7^9 
PARK AND CEMETERY. 
▼ 
CALCIUM CHLORIDE for DUSTLESS, DURABLE ROADS 
An address before the Association of American Cemetery Superintendents, by 
IV. G. Mortland, with discussion, by S. G. Howe, of Hoiue Chemical Road Co. 
Calcium Chloride is a chemical salt 
which is highly hygroscopic and de- 
liquescent, that is, it readily absorbs 
or imbibes moisture from the atmos- 
phere while it, at the same time, 
changes from a solid to a liquid form. 
Solvay Granulated Calcium Chloride 
represents a purity of 75 per cent; 
i. e., to every 100 pounds of Calcium 
Chloride in its commercial form there 
are 75 pounds of material which is 
capable of combining with water. Re- 
peated tests have shown this volume 
of Calcium Chloride will absorb 115 
pounds of water when exposed at 
night or in the shade and 50 or 60 
pounds in the glare of a noonday sun. 
The moisture lost in the heat of the 
day is restored during the night so 
that a road dressed with Calcium 
Chloride in the morning has the ap- 
pearance of refreshing coolness. In 
theory one application of Calcium 
Chloride to a road surface would suf- 
fice to keep it dustless and compact 
indefinitely, but in practice we have 
found it necessary to follow along 
with more Chloride and this for the 
reason that after a time it penetrates 
the road to a point where its effect is 
lost to the surface. This difference 
between practice and theory in the 
application of Calcium Chloride opens 
up the field which it is properly your 
place to develop and in the telling of 
your experience with gravel, maca- 
dam, clay, cinder, tanbark, and other 
kinds of roads in conjunction with 
Calcium Chloride, we will in the end 
be able to determine pretty closely 
the merits or demerits of Calcium 
Chloride for road purposes. 
There are two ways of applying 
Calcium Chloride, dry and in solution. 
For sprinkling it has been found that 
the maximum efficiency is attained by 
dissolving Calcium Chloride at the 
rate of 1 pound to each gallon of 
water, and a 600-gallon water wagon 
should cover not more than 2,000 
square yards of surface. Ordinarily 
ten of these applications will keep the 
dust down for a season. When Chlo- 
ride is used in solution it will be found 
better to fill the water tanks before 
the Chloride is introduced. If more 
convenient to do so the Chloride can 
be dissolved in tanks and siphoned in- 
to the sprinkler. This is but another 
variation. 
As more Calcium Chloride is used 
in a dry form we have a particular in- 
terest in its application in this way 
and while much more could be said 
about the liquid treatment of road 
surfaces it is perhaps as well to go 
on to the larger question. 
By way of preface to this broader 
discussion, I offer a number of gen- 
eral statements concerning Calcium 
Chloride, all of which have been veri- 
fied either in the experience of the 
writer or in that of his associates. 
Some of these statements are self-evi- 
dent and may be passed over quickly. 
On some of the others you may have 
something to say. 
1. Solvay Granulated Calcium Chlo- 
ride is white, clean and non-corrosive. 
When applied to a road it immediate- 
ly absorbs enough water from the air 
and holds that water to bind the road 
compactly and keep it moist and dust- 
less. 
2. It preserves the road from wear. 
Dust is wear and if there is no dust 
there is no wear. Dust also spells 
disease and where there is no dust 
there must be a close approach to per- 
fect sanitation. Calcium Chloride is a 
splendid disinfectant. 
3. Calcium Chloride costs less per 
square yard and requires no top dress- 
ing of gravel to absorb it. 
4. It requires no water in applying 
but the dry material can be spread by 
hand or with a shovel, or by a spread- 
ing machine. This costs only one-quar- 
ter as much as a water cart. 
5. It is colorless and entirely solu- 
ble in water. 
6. It is odorless. 
7. It is absolutely non-combustible so 
that its storage involves no fire risk. 
If scattered upon a fire it tends to ex- 
tinguish it. 
8. Its shipment and storage requires 
no tank cars nor storage tanks, nor 
dirty inflammable barrels. 
9. In rainy weather it does not pro- 
duce a greasy mud, nor does the mud 
injure the paint of vehicles. 
10. It is wholly wuthout influence 
upon rubber. A rubber tire can be 
buried in dry Calcium Chloride, or in 
its water solution, for days, with no 
more effect upon the rubber than if it 
were immersed in pure water. 
11. It is completely absorbed by the 
road’s surface within a few hours after 
being applied and does not go through, 
a long process of “sloppiness” lasting 
for weeks. 
12. It does not run into pools and 
form mud, but spreads itself through 
the surface of the road in the exact pro- 
portion in which it is applied. 
13. If put on a hilly road it sinks into 
the ground where it is laid and does not 
run down hill. 
14. A shower of rain improves the 
effect as the water produces a greater 
degree of uniformity in distribution 
through the road’s surface. 
15. By reason of its uniform action 
and the readiness with which it is ab- 
sorbed by the road, it never produces 
a loose, flaky surface. Neither does 
the surface become mealy. It enters 
into the road and binds it compactly 
and lastingly. 
16. When dissolved by prolonged 
rains and washed into the water courses 
it does not form a film on the surface 
of the water to accumulate and stag- 
nate on the ponds and quiet water 
pools. On the contrary, being complete- 
ly soluble, whatever portion is washed 
out of the road is diluted with large 
volumes of water so that it does not 
influence the water of the stream nor 
produce any injury to cattle or fish. 
There are two main classes of roads 
which should be considered in this dis- 
cussion, the level ones and those which 
run up to a gradient of 10 per cent or 
over. Beyond any doubt, in the ex- 
perience of many of the gentlemen 
