Democratic Sentinel, Volume 16, Number 22, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 17 June 1892 — A New System of Paving. [ARTICLE]

A New System of Paving.

A trial is being made in Paris of a new system of wood-paving. It consists of pieces of oak about four inches long, split up similarly to the ordinary firewood and laid loosely on end in fine sand on a bed of gravel from four inches to four and a half inches in thickness. A layer of fine sand is then spread over them, and they are alternately watered and beaten several times. In about fortyeight hours the humidity has completely penetrated and caused the wood to swell, and it is claimed that the mass becomes thus absolutely compact' and homogeneous and capable of supporting the heaviest traffic.