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14
It will be seen that very few New Works have
been executed, in fact, the only actually New Road
completed within the time embraced by the list is
Sackville Street, where the surface has been altered
from a Pitched to a McAdam Road. It appears
from the general state of public opinion, and the
necessities of the times, which become more and
more urgent every year, that what is called
"Pitched" Paving, or Paving composed of
Rectangular Cubes of whatever size or shape, is
becoming more and more unpopular, from the fact
of its being manifestly unfitted for modern
requirements and traffic; whether the traffic is
great or small, the objections are equally valid. I
do not now refer to Mews and places of that description,
or to many other classes of streets, but to
the general thoroughfares and private streets,
where the drawbacks to comfort caused by Pitched
Paving seems to be far in excess of their necessity,
as it is quite clear that a far more pleasant and
safe surface can be secured in its place. The
alternative at present lies between ordinary
McAdam Roads and Asphalte; both possessing
their individual advantages, with this difference,
the McAdam to a certain extent is understood, both
as to its cost and durability, whereas the Asphalte
at present being in its early stage has yet to be
tested, and it is most important that those in charge
of the Public Thoroughfares should be as clear and
as well informed as possible before expending the
large sums that are required to execute Asphalte
on a large scale, and of course to be of any use it
must be on a very large scale indeed. I presume
experiments or the result of experiments will be
collected as a guide and from the component parts