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Show Road Workers Start Oiled Mulch Project - Under the supervision of 0. G. Day in the construction and nain- . tenance department of the state road commission, active work was started Tuesday on the rebuilding of the state highway north and south of Gunnison by the oil mulch system. x A crew of twelve men, in addition to four caterpiller tractors, two distributors, dis-tributors, steam boilers and two oil trucks, are engaged in transforming the highway from the plain gravel method to the new oiled system-. Work is now in propgress on the highway leading from the end of the pave-. ; ment north of Gunnison to a point a mile and a quarter east, or to the end of the federal gravel project. Mr. Day informed a News representative represen-tative that work was going aht id splendidly, and that if nothing ur.-forseen ur.-forseen happens the north of t .vn, project would be completed by tho c end of the week. Immediately this part is finished the working crows and implements will be taken soi 'h and work will begin at the end of the pavement at the high school i bulding and carried some three and :i a quarter miles to a point near the t , Nay farm. It is planned to finish the entire road building prog-ram ' north and south within thirty days. ' Mr. Day gave some interesting: facts concerning the new process adopted for Utah roads. The gravel ' is distributed along the road and " later scattered. A scarifier, propelled propel-led by a huge tractor then tears the surface of the road slightly mixing the gravel and earth. Crude oil, with an asphaltic base, heated to about 160 degress fahrenheit, is sprinkled over the gravel. Processing, or mixing, mix-ing, the gravel and oil, is then done, some twenty turnings of the gravel and oil being necessary to gain the proper consistency. Another An-other machine is then used to form a "V" shape at the shoulder of the (Continued on last page.) Road Workers Start ; Oiled Mulch Project i (Continued from Page 1) 1 road on the side, to prevent breaking break-ing and permitting the oil to run. A 3-inch coating of oil mulch is spread over the 18-foot road, and after being levelled it is at ohm ready for traffic. During the construction con-struction work, detouring will not be necessary, as the road is ready immediately im-mediately after levelling. The new process in road building is meeting with much favor throughout through-out Utah and where it has been laid. From a monetary standpoint it is cheaper than either gravel or concrete. con-crete. The average cost for the oiled road runs between $2000 and $1000 per mile, as compared with concrete, which nans between $30,000 to $10,000. Gravel, it is estimated, costs between $5000 and $8000 per mile. The oiled road costs less to maintain than the gravel, and it is a dust eliminator. Corrugations never appear and it is never necessary neces-sary to drag for levelling. The crew operating under the supervision sup-ervision of Mr. Day, has completed more than eighteen miles throughout the southern part of the state. In every instance the work is giving the highest satisfaction, and the roads, most of which undergo heavy tests, are holding up in fine shape. |