Are Rubber Roads Feasible?
Page 35
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A Form f Road Construction That, Our Contributor Argues, Might Well Lead to the Simplification of Vehicle Design. A Bold Suggestion for the Utilization of the World's Rubber Supplies
RUBI3ER from the Far Eastern plantations cost in excess of Is. per lb. before the war, but authoritative American investigators have come by information which prompts them to say that rubber can be sold for 3d. per lb. American synthetic rubber, the rate of production of which will shortly be equal to that of the plantation product—nearly 1,500,000 tons per annum—is estimated to sell at not more than 7d. per lb., and, possibly, as low as 4d. per lb.
Ru.,sia, which has developed both the synthetic and natural products within its vast territories, may be counted Out as a post-war customer for the products of the rubber growers of-the past half century, even if the country does not itself enter the market on the other side of the counter— as a supplier.
It is reasonable to suppose that the German developments and productive caPacity will not be left unused for the benefit of the Allied Nations.
The United States, apart from its great achievement in connection with the synthetic product, is by no means idle as regards the natural commodity. Both the American Government and industrial interests in the rubber, chemical and oil lines, are busily developing rubber plantations of their own on the American continent—Monroe rubber, as it were. .Those plantations are now some years old, and are quietly commencing to deliver rubber. They are, moreover, only 2,000 to 3,000: miles from the rubber town of Akron, Ohio; not 10,000 miles, as are the Far Eastern plantations.
Not content with the cultivation of the hevea rubber, they are also growing another latex-producing plant, a shrub called guayule. There are Inany thousands of acres under guayule in Texas and California, whilst over the Mexican border guayule is also being grown in large quantities.
Then there is the wild rubber of South America: several of the Latin countries there are collecting hevea from the forests and swampy lands, whence came the seeds which formed the foundation of the Far Eastern plantations.
Wild Rubber Supplies Plentiful Wild rubber is being gathered in many other countries of the world to meet war necessities. Africa, the Gold Coast, Tanganyika and the Belgian Congo, to mention only a few countries, are contributing rubber from various plants—funtuma, cryptostegia and landolphia, among others.
The plantation rubber of Ceylon and India has been greatly developed during the war, and the potentialities there may be taken into consideration in post-war schemes.
Taken altogether, it is not wild guessing to suggest that there may be anything from five to ten times the production available when world affairs are more straightened out, and the ultimate possibilities, given the existence of the demand, are almost inestimable.
The demand for these huge quantities of rubber will not come wholly from motor vehicles. If we take the plantation output as being a measure of the possible demand (it was only 60 per cent, in pre-war days), it leaves all the other products untouched. ..merican synthetic rubber could meet that demand, thus leaving plantations and all other sources' as redundant.
What a prospect for-the world of rubber! The problem is overpowering in its enormity and is one .for international action; it is too big for any single nation to tackle.
The solution may be at hand by putting 2 in of rubber on. all the roads of the world. Not just like that, of course; but by getting down to the job as a world-wide. project for the purpose of doing what we are proclaiming to do—find work and wages for all men, all over the world. It would mean etnployment for millions for many years to come. There are 10,000,000 miles of roads in the world, of which our share is 180,000 miles. Obviously, to cover all' those naiWorts of miles of' roads would need quite a lot of rubber and quite a time to get it done. It must also be evident that, with the rapid development of mechanical transport, the state of the roads in general needs consideration and early attention.
An analysis of our own roads is illuminating, for less than a third of them are made with asphalt, tarmacadam or con crete. Over half are still water-bound, as the Romans taught us to make them some 2,006 years ago. Bat what is most astounding is that 14,000 miles of our roads are not even rolled. There is, obviously, much overdue work to be done on the roads.
There is a general impression that rubber is unsuitable for roads; that it will be slippery. In my view, there is no difference between rubber on the tyre and rubber on the road. Ftifther, when as much development work has been accorded to tubber roads as to tyres, it is logical to assume that many improvements will be brought about.
Criticisms aimed at synthetic rubber would seem to condemn it for ever as an inferior product. That is either a defeatist attitude or one prompted by financial interests; it ignores the progress that is taking place the whole time, as is shown by periodic reports from America. Incidentally, a rubber road may be inspected in the City of London, the whole of Leadenhall Street being now so paved. 4.
Rubber Prices of the Future The post-war price of rubber will be hotly, debated. The views of the American investigating interests on the matter are wort1a quoting. According to this official information, the cost of plantation rubber never coincided with ascertained figures of production; it was arbitrarily arrived at.
Further, their expressed opinion that plantation rubber can be sold for '3d. per lb. is arrived at as follows:—There are two definite and distinct systems of growing plantation rubber. The first is that of the European-owned plantations, managed by what business men would consider consulting engineers in offices in London, 10,000miles away from the place where the job of work is done. Then there is the second type of producer, who is the native owner of small estates, and who lives on the spot and does the work; obviously, a condition which should make for efficiency.
This native producer is stated to have received much less for his rubber than have the estates, through the Government control of the industry, under the aegis of the now defunct International Rubber Regulations Committee. The figure is put at as low as 2d. per lb., when rubber was selling at 1s. per lb.; it has even been as low as id. per lb. It is argued that a 50 per cent, rise to the native producer does away with any accusation of sweating, and if the native can do it at 3d. per lb, so can the big estates, , With rubber at 3d. per lb. instead of Is. per lb. and more, roads could be economically surfaced with this commodity. Too little consideration is given to the construction of the roads by the vehicle desigper; he takes it for granted that the road engineer is doing his best, and the road engineer presumes that the designer is satisfied.
If the road be sprung with rubber, instead of the vehicle being fitted with springs, there would, I suggest, be no need for pneumatic tyres; solid-rubber tyres or even metal wheels would do just as good a job. That removes the need for the spare wheel, which is an awkward piece of equipment to find room for anyway. That leads to nondetachable wheels and a consequent simplicity of design and reduction of weight. Springing would disappear, as would shock absorbers, stabilizers‘and such equipment.
AzorE. [We do not agree with our contributor that the introduc
tion of rubber roads would remove the need for tyres, or a system of suspension on the vehicle. Obviously, there would not exist that degree of resiliency in the. road surface to permit of dispensing with such equipment. —En.]