Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 63, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 6 November 1915 — Building Concrete Streets in East Chicago. [ARTICLE]

Building Concrete Streets in East Chicago.

Although the experiment of concrete streets in East Chicago is still in its early stages, with no real test as yet of the durability of the construction, yet officials of the city

already feel that some of the best, if not the very best streets in "the city are those that are-, being completed in concrete in the sixth ward of Indiana Harbor. The streets that have been completed or will be completed in concrete this week are Beech street from 139th to 140th; 137 th street from Alder to Guthrie; 138th street from Beech to Butternut; Butternut street from 137th to 14 oth; James Place from Block avenue to Pennsylvania avenue. • All together the various jobs involve nine or ten blocks. Wtai. Ahlborn has-all the contract except for James Place which is being built by Downey & Portz. These are practically the only concrete streets that have been built in Lake county and they will be watched with interest. Kline avenue has a concrete surface but the construction differs very materially from the specifications used in Indiana Harbor. These new streets are built upon a six inch base which is made in the proportion of 1 cubic foot of cement to 2% of sand and 4 of gravel. The top dressing is 1 3-4 in. thick and is made of 4 parts of . cement to 5 of granite and 1 of sand. The base is shallower at the curb, however, being there only 4 in. in depth. The curb is continuous with the street itself and its construction, of course, included in the contract. The entire, depth of the street is 5 3-4 jin. at the curb and 7 3-4 in. in the center. Construction is reinforced by No. 29 American Steel and Wire Co. triangle mesh wire weighing 28 lbs. per 100 square feet. This wire is placed about 2iz, in. below’ the surface. Every 25 feet is an Armour plate expansion joint with asphalt between the plates. The contract prices, which include grading, curb, etc., range from $1.67 to $1.70. But in all cases the price is cheaper than is paid for nearly any other style of good street. The board of work? has unofficially invited an inspection of the streets by the directors of the Chamber of Commerce and the committee on good roads will take interest in the study of this experiment.—Lake County Times.