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Some Points On Road Making

Some Points On Road Making image
Parent Issue
Day
1
Month
May
Year
1891
Copyright
Public Domain
OCR Text

The foflo-wing practical pointe hae been gathered from the essays on raad maktng and maintenance which were awarded prizes or honorable mention in the recent competition ttnder the aospices of the Umversity of Pennsylvama (Published in book form by Henry Carey Baird & Co., Philadelphia): In locating lrighways in hilly country it wül generally be f onnd advantageoos to follow along water courses - a practice which is very often adopted in the case of raüways. In going from a valley over a hfll care shoold be taken to avoid running down hiü if possible. The advantage of haring a road nm close to quarries from which. good road metal can be obtained ahoukl also be kept in view. Mooey spent in secnring a good, firm, dry roadbed wül save a rast amonnt of trooble in attempting tomaintain a good snrface and keep it clean. Culverts to carry the drainage aeross a road shonid, if puesibie, be made of stone, as thnber does not last lang, and the caving in of wooden culverts is a common canse of accidente. In all cases they should be made larger than snfficient to discharge the greatest known or estimated quantity of water which has to pass through them, and their slope should not be less than 1 in 120. The slope8 of all cuttings or banks should be sown with grass seed, so as to prevent their being washed away by rain and damaged by frost. If the cast be not too great, the surface soil should be reserved and spread over the side slopes. In general, trees should only be allowed on the north and east sides of roads, so as to allow the sun and wind to dry them astnuch as possible; this precauüon is specially necessary in damp or level places. No sods or vegetable refuse should be used in grading up the crown of the road or in filling in ruts, bnt the earth chosen for that purpose should be as gravelly as possible. Stones less than one inch in diameter will not stand the ponnding of trafile. They will break up and hinder the other stones from binding properiy; whüe stones which wül not pass throngh a two and a half inch ring make a rough road, and do not bind well, being very liable to tilt up under the wheels. No road scrapings should on any account be put on the new stone, as it will prevent it from binding, and the result wül be a yielding and uneven surface. The best time to apply the stone is during wet weather in the spring and fall. Captain D. Torrey estimates the extra cost of bad roads in wear and tear of vehicles and harneas at one cent per müe per vehicle over what it would be on nrooer roads. The principal advantages of good roads iré that larger loads can be carried with jreater speed, that farmers can market cheir produce at whatever time they can jet the best prices, without being dependent on the weather, and that they san also use the roads in wet weather uring the winter and spring, when they cannot plow, thus utilizing their horses when they would otherwise be idle. The continued jolting of heavy vehicles over rongh and badly kept roads strains the horses in such a manner as to shorten their lives, and to develop in them sach diseases as often render them unfit for heavy work. Engineering News of Feb. 22, 1890, publisb.es a statement made by Captain Brown, manager of Hollywood track farm, in Virginia, to the effect that a pair of horses can draw fif ty-five barrels of produce over the roads on that farm, which are in excellent condition, whereas on the ordinary country roads they can only draw twelve barrels. From tables we learn that a team can draw four times as inuch on a telford road and allied systems than on common earth roads in good condition. This shows the enormous waste of time and draught caused by the present system. In a paper on "Road Drainage," by Thomas MacClanahan, of Momnouth, Ills., the estímate is made that for onefourth of a year a good load can be hanled; for another fourth two-thirds as much, and for the remainder of the year only half a load, or only two-tbirds of a load on an average throughoot the year. Wherever practicable no road should have a grade much exceeding one in forty-four, or 120 f eet to the mile. On such a alope a horse can draw only threef ourtha as much as on level ground. It is safe to trot a horse down Mll on macadamized road of this grade. On a slope of one in twenty-fottr, or 220 "f eet to the mile, a horse can draw only half a load, while on a slope of one in ten, or 528 f eet to the mile, only one-f onrth as much as on level ground; soch grades should theref ore be avoided if poasÏDle. It is estimated that in this state (Pennsylvanfa) $200,000,000 have been spent dxtring e last fifty years in the maintenance of the pnblic road system. Thds would be at the rafce of $4,000,000 per year. This has certainly been an enormous expense. The average coat to maintaiTi one mile of macadam road is ten dollars per year, while ordinary dirt roads cost from thirty dollars to ninety dollars per year for each nrile. If $1000,000 or $1,500,000 could be appropriated annnally by the state and divided amang the connties it would prove of great valne to the rural districts, and the advantages derived from improvtfUBlits carried out in this marmer -would bfrbeyond estrmatkm. Such an oottsy of DMoey wotdd repay itself manyíoíd in afwryeais. . . .