BULLETIN OF THE 



No. 246 



Contribution from the Office of Public Roads, Logan Waller Page, Director 

 July 24, 1915. 



VITRIFIED BRICK PAVEMENTS FOR COUNTRY 



ROADS. 



By Vernon M. Peirce, Chief of, Construction, and Charles H. Moorefield, 

 Senior Highway Engineer. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



The raw materials 2 



The manufacture o 



Physical characteristics 5 



Construction 8 



Page. 



Cost of brick pavements 19 



Maintenance for brick pavements 20 



Conclusion 21 



Appendix A 22 



Appendix B 31 



INTRODUCTION. 



A clay product closely resembling our present-day brick was 

 among the earliest materials used for paving streets and roads. The 

 first brick pavement constructed in this country, however, dates back 

 no further than 1872, and to Charleston, W. Va., belongs the dis- 

 tinction of having been the first American city to employ brick for 

 paving. 



For a number of years after being introduced into this country 

 the use of paving brick was principally confined to city streets, and, 

 owing to frequent inferiority in the quality of the brick and lack of 

 care in construction, very few of the early pavements proved satis- 

 factory. Even now, after the experience of 40 years has demon- 

 strated that it is entirely practicable to construct satisfactory brick 

 pavements when proper care is exercised, and that much waste 

 results from the use of poor materials or faulty construction, in- 

 stances can frequently be found where comparatively new brick 

 pavements have wholly or partially failed from causes which might 

 easily have been prevented. 



Country roads paved with vitrified brick are becoming quite com- 

 mon in many of our States, and, owing to the general satisfaction 

 92742°— 15 1 



