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November 21, 2006
RAHWAY,
NJ – Brick pavers that
date to the early 20th century and cover a small
stretch of East Emerson Avenue in the city’s fourth ward have
been preserved thanks to the design of the City Engineer and the
cooperation of the contractor performing the city’s annual fall
street resurfacing.
The 4” x
4” x 10” paving bricks were manufactured by the
Watsontown Brick Company of Watsontown, Pennsylvania, a
company that began manufacturing bricks in 1908. The only other
remaining exposed brick street in Rahway is
Penn Street, a little-used industrial access dead end for
the former Purolator plant on East Hazelwood Avenue.
Until they were covered a few years ago, similar pavers were
worn smooth and shiny under the North Jersey Coast Line trestle
at the
intersection of New Brunswick and East Inman Avenues.
Sections
of
East Emerson Avenue between Broad and Fulton Streets were in
poor condition, having survived decades of metal plow blades and
an underground utility replacement that ripped a jagged gash
along the curb and was hastily filled in with macadam.
In March
the City Council awarded the city’s annual
$540,000
resurfacing contract to Stilo Excavation of South Plainfield to
resurface nine sections of city streets. Last month the City’s
engineering firm,
Bohler Engineering of Warren, worked with the contractor to
keep most of the bricks on East Emerson Avenue in place,
constructing a concrete frame around the intact bricks and then
filling in the spaces between the frame and the curb with hot
asphalt.
“There are
still a handful of street surfaces that date to the first half
of the 20th century,” said Mayor Kennedy, who has
personally restored several historic properties in the city,
“and a few of them have held up quite well. Preserving this
piece of Rahway history is a small but significant
accomplishment that was achieved through the skill and
cooperation of our engineers and contractor. It is a job well
done.”
A portion
of the project costs was absorbed by a Community Development
Block Grant and $135,000 in funding from the
New Jersey Department of Transportation. |