PARK AND CEMETERY. 
11 
PARK ROAD CONSTRUCTION 
IN INDIANAPOLIS 
CRAW FORDS VI LLE ROAD IMPROVEMENT, 
INDIANAPOLIS. 
The boulevard and road building carried 
out and under way in the Indianapolis park 
system includes some of the most interest- 
ing construction of this character in the 
country. All of the city streams have 
cramped, narrow channels, and many acres 
of contiguous land have been continually 
subject to overflow in times of high water. 
The contemplated improvement widens and 
deepens the channel and thus provides ma- 
terial for building boulevard embankment. 
These boulevards are purposely built with 
long, easy curves and are drawn away from 
the thread of the stream, thus providing 
natural parks along both sides of the 
streams along the entire course, which are 
available for breathing spots and play- 
grounds. 
The roadway known as the Myers road 
will be a bituminous macadam twelve 
inches deep and thirty feet wide, with a 
thirty-five-foot lawn space on the west 
side and a fifteen-foot lawn space on the 
east side. This will make an excellent 
border drive and one which will be adapted 
to both pleasure driving and heavy traffic. 
The Crawfordsville road between Indiana 
avenue and the Emrichsville bridge was 
improved with a twelve-inch bituminous 
macadam roadway over a twenty-foot width 
at a total cost of twenty thousand dollars. 
This improvement was ordered by the 
Board of Public Works and ten thousand 
dollars appropriated by the City Council. 
This sum was found to be inadequate and 
an increase of five feet in width and a 
bituminous surfacing was furnished by the 
Board of Park Commissioners. About one 
hundred tons of Binder C was purchased 
of the Standard Oil Company and twenty 
tons of Sarco from the Standard Rubber 
and Asphalt Company for binding the sur- 
face. 
The improvement of Thirty-eighth street, 
between Northwestern avenue and Capitol 
avenue known as “Maple Road” including 
pavement, curbs and gutters, drains and 
lawns was satisfactorily completed and 
opened for traffic. This is an excellent 
water-bound, twelve-inch macadam with 
an oil surface treatment and is very satis- 
factory as a roadway. The roadway is 
the ordinary water-bound macadam with a 
surface treatment of a heavy residuum oil 
spread in two applications, the first having 
a specific gravity of about ninety-two and 
the last about ninety-six. This , improve- 
ment is one hundred feet in width, having 
a forty-foot roadway and a thirty-foot 
lawn space on each side. 
The following copy of the specifications 
in detail for the building of the Crawfords- 
ville and the Meyers roads, will be of in- 
terest to road builders : 
The embankment in the low ground will be 
built up to dimensions shown on plans, profiles 
and cross-sections* the material for this work 
shall be obtained from points along the line of 
the improvement where cuts are necessary to 
bring the lawns and roadway to grade shown on 
profiles. In the construction of the embankment 
only good top soil or clean clay earth shall be 
deposited in the lawn spaces or slopes for a depth 
of two feet below the surface; all sand, gravel 
and other material not suitable for lawns shall be 
deposited in base of embankment or in roadway 
space below line of sub-grade. 
SUB-GRADE — The surface of the roadway within 
the limits above described shall be excavated 
to a proper depth, rolled and compacted with a 
steam roller weighing not less than ten (10) tons, 
and when thoroughly compacted to the satisfaction 
of the Board of Park Commissioners, shall be 
left true to sub-grade, which will be twelve (12) 
inches below and parallel to the established cross- 
section of the roadway as shown on the plans. 
Any soft and spongy ground shall be removed 
and such excavation and other depressions that 
may appear shall be filled with dry earth or broken 
stone, and rolled until the whole surface is firm 
and solid, as the Board of Park Commissioners 
may direct. 
BOTTOM COURSE — On the sub-grade prepared in 
the manner above described, shall be spread a 
layer of broken limestone, which, when thor- 
oughly compacted by rolling to the satisfaction 
of the Board of Park Commissioners, shall be 
seven (7) inches in depth. 
The stone in this layer shall be good sound 
limestone, practically uniform in quality and as 
near an approach to a cube as possible, and broken 
so that the greatest dimension shall not exceed 
three and one-half (3*4) inches, and shall be not 
less than two (2) Inches, free from dust, dirt and 
screenings, and all stones that are wedge-shaped 
and do not approach uniformity of measurement on 
their side, shall be taken from the road-bed and 
no stones allowed to remain which are not sound, 
strong and equable in size and quality of material. 
This layer shall be thoroughly compacted by rolling 
and should any unevenness or depressions appear, 
they shall be filled with broken stone and re- 
rolled, and this process repeated until a firm, 
thoroughly compact, even surface is obtained that 
is five (5) inches below and parallel to the 
established finished surface cross-section of the 
pavement as shown on plans and detail drawings. 
