1 

 THE STREET PAVEMENTS OF KANSAS CITY. 491 



are spread out in a layer in a box. The mass is then thoroughly mixed together 

 and loaded out into a wheelbarrow, deposited in place, and rammed until the mortar 

 flushes to the surface. The cement is required to stand thirty-five pounds tensile 

 strain per square inch after twenty-four hours. The brands used have been 

 "Fort Scott," Kas., " Milwaukee," and various kinds of Louisville.- On the 

 surface of the concrete, which is made to conform to surface of street, a layer of 

 sand is spread about one-half inch deep, or sufficient to fill up all the minor irreg- 

 ularities of the surface of the concrete, and make an even bearing for the blocks. 

 The blocks are of white cedar, varying from four to eight inches in diameter, 

 and are required to be cut from good sound live timber. They are usually seven 

 inches long when set on nine inches of concrete, and six inches on the lighter 

 base. They are sawn with parallel ends by gang saws, and are laid up as close 

 together as practicable in the street. The interstices between the blocks are 

 twice swept full of gravel, which ranges in- size from one-quarter to three-quarters 

 of an inch, and rammed down with round-pointed iron rods. After the first 

 ramming, the surface of the block is made smooth and uniform wherever it may 

 be uneven by going over it with a light paving rammer. 



Asphalt paving cement, composed of coal-tar, distilled at 300° to 400°, and 

 mixed with fifteen percent of mineral asphalt, is poured hot over the pavement, 

 filling up all the minor interstices between the blocks. A thi-n coating of sand is 

 then thrown over the surface before the asphalt dries. 



The first prices at which this kind of pavement was let were $3.25 and $2.96 

 per square yard, for parts of Fifth and Sixth Streets, in the spring of 1882. This 

 was for seven inch blocks on nine-inch concrete. Since then the cost of this 

 work has been constantly decreasing with each successive letting. The last work 

 contracted for was let at $2.44, and the average price paid during the season was 

 $2.56. For six-inch blocks on six-inch concrete, the price has varied from $2.32 

 on the first, to $2.18 on the last contract let. 



The ordinary wages for common labor has been $1.75 per day. The mater- 

 ials used cost about as follows : Seven-inch cedar blocks, eighty to eighty-five 

 cents per square yard measured in the street, and six-inch blocks about seven- 

 teen cents less. For gravel, ten to twelve cents per square yard of pavement 

 with seven-inch blocks. For asphalt paving cement, fifteen to eighteen cents 

 per yard. The broken stone for concrete costs $1 per cubic yard, and sand 

 about the same. Cement varies from $1 to $1.25 per barrel of about 260 pounds. 

 The concrete in place is worth about $3.50 to $3.75 per square yard. One block 

 of seven-inch cedar block pavement has been laid during this year on one-inch 

 boards with four inches of sand underneath at a cost of $1.95 per square yard. 



Observations of the wear of cedar block pavement with concrete base show a 

 good, smooth surface and very uniform wear. 



Blocks taken up' at the intersection af Fifth and Main Streets, in the center 

 of the business part of city, eighteen months after laying, showed a very regular 

 wear of one-quarter to three-eighths of an inch. Blocks taken up for water and 

 gas connections on the most crowded parts of Fifth and Sixth Streets', where 



