Reducing Road-reconstruction Expense
Page 38
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AN unusual new road-making machine has recently made its appearance in Birmingham. It is believed that there are only two of the kind in operation, the other being in Surrey. So far as the machine at Birmingham is concerned, the motive unit is a Ford 2-tonner, which draws a trailer of Ruston and Hornsby make.
The advantages of the appliance lie in the considerable saving of time and material effected where a road surface has to be broken up and relaid, the machine reducing it to Its original plastic condition at the rate of about 64 sq. ft In four minutes. After the usual processes have been performed the material can then be relaid.
At the rear the outfit incorporates a cowl, which is lowered
to the road level, air heated to about 500 degrees F. being employed to deal with the road surface. The heat is obtained from the flames of burning oil, which are made to circulate around an inner tube Of cold air drawn in by a fan.
No flames are allowed to touch the road surface, which, when rolled, is guaranteed to last for five years, whilst the foundations remain undisturbed. Briefly, the appliance eats up the old surface and vulcanizes the new one on to the road in less time than it takes to describe.
The machine is made by Constable Hart and Co., Ltd., Broadway, London, S.W.1, and we understand that it is being demonstrated to surveyors and other experts concerned with road reconstruction.