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At the turn of the Century, seventy seven percent of the developed streets <br />in South Bend were without any permanent pavement. The city civil engineer <br />reported 102.47 miles of street in the city of which 78.53 miles were listed <br />as unpaved. Of the approximately twenty-four miles of street which were paved <br />seventy-two percent were of brick, twenty-three percent of cedar or creosote <br />saturated wood blocks, and fourteen percent of the newest material, asphalt. <br />Cedar block paving had not been utilized since 1892: However, the city had a <br />last flirtation with wood block pavement installing 410 yards of crebsoted <br />blocks. In 1900, brick remained the least expensive paving material option at <br />$5.79 per yard compared to $7.64 for the less durable creosote block and <br />$10.92 for asphalt.(10) <br />An exuberant Alanzo J. Hammond gave first position to his narrative on <br />pavements in the 1905 Report of the City Civil Engineer stating: <br />• "The city reached high-water mark in brick'pavements'laid during 1905, <br />there being over 106,000 square yards and reaching over 5 2/10 miles of <br />streets. The pavements were laid at the lowest average cost per square <br />yard reached during the last six years. This in spite of the fact that a <br />cement filler was used on many streets, an asphalt filler on one, and <br />concrete foundations on some. <br />But for the higher cost of the pavements on concrete the average would <br />have been $1.15 in place of the $1.18." <br />He went on to praise the stiffening effect of the concrete foundations and <br />(10) City of South Bend Annual Report 1900, Report of the City Civil <br />• Engineer. <br />page 4 <br />