Historic streets pose challenges but have charms
When brick hit the streets of Butler, residents were saved from a daily routine of mud, muck, dust and ruts.
A cross-section view of that history is now on display on South Jackson Street between West Vogely and West Diamond. The brick street has been cut away for construction of the new county office building near the the Butler County Government Center.
However, it's history in danger of being paved over.
City Councilman Richard Schontz said the Butler County commissioners recently approached the Butler City Council with a request for approval to pave over the bricks on Jackson and Vogely streets when construction is done. The county would foot the bill.
“We initially said no,” Schontz said.
After looking at the streets, council had second thoughts.
“The council decided because of the poor condition of the street, we would permit that, but Vogely is in good shape and we'd like to keep that brick,” said Schontz, who is the city's director of public improvements and the supervisor of Butler's street department.
“Paving on Jackson Street will start 12 feet down the hill from the intersection with Diamond Street. The bricks will be removed, and there will be an improved base,” he said.
“We're going to try to preserve as much history as we can.”
It's been a history more than 100 years in the making.
“Most of the brick streets in Western Pennsylvania were laid from 1890 to about 1920,” said Brian Trimble of Seven Fields, regional vice president for engineering services for the Brick Industry Association. He is a technical resource for the brick industry, as well as a brick collector.
On Dec. 18, 1909, the Butler Eagle reported, “nearly all of the long streets have been paved ... by the end of 1910 it is claimed that Butler will be the best paved city of its size in the state.”There are still many brick streets in the city.“The total miles of streets in Butler, not including alleys, is 51.03 miles and 7.59 miles of that are brick, according to a Pennsylvania Department of Transportation report,” said John Evans, city building code and zoning official.“Miller Avenue is probably one of the nicest brick streets the city has,” Evans said. “It was the only brick street that had a brick center line.”When the Butler Area Sewer Authority completed its work under Miller Avenue this year, the brick was reset.“Any work like that being done, if you take them out they have to be put back,” said Tom Shuler, working foreman for the Butler Street Department.Ralph Graham of Center Township is very familiar with Butler's brick streets, having worked on city streets for 42 years, retiring in 2013 as the city's street superintendent.“I think the advantage to it is once they are done they stay in place and you don't have potholes,” Graham said.“They are beautiful. The appearance of the bricks is much more appealing than a blacktop,” he said.When the bricks were installed, they made a more stable surface, according to Glenn Heilman of Heilman Pavement Specialties in Sarver. He is the past president of the state asphalt association and is vice chairman of the road committee for the American Society of Testing and Materials.“The hills would just wash right out,” said Heilman.“Back then they were pretty ingenious,” Evans said. “They had it down to a real science.”
“Paving brick, if you were to pick one up, is a lot heavier than bricks for a home. They are a full 4 inches thick and about 8 to 9 inches long and 4 inches wide,” Graham said. “They are probably 8 to 10 pounds a piece.”“The brick came from vast deposits of clay in this area so there is a lot of brick,” Heilman said. “They fire the clay in kilns and it becomes brick. Essentially, it is burnt clay.”But bricks pose problems for drivers and street crews in the winter.“The salt doesn't work well on the brick streets at certain temperatures,” Shuler said. “We have to go over them more than one time.”Graham said, “The brick will freeze much quicker than pavement.”He said brick streets also tend to move and sink in the clay below.“It's very hard on the (snow) plows because you're hitting almost every one of the bricks,” he said. Utility work can compound the situation with sinking bricks.“Once you disturb the soil it never seems to compact again,” Graham said.Shuler acknowledged many of Butler's brick streets are very rough but said there is not enough manpower to fix the problem.“It takes a little longer to maintain them,” Schontz said, “You have to remove the bricks and stabilize the base.”Paving becomes more attractive.Graham said he believes there will be less and less repairs to brick streets in the future and more paving.“The bottom line on brick streets is that although they are so beautiful, it's just so labor intensive to make repairs on them. I think it's going to be a thing of the past,” he said.“The reason to pave over bricks, in most cases, is because the bricks settle unevenly,” Heilman said. “In some spots, there is extra water or clay underneath. There are any number of reasons that the base moves.”“Sometimes the dips in the brick streets are six to 10 inches deep,” he said. “You have to fill in the dips first and then you have to level them.”“You repair them from the top,” Heilman said. “You don't really get a chance to fix the underlying problem.”Still, officials think brick streets will remain a part of the city for the foreseeable future.When the bricks are pulled up on South Jackson Street, they will not get the old heave-ho.“We want the bricks,” Schontz said.Shuler said the city has collected thousands of used bricks from city streets for use in future repairs.“People are funny about the brick streets. A lot of them don't want the dips fixed because it slows traffic down,” Shuler said. “They like the character of the bricks.“They are attached to them. I don't blame them. There are a lot of nice brick streets in town.”
