Rebuilding London's Roads.
Page 16
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
LONDONERS appear to display a marked interest in the methods which are being employed for the rebuilding of the great thoroughfares in the Metropolis. The City is supposed to be one of the busiest neighbourhoods in the world, but it is difficult to believe this while a road is under reconstruction, for the operations are usually watched by large crowds lined up round the scene of activities. The chief interest appears to be concentrated on the wonderful work of the pneumatic chisels, by which the old concrete foundation is broken up, and it certainly is a remarkable sight to observe how these tools drive their way through 12 ins, or more of concrete, almost as if they were cutting cheese.
Road transport occupies a very important place in the work. First of all, the old surfacing has to be cut away and removed. In the case of Cheapside, with which we shall deal particularly in this article and in the illustrations which accompany it, the surfacing is Trinidad asphalt, which is removed and the new surfacing laid down by the Val de Travers Asphalte Co., Ltd., who employ a large number of steam wagons for transport purposes.
Much of the heavy work in connection with the disposal of the broken-up concrete was clone, in this instance by petrol vehicles, and we noticed Maudslay 834 and Pieree-Arrov lorries amongst those in service. Most of this work is undertaken by outside contractors, and the progress of their vehicles through the heaped-up masses of concrete provides a sight well worth watching. it is really surprising how any vehicle can etand up to the rough usage to which they are subjected, and it speaks well for their rubber tyres that those are not torn into ribbons.
The portions of the road to be rebuilt are carefully divided into sections : one part of the road may be undergoing the breaking-up process, whilst the other part has had its new foundation laid and sufficiently weathered to permit covering with asphalt.
All the concrete is "manufactured on the premises," the ballast and cement being mixed together in remarkable machines driven by petrol engines, and each comprising a rotating drum into which the mixture is lifted mechanically.
Greater care is now being taken to make certain, so far as possible, that all operations which have to be conducted under thy road foundation are carried out before the new bed is laid, as, with concrete, the benefits conferred by reinforcement are nullified if cuts have to be made after the road is completed. . This cutting up of new roads has been one of the greatest troubles experienced by the contractors.