Brick streets
Brick streets
(OP)
I was in my hometown at a power plant this AM, and had occasion to go into the downtown area. I noticed that the street I was on was the same brick street that was there when I was a kid, and that was lots of Christmas's ago.
Brick streets were very common in the old days.
The streets were pretty old then, and from what I could see, the bricks were pretty much undisturbed which indicated that they had not required any maintenance.
I do remember as a kid in my motor scooter days that they were slick as glass when wet, but other than that they seem to be pretty tough.
Can any of my CE peers knowledgable about paving materials expound on why streets are no longer made of bricks? BTW, these streets have a very noticable crown, and still have the high curbs popular when the cars of the day when they were built permitted that.
rmw
Brick streets were very common in the old days.
The streets were pretty old then, and from what I could see, the bricks were pretty much undisturbed which indicated that they had not required any maintenance.
I do remember as a kid in my motor scooter days that they were slick as glass when wet, but other than that they seem to be pretty tough.
Can any of my CE peers knowledgable about paving materials expound on why streets are no longer made of bricks? BTW, these streets have a very noticable crown, and still have the high curbs popular when the cars of the day when they were built permitted that.
rmw





RE: Brick streets
Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.
WWW.amlinereast.com
RE: Brick streets
I was visiting with a neighbor this evening who had also lived in that town about the time I was a kid (an early employer of mine) telling him about posting this question, and as part of our conversation we noted that in the day and time that these streets were built, the high curbs were for model "A's" and model "T's" and therefore the cars and traffic load was much lighter than the streets are subjected to today.
What would the road bed below the bricks have been constructed of?
rmw
RE: Brick streets
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"...students of traffic are beginning to realize the false economy of mechanically controlled traffic, and hand work by trained officers will again prevail."
Wm. Phelps Eno, ca. 1928
RE: Brick streets
Brick roads, once excavated for utility upgrades/repairs, are seldom as attractive again.
Firstly, any areas of poor compaction show up as ruts and depressions and affect the quality of the ride.
Secondly, the construction crews don't often, if at all, take the time to carefully reset the pattern, resulting in noticeable differences between the original street and the relaid brick.
The problem of bricks with spontaeous locomotive properties can also make it difficult to match the texture and color of the original bricks.
Jeff
Jeffrey T. Donville, PE
TTL Associates, Inc.
www.ttlassoc.com
RE: Brick streets
Richard A. Cornelius, P.E.
WWW.amlinereast.com
RE: Brick streets
RE: Brick streets
RE: Brick streets
RE: Brick streets