VITRIFIED BRICK PAVEMENTS FOR COUNTRY ROADS. 21 



If care is exercised to correct all defects which appear within the 

 first few years of the life of a well-constructed brick pavement, the 

 work of maintaining the pavement proper should thereafter, except 

 for cleaning, be almost negligible for a considerable period. The 

 shoulders and drainage structures, of course, need occasional atten- 

 tion, just as in the case of any other pavement, but if they are properly 

 constructed at the start repairs will usually be very slight. 



The life of a well-constructed brick pavement can not be estimated 

 with any great degree of exactness, first, because the traffic condi- 

 tions are constantly changing, and, second, because no brick pave- 

 ment which has been constructed in accordance with the best modern 

 practice has yet worn out. Such measurements as have been made of 

 the amounts of wear sustained by given pavements during compara- 

 tively long periods of years have not been sufficient to warrant any 

 very definite conclusions as to the probable terms of service, though 

 they indicate that good paving brick wear very slowly under ordi- 

 nary traffic. It is evident that in order to secure the full benefit of 

 this excellent resistance to wear the surface of the pavement must not 

 be permitted to become uneven because of the failure of a brick here 

 and there. 



CONCLUSION. 



Before concluding this discussion of brick pavements, it would 

 seem desirable to emphasize the importance of proper engineering 

 supervision. In the past many communities have expended large 

 sums in efforts to improve their public highways without first having 

 secured the services of some one competent to plan and direct the 

 work. The results have usually been very unsatisfactory under such 

 circumstances and have frequently served to discourage further effort. 

 One of the mistakes most commonly observed consists in constructing 

 some expensive type of pavement on a road where the location is 

 faulty or the grades are impracticable. Xot infrequently sharp angles 

 in the alignment or abrupt changes in the grade, which might be 

 easily and inexpensively remedied by an experienced engineer, are 

 left to impede traffic throughout the life of a costly and perhaps 

 durable pavement. 



Even in constructing common earth roads it is doubtful economy 

 to dispense with the services of a competent engineer, and if any 

 considerable quantity of work is to be done, such services should 

 certainly be secured. Since brick pavements are probably more. ex- 

 pensive to construct than any other type of pavement at present used 

 for country roads, it is all the more important that their construction 

 should be carefully planned and well executed. 



