APPENDIX, No. II.

REPORT RESPECTING THE STREET PAVEMENTS, ETC. OF THE PARISH OF ST. GEORGE, HANOVER SQUARE.

1. PRESENT STATE.

In consequence of an application to me by the Pave

ment Committee of the inhabitants of this extensive parish, I examined the present state of the carriage-way and foot-path pavements, and endeavoured to learn the various circumstances connected therewith; I also made observations on the nature of the bottoming and shape of the stones.

The notorious imperfection of the carriage-way pavement having been the cause of this Report, it is needless to state, that the surface is generally very uneven, and not unfrequently sunk into holes, so as to render it not only incommodious but dangerous to horses and wheel carriages.

The causes of this imperfection are various, and of an extensive and serious nature.

The stones, though generally of a tolerably good quality, are so irregular in their shape, that even their surfaces do not fit; they almost universally leave wide joints, and, instead of these joints being dressed square down from the surface, that is, at right angles with the face, they more frequently come only in contact near the upper edges, and, by tapering downward, in a wedge

like form, have their lower ends very narrow and irregular, leaving scarcely any flat base to bear weight.

This form also unavoidably leaves a great portion of space between the stones, which the workmen fill with loose mould or other soft matter of which the bed or subsoil is composed.

Another great defect is caused by inattention to selecting and arranging the sizes of stones; they are but too commonly so mixed, that large and small surfaces are placed alongside of each other, and, acting unequally in support of pressure, create a continual jolting in wheel carriages, which, adding percussion to weight, is a powerful and destructive agent.

I must add to these defects another of an equally serious nature, that is, the imperfection of the bed on which the stones are placed.

This bed has, hitherto, but too generally, been formed of very loose matter, easily convertible into mud; and this matter, instead of being compressed by artificial means, has unavoidably been loosened by a sharppointed instrument, to suit the irregular depth and narrow bottoms, and to fill the chasms between the joints of the paving-stones. From the width and irregularity of the joints, water easily sinks into, and converts the before-mentioned soft matter into mud, which, by the continual and violent action of carriage wheels, is worked upon the surface, and leaves the stones unsupported.

This operation must be very evident to every person who reflects upon the sudden accumulation of mud upon the surface of the carriage-way pavement after a light rain, &c., or a continuance of soft weather.

This accumulation of the before-mentioned defects.