(1.) The colour is objectionable; being very dark, the footpaths give a street the appearance of mourning.
(2.) The difficulty of breaking up the path for gas or water services, or for other purposes.
(3.) The hardness of the bricks makes them awkward to cut to rounded corners, or for water trunks, coal-holes, etc.
(4.) A loaded hand-barrow driven over them will sometimes break off the chequered pattern.
(5.) They are slippery in a frost after snow.
But notwithstanding these disadvantages, they make a most wonderfully durable and useful pavement for back streets.
Granite Slab Pavement.
—This is sometimes adopted, large granite slabs, 6 inches in thickness being laid; they are very useful when there are cellars underneath, or where heavy vehicular traffic is intended to cross the foot pavement. Granite is of course excessively durable, but it wears very slippery with traffic and must then be tooled or axed; in process of time this wears it out, and its first cost is heavy.
This description of pavement can be laid with advantage in front of markets or similar buildings.