland run tests over various highways near Cleveland with equal loaded trucks, the average mileage obtained per gallon of gasoline consumed on the various types of road surface is sums:- ized in the following table: Concrete 11.78 miles per gallon. Good brick 11.4.4 n n n Fair brick 9.88 n n a Fair bituminous madam 9.48 n n It Good gravel 9.39 n w .. Mr gravel 7.19 n e .0 Earth 5.78 ' ” n 45. These figures along with others given in this report show very plainly that a paved roadway where traffic is at all heavy is necessary economically for the city, as well as for the motor user. The average motorist saves about 1.8 cents per mile by driving over a paved street rather than over a gravel cm, and a similar savings is made by the truck driver. a. . - '. win-vi .11) . 1.! V its *4, 1 INER \ 03169 0252 3 1““ F