Dangerous Asphalt in London.
Page 3
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
Questions in the House of Commons Result from the Publication of Our Article, Four Weeks Ago, on this Important Subject.
Owners of rubb:r-tired motorbuses and mutorvans, tj say nothing of owners of horses, should note the following questions and answers, by Mr. Joynson-Hicks and Mr. John Burns respectively. Not only does the matter concern the parties named, but every pedestrian and cyclist is affected by these abnormal angles of side-fall. The fact that there have been no accidents during the past few weeks is of little account : the weather has been comparatively clean. We trust the Commercial Motor Users' Association and the Royal Automobile Club will take steps to have the matter brought before the notice of whoever may have jurisdiction in the matter. It is difficult to follow why the Local Government Board disclaims authority, and, whilst admitting that it has been the practice heretofore to lay asphalt with intuit-steeper angles of side-fall near the gullies, we cannot admit that highway and sanitary engineering need be regarded as stereotyped in that respect. Other means of securing the proper flow of storm water can and should be found.
On the 2nd insLant, Mr. Lane-Fox (for Mr. Joynson-Hicks) asked the President of the Local Government Board : " Whether he is aware that the contractors to the Holborn Borough Council have recently repaved New Oxford Street, between Tottenham Court Road and Kingsway, with asphalt having angles of side fall greatly in excess of those recommended by the engineers who contributed papers on the subject of modern road-paying before the road congresses held in April, 1907, and at the Institution of Civil Engineers in April last; and whether he will introduce such legislation as may be necessary to insure that any London thoroughfares which are in future repayed with asphalt shall have a side-fall to the channel, measured transversely 8 ft. therefrom, which shall at no point exceed a slope which is calculated to give motor and horse traffic a secure hold upon the roadway in wet weather, say, a slope of 1 in 30 as a maximum? "
Mr. Burns replied :—" I am informed that. the fall from the crown of the road to the channel in the portion of New Oxford Street referred to is 1 in 38. I am aware that this is greater than the side-fall recommended at the Road Congresses in Paris, and at the Institution of Civil Engineers, but I understand that it is the slope adopted for asphalt roads in other parts of the Metropolis. The slope of I. in 30, suggested as a maximum by the hon. member, would be greater than that which has been adopted in New Oxford Street. It does not seem to me necessary to introduce legislation."
On Thursday, the 23rd September Mr. Joynsen-Hicks returned to the subject by asking : d Whether the President of the Local Government Board is aware that the following angles of side-fall to the gullies in New Oxford Street, between Kingsway and Tottenham Court Road, have been measured along the length of roadway, namely, 1 in 23.6, 1 in 23.3, 1 in 19. 1 in 21.3, 1 in 13.7, and many others below 1 in 25; and whether he will cause a report on these dangerous iuclinationa, which affect motor, cycling, and horse traffic, to be made by one of his inspectors with a view to making representations, if the facts are as alleged, to the Holborn Council?"
Mr. Burns replied :—" I have no information as to the accuracy of the measurements mentioned in the question, but I understand from the Borough Surveyor that, in accordance with modern practice in road construction, the surface for a few feet around gully gratings has been given a slightly steeper fall than the rest of the road to facilitate the removal of rainwater ; also that, in consequence of the fact that the land rises sharply on the north side of the street, it is impossible to avoid making a steeper camber at the intersection of the side streets. Apart from these instances, the general inclination of the road is 1 in 38, and I learn that, although the road has been open for traffic for several weeks, no accidents have been reported. I have no jurisdiction with regard to the construction of roads by a Metropolitan Borough Council, and I do not think I can properly intervene in the matter."