The Indiana State sentinel. [volume] (Indianapolis) 1868-1895, 1876-05-10
GRAVEL ROADS.
Where to Locate Them.
THE GRADE.

THE GRADE.
pY JosrPH I. IRWIN, OF COLUMBUS, IND
Persons contemplating road building
should have in view: /. The amount OF
travel that may probably pass over the
proposed route. 2. The cost of grading.
which will have to be estimated by the
kind of earth along the line of the route
and the necessary cuts and fills in order
TO make good grsde, and 3 The cost OF
covering the rosd with gravel or stone.
This will depend largely on the distance
the material may have to be hauled.
Everything else being equal roads should
be located as near to gravel beds as possi-
bic, as this is the best covering material
Tor roads. Contracts should be made with
owners of gravel, stone, timber and other
materisl necessary to the building of the
read with its culverts, brijges, etc
In advance of the location of the
road or at least before work is
begun, as when This Is delayed
too long e6orbitant prices are sometimes
demanded and obtained. In making
these contracts care should be taken to Sc
cure supply sufficient to keep the road
in repair after its completion. Another
very important item in making the loca-
ton OF the road is to secure the right of
way along the entire route of the road.
| This should on no account be neglected,
as delay might cause law suits and extor-
tionste prices for what would in the begin
ming OF the enterprise be cheerfully do
mated. AS before indicated, the grade is
the most important part of rosd-msking.
A perfectly level road is preferable TO one
having ascents and descents, but this ca a
not often be had without too much ex-
pense in cutting down hills and filling val
leys. 1t may be better in some cases to
avoid hills by curving around them, as
sTRAIGHTNEss sHrULD ALWAYS BE SAC
RIPICED
| to obtain a level, or to make the road less
steep. When the location is established
careful estimates should be made by q
competent engineer or mechanic of the
cost of every important bridge or culvert
along tbs line. These might be let by con-
| tract to the lowest bidder, though il is
sometimes and indeed often better TO
contract ior msterisl to be delivered at
the place where it may be needed and hire
skilled workman by the day to do the
work. The engineers estimates and the
contractors bid might determine which
| would be the better way to get the work
done. II the surface of the country is
level or nearly so, the grade of
the road should be continuous. In this
case some one of the new patent road
| machines may be used to advantage in
making the grade, which would by their
use be carried uniformly up and down the
| slopes and over the submits as well as in
the valley, and the bitches on the sides
would form water ways to carry the rain
fall to the culverts and bridges. Grades
made by machine designed for the pur-
pose are more even and regular than when
made with the plOw and scraper, but where
there are hills, valleys, stones or stumps
such machines can not be used so well.
rhe grade OF the road should only be made
high enough to shed the rainfall into the
tches A high grade is more expensive
to make than medium one, and II
Is not as safe to travel on, as the Danger ol
: overturnipg vehicles is increased by the
height OF the grade. The width OF the road
should depend upon the amount of trave
that would probably pass over it. 1t il
cheaper to make and keep up a narrow
than wide road, but if it is expected tha'
the road will be very considerably used
the width should be increased In proper
ton to the expected travel. In some cases
road ten Let wide would answer every
purpose, in others 20 or 25 feet for the road
much. No rule can be laid down to gov RI
this, and road makers must use their own
discretion in this ma ter. The grades
should be made in April, May, or June sc
that they may become compact and soliC
during the summer months. This will form
SOLID FOUNDATION FOR THE SURFACE
material, which should be spread on il
during the months of September, October
and November, of which more will bs
written hereafter. The road grade should
be slightly higher in the center than al
the sides, and it should at all times bs
kept even aud smooth, both before and
after the surface material is put on. In
| mershy places or where il is impossible tC
secure good drainage the grade should bt
made so high that moisture can not soften
, the top of the road grade, though, as 6
| rule, it is less expensive and better tC
make drains than high grades. Under or
binary circumstances no engineer is
required to make profile and essi.
mates of the road grade and its cost
When contractors are invited to bic
on work under such rules as may be laiC
: down by a competent civil engineer, they
| generally give themselves wide margin
, for contingencies and profit. Ifa mar
can be found who has had some expert
ence in making road grades and who car
manage hands to advantage, 1t will b'
cheaper and better to hire men aud team
: t. make the road grade than to let it by
contract. When this is done teamstei
should be required to furnish gravel bedi
: and one shovel each, and hands shoult
!, furnish one shovel also. Paten
graders. road scrapers, plows, etc.
ETC., must be furnished by contrac
tors or those who build roads
9 ditching scraper, manufactured at Coium
. bus, O., is the best of the kind that hav
: seen for removing earth short distances
. say not more than 200 feet.
!. MORTON'S MONEY MATTERS.
Q AN ANXIOUS ENGINEER REsPECTFULLY RE
q FERRED TO JOHN c. 8. HARRISON, PEE