Poplar Bluff Street Department employees took advantage of a temporary weather warm-up recently and made some needed repairs to parts of Downtown’s historic brick streets.
“We have so much brickwork we could stay busy for a long time, but when summer comes we also have a lot of grass that needs to be mowed and asphalt work,” said street Superintendent Jerry Lawson, when work was being done in the area of Vine and Ninth streets.
A big problem with the bricks, according to Lawson, is how long they have been there.
“Those bricks have been there for over 100 years,” said Lawson.
He explained the bricks themselves are strong, but the problem lies with the thin layer of sand and cement underneath the brick.
“There’s a thin layer of cement underneath these bricks and there are about three inches of sand. It was put down when the bricks were put down. There’s hardly any rock or aggregate in it so it’s very brittle. It just deteriorates over time,” said Lawson.
He continued saying the biggest obstacle, “is just not being able to do large sections at a time. Between manpower and time constraints we just can’t section off a 100-yard spot and do it where it’s all the same.”
According to Lawson, the load the brick roads bear is also more than they were designed to carry.
“They were great for Model A’s and Model T and even lighter trucks, but nowadays we have concrete trucks, school buses, trash trucks, delivery trucks, even utility trucks, our own trucks and the roads just weren’t designed for that kind of a load,” said Lawson.
The bricks themselves are fine, according to Lawson.
“It’s what’s underneath the bricks that are giving way. You rarely see the brick break, but it’s the foundation right underneath it that can’t support the loads that we put on it,” he explained.
Lawson said his crew generally works on bricks when time and weather permit. There is not a set date for upcoming repairs, but the next area they will work on Lawson said will be near the location of Main and Sixth streets.