Wood Blocking of Fremantle Roads

The very first use of wood blocks as a road surface in the colony of WA was in High St Fremantle with the laying of the very first block by the then Mayor of Fremantle Mr E. Solomon (for whom Solomon St, Fremantle is named after) on Friday 18th February 1898. Prior to this no roads had been covered in wood blocks anywhere in the colony, despite the colony promoting the material as an excellent road surface both nationally and internationally.

Following the High St laying, tenders were requested in 1902 for both Cliff and Mouat streets. The laying of the wood blocks on these streets was completed by November 1903. In total a “quarter of a million jarrah cubes” were laid onto Fremantle streets by 1903 The method of constructing the block roads was quite simple.

The earth in the existing roads was dug away to a depth of 2 feet, concrete was then poured;
The blocks were prepared by being immersed in boiling tar;
Once thoroughly soaked they were cooled slightly;
Then placed in an interlocking pattern in order to give greater stability to the pavement.

Internationally, Australian wood blocks were seen as the best quality when used to pave streets. Studies had shown that the Australian Jarrah blocks wore away at a rate of 1/26” and 1/16” of an inch per annum whilst other timbers had worn away at 1 inch per annum.

The blocks could become very slippery in the rain and so they were dressed with sand annually in winter. A newspaper report in June 1907 asked for fresh sand to be made available ... “The recent heavy rains have rendered it absolutely necessary that the annual sanding of the blocks in the Fremantle thoroughfares should be proceeded with as soon as possible.”

The cost for wood blocking Cliff and Mouat streets was just over £3,000 pounds. This was considered a good price and a relatively cheap way to build roads at that time.