ACPA Quarter 3 2016

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Quarter 3, 2016 11
b e l k n a p p l a c e
Close ups of the hand-scored
brick pattern added to provide a
foothold for horseshoes.
beginning of widespread adoption of the tech-
nology—with 2,963 miles constructed during
the year.1
The construction of Belknap Place helped
contribute to that boon in concrete pavement
construction. Belknap Place was paved using
an innovative, patented process called Gran-
itoid, a two-lift system with coarse aggregate
in the lower lift and hard granite aggregate in
the surface course. The street has continued to
serve motorists well for more than a century,
with some natural cracking, but little faulting
or deterioration.
The surface aggregate and high quality of ce-
ment imparts excellent wearing characteristics,
according to Jan Prusinski, P.E., Executive Di-
rector of the Cement Council of Texas (CCT),
which took the lead in applying for the road’s
designation by the Texas Historical Commission
to underscore the significance of Belknap Place
to the concrete industry, local residents, and the
city of San Antonio. Prusinski also noted that
Don Taubert, Director of Promotion for Capitol
Cement (ret.), was instrumental in researching
and calling positive attention to Belknap Place.
Value was of great concern to early residents
whose homes lined Belknap Place, Prusinski said,
adding they split the cost of the road construction
with the city. “Concrete was more costly than
macadam or dirt, but city leaders and residents
wanted something special,” he explained. “The
road was built in less than three months, prob-
ably relying on hand and horse labor.”
Key to the road’s durability is a dark indigenous
trap rock, according to Bill Ciggelakis, P.E.,
Professional Service Industries, Inc. He said
the stone is slowly cooled lava that is trapped
beneath the surface of the earth. It was likely
railed in from Knippa, Texas, located about 75
miles west of San Antonio.
The street was paved in 210 placements of 40-ft.
by 20-ft. sections, which were then brushed and
hand-scored in a 4 in. x 9 in. pattern to create a
brick pattern. The pattern provided a foothold
for the calks (toes or heels) of horseshoes—an
important consideration because horse and
carriage was the prevalent form of transporta-
tion in 1914.
Being home to the state’s oldest concrete pave-
ment makes sense because San Antonio is also
known as cement’s birthplace west of the Mis-
sissippi River, with the second oldest cement
plant in the nation, Prusinski said. “Alamo Ce-
ment’s original 1880 kiln and quarry still exist as
the Japanese Tea Garden, part of San Antonio’s
Brackenridge Park,” he explained. “The cement
for the Belknap Place concrete came fromAlamo
Cement’s second plant, built in 1908. Its smoke-
stacks now serve as the centerpiece of the Quarry
Market, an upscale, mixed-use retail, residential,
and golf community.” AlamoCement nowowned
by Buzzi USA, continues to operate a modern
plant in northeast San Antonio. 
Reference
1. Portland Cement Association, “Facts Everyone Should
Know about Concrete Roads,” April 1916.