City Orders Poorly Laid Paving Ripped Up
A commissioner rejects the work of the Barber Asphalt Company for insufficient concrete foundations on North End streets.
The story, cleaned up
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Commissioner McGregor has ordered the brick gutters on the new paving on North I Street, from Sixth Avenue to Ninth, and also those on North Forty-third, near Whitworth College, torn out, as insufficient foundation of concrete was put under them. The work was done by the Barber Asphalt Company and was approved by the inspectors, but it will have to be torn up and fixed.
“The work was done by the Barber Asphalt company and was approved by the inspectors, but it will have to be torn up and fixed.”
Public works contractors failing to meet city specifications is a timeless civic struggle; the North End neighborhoods mentioned remain central to Tacoma's infrastructure debates today.
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