The Daily state journal. [volume] (Alexandria, Va.) 1868-1874, 1871-04-24
Our Streets--A Taxpayer Exposes
DimmOck's FOlIy-HOw Street
should be Made.
RICHMOND, April "a, ]

RICHMOND, April "a, 1871.
To the Editor Of the State Journal.
have been watching the construction
of what the CITY engineer calls Macada.
mized road in Broad street. I beg leave
to differ with him and to call his work
6otch job and not good road nor Maca-
1t is made of broken stone. The cost,
except that of the material, is so much
money thrown away, for to make it a
real and good Mscadam road, as con-
strncted in Europe and the Northern
States, the material has to be removed,
and the work done again from the foun-
dalton. The cutters are two to four
times too deep, and the centre of the
road four to eight times higher above
the curb-stone, than it should be, and is
now filled up in a hog-back shape, max
ing it impossible for carriages to traverse
the streets with any comfort-except they
are driven along the centre. for if they
approach the curb, they are nearly over
turned. Where the water flows away, as
down the hill of Broad street, it is
not necessary to have the gutter of
capacity of fall of water to float
a canal boat it should not be more than
to inches deep below the top of the
curb-stone and the road bed in transverse
sections, should not have a rise of more than
| five to seven inches above the bottom of
| the gutter. The manner of construction
should be these: First grade the road-bed
| to the same counter that the finished road
| is to be, then roll and dress till it Is even,
not permitting travel on it during the con-
struction, then lay the gutter. Six inches
in thickness of broken stones is ample for
a road of the width, and no more travel
than this is on Broad street; it should be
deposited very evenly and rolled with
roller, the heavier the better up to fifteen
tons. During the rolling the material
should be sprinked with water to aid its
consolidation. After this put on layer
of one to two inches in thickness of finely
broken stone, none longer than will pass
through an inch mesh seive, and none of
that passing through half-inch mesh.
This Is to be sprinkled and rolled till
it is perfectly even and solid gravel Is
sometimes used for this top-coat, but is
much more likely to be broken up by
reason Of its spherical form, not allowing
it to pack so firmly as angular stone. By
pursuing this manner of construction, a
real Macadam road is made, and one that
will be more durable than if made twelve
to eighteen inches thick, and heaped up as
in Broad street, for the simple reason that
the entire width of the road will be used,
whereas on very high and round road
the wear will be confined almost wholly to
a single track-way of the highest part OF
the road, which soon ruts it, requiring the
heaping on of more material. To put
on finishing coat of earth and clay
as the engineer has done Broad
street is simply ridiculous. In a
portion of the street, he has, after the
street was graded, put on layer of earth
about eight inches in thickness and twelve
feet in width, along the centre of the
street, and then covered it with the road
material. am unable to even guess his
reason for doing SO, unless it was for the
same reason that kelson is put in a ship.
1t shows that the Engineer designed the
foot-crossings more for bitches than dry
walk-way in wet weather, as he has made
them toWer than the road. Mr.. Engineer,
If am right | expect you will acknow'
ledge the fact by constructing the block of
street you have just commenced as it should
bs; if you think you are right, please be
SO kind as to refer me to such practice as
you have followed, or where it can be
found in the books. TAXPAYER.