Lower Sandusky freeman. (Lower Sandusky [i.e. Fremont, Ohio]) 1849-1849, 1849-03-03
PLANK ROADS
LETTER FROM PROF. GILLEsPIE.

UNION COLLEGE, New York,
November 2lst, 1s4s.
Ny Dear Ssr.--As absence from the city viii
prevent my compliance with your request to attend
your Plank Road meeting, / transmit you few
memoranda upon that subject derived from per-
sonal examinations and the latest and best author
tiles
To an inland town like ours, roads are substitutes
for navigable rivers The more widely they radi-
ate in every direction and the better their cend-
ton, the greater viii be our prosperity Their conn
parative value is determined BY the different weights
which horse can draw s;Pon them at any uniform
speed, or by the different speeds at which he can
draw the same load OF all modes of improving
their surface Plank Roads the most efeetual at
the smallest cost If we take the load drawn on
new gravel in our standard Of comparison, exper-
iments show that on good broken stone, or Nc
Adam road q horse can draw four times as much,
and on smooth Plank road eight times as much,
or twice as much as on good McAdam road.
Plank roads. therefore enable a horse to do more
than any other arrangement except railroads.
But invaluable as the latter are to the hurrying
traveller, the ordinary roads on which every far
mer can drive his own team. when not needed for
the farm labors are incomparatiyely more useful
TO the community at large-and of all such, Plank
roads are the perfection. fhey are the Farmers
Rail roads.
MODE OF CONSTRUCTIONS
DeSt
this; Lay out the intended line with great care to
avoid steep incnations, never ascending more than
one foot in going so or 40; and winding 50 feet
around rather than to go up une Grade the road
bed vide enough for two wagon tracks, but plank
onsy one, and that on the right hand side coming
towards city, for teams generally come in heavy
and 60 ont light and this arrangement makes the
heavy ones keep the track and the light ones do all
the turning out Lay down slatwise two stringers,
f1x,Q fooka haa1
them well with earth. Across them, at right an
giles, lay inch henalock plank feet long The
lengthwise and skewing methods of laying them
are now abandoned Pack the earth well up to
them. Slope the earth track towards the bitches
which should be wide and steep-and your Plank
road is m fde.
Many minor points must, however, be attended to
to make your road as perfect as possible The In
ner strngers should be higher than the outer ones
SO to carry of the water freely. They should be
IN two peices. each by s. so as to break joints
The ends Of the planks should not be laid to line,
but project few inches on each side alternately so
as to make it easy for wheels to get on the track and
70 avoid forming rut along the side. They need
not be fastened down, but would recommend
spiking down, say every 5th or 10th plank, the
rest beng well driven home against these. The
stingers are now made heavier than formerly,
and the plank lighter. When hemlock plank gets
worn down two inches, the knots project so as to
make it rough, and require renewal Allow one
inch more to hold them in and we have three inches
thickness Hemlock is generally used, as cheapest,
but pine or oak would be better
A single track viii be sufficient for almost any
amount Of travel The turnings out upon the earth
road by the side Of it are at such varied points that
its surface. If made properly crowning win always
remain IN good condition. 100000 teams passed
over a Syracuse road in two years, averaging more
than 200 a day; and for three days in succession
f00a day passed oyer it; and all this was on sin
gle track
The cost of the road viii of course vary with the
price Of lumber On the plan recommended, it will
require 1000 feet Of plank and 81, 900 feet of
stringers per mile; in all say 10000 feet board
measure. Other items of cost are the leveing The
road bed, and laying the plank, which costs from
soc TO 81 per rod The excavations and embank-
ments necessary to give the road proper grades and
the bridges and the sluiees, cannot be estimated
without the data of survey. Omittng these, as
as also gate houses, win have the following rough
estimate of cost per mile:
Lumber 100000 # at 80 per M, $f,44o
Leveling and laying at 75c. per rod, $40
Engineering and superintendence, 100
790