BRICK EOADS. 17 
While there are a number of cases where brick have been laid flat 
and have made fairly satisfactory pavements for light traffic, there 
are probably very few cases where this practice has proved really 
economical in the long run. 
TRUING THE SURFACE. 
After the pavement has been laid and all defective brick have 
been replaced to the satisfaction of the engineer, the next step is to 
sweep the surface clean, and smooth out all inequalities by means of 
ramming and rolling. The rolling should be done with a power 
roller weighing from 3 to 5 tons, and the pavement should ordi- 
narily be rolled in both longitudinal and diagonal directions. The 
longitudinal rolling should be done first, and should begin at the 
curbs and progress toward the crown. The roller should pass at 
least twice over every part of the pavement in each direction. In 
order to neutralize any tendency which the brick may have to careen 
under the roller, the number of forward trips over any part of the 
pavement should equal the number of trips backward over the same 
part. 
In places where it is impracticable to use the roller for truing the 
surface — such, for example, as along the curbs or concrete gutters 
or around manholes — the brick should be brought to a true surface 
by means of ramming. For this purpose a wooden rammer loaded 
with lead and weighing from 80 to 100 pounds may be used. The 
blows of the rammer should not fall directly upon the brick, but 
should be transmitted through a 2-inch board laid parallel to the 
curb. 
After the pavement has been trued up, as described above, it 
should be inspected again for broken or otherwise damaged brick, 
and also for those which have settled excessively, owing to some 
lack of uniformity in the bedding. All defects should be corrected, 
and the areas disturbed in making the corrections should be brought 
to a true surface by tamping or rolling. When the work of truing 
the surface is finished, the brick should be evenly bedded, but the 
amount of bedding material forced up into the joints should be 
inappreciable. If this is not the case, it is evidence that either the 
bedding has been poorly prepared or the rolling has been excessive, 
FILLING THE JOINTS. 
In order to keep the brick in proper position and protect the 
edges from chipping it is necessary to fill the joints with some suit- 
able material before the road is opened to traffic. The materials 
which have in the past been most commonly used for this purpose 
are sand, various bituminous preparations, and a grout made of equal 
parts of Portland cement and fine sand mixed with water. 
40065°— Bull. 373—16 3 
