The Cecil Whig. [volume] (Elkton, Md.) 1841-current, 1875-12-25
PATENT ROAD MENDlNG.

In reading over the notice in last week s
| Wig of " road scraper" that would work
such wonders on the roads of the First
those in the Second, Third, Fifth and
! Seventh and a few in other places in our
county, we cannot but wish that little
! plain common sense and some engineering
| skill should be brought to bear in conncc
ton with these labor saving implements in
! lettering the state OF our pubilc highways
all through the State.
The treatment that will make a good
drive in all weather on the alluvial soil and
! gravel roa.is Of o.; cDsniy iaii Yhen used
on clay or rocky portions, AMI The best of
our natural road material of gravel fails to
retain an even surface in Winter when it is
underlaid with a substratum of clay that
retains the water and causes wet weather
springs" and auicksands. over this sort
of soil the road is always bad in Winter
and invariably settles very unevenly when
it dries, leaving large depressons in which
the surface water stands and the wheels
dig the holes still deeper.
We have spoken on this subject before
and ro~ when t..e foa.iS are approaching
their worst is perhaps the best time to re
vert to it and let the public make what
use of our ideas they see fit as they are not
patented.
The cause of this particular trouble in
oar roads in many places is easily discover
ed and the remedy is not very expensive
and when once applied will not need renew
ing every season.
Where these qucksands appear in the
roads you nearly always find a hardpan of
clay, impervious to water, short distance
below the surface, and the surplus of rain
that falls, follows on top Of this stratum
seeking an outlet and where no natural
one is at hand, the whole surface becomes
soft as q bog. Occasionally the water from
spring is allowed to flow in a shallow
gutter alongside the road, keeping it wet
and producing the like effect.
| Where this is the case, the remedy is
obvious. Furnish an outlet for this water
and it will never trouble you, and the sur
/ face will always lie dry enough to bear
wagon, especially where the surface is of
| gravel. One half the labor now expended
| in filling the holes over quagmires every
| Spring would put tile drain under the
road SO that there would be no cause of the
mud hole. The smallest and cheapest
round tile in a ditch three feet deep with
! free vent at the lo1rer end would, if laid in
the middle of road sixteen feet wide, and
ordinary side bitches kept open, prevent
any Iuicilsand. As it now is, the only dry
| place you find in such places is next to the
ditch, and here the teams drive, until the
| yielding bottom gives way and pushes out
into the gutter, either filling it or at best
making the center the lowest part of the
road.
Was this matter attended to, the roads
would retain their shape at little cost. In
the upper end of the county, turnpike
surface is the only thing that will last and
sustain the wear of heavy travel Many
places are now so naturally and the stone
are generally at hand to bridge over the
| worst places with permanent pixies, if the
farmers will only do it. They have little
use for a scraper among their stone, but
might have more permanent roads than a
scraper can give them. G.