Fix Fort Worth bricks on boulevard, in Stockyards

Ninety years ago, bricklayers built a great federal transcontinental highway.

When Camp Bowie Boulevard was rebuilt in 1926 with durable Thurber bricks, it was on U.S. 80, carrying the heavy car and truck traffic that now uses Interstates 20 and 30.

The great westward migration after World War II crossed the Camp Bowie Boulevard bricks. So did young Elvis Presley on his way to Hollywood. So did Gen. Douglas MacArthur in a triumphant visit to Fort Worth and President Franklin D. Roosevelt to visit a son’s ranch.

It was built to endure travelers and truckers.

So why can’t crews keep it up as a city street?

For some reason, the road now requires frequent repairs, to the tune of more than $1.7 million in the last five years.

The problem must either be the newer bricks or the way they’re laid, along with last year’s heavy rains that softened or weakened the roadbed.

When city leaders considered and rejected paving the street in the 1970s and ’80s, officials said street crews simply were not expert bricklayers.

The bumps are not limited to the boulevard. The planned new development and shops in the Stockyards will put pressure on brick streets there.

Fort Worth likes our bricks. They’re historic and special. But the city must figure how to keep them that way.

This story was originally published February 23, 2016 at 5:33 PM with the headline "Fix Fort Worth bricks on boulevard, in Stockyards."