Shenandoah herald. [volume] (Woodstock, Va.) 1865-1974, 1882-03-29
Country Road Making

Tie main point TO be kept in
view from first to last, in making
country roads, is drainage. No
road can be a success without good
drainage, whether natural or arti-
fetal, surface or underdrain. The
latter is preferable, for soil natar
ally porous enough not to require
an underdrain will remain so Tor a
comparatively short time only on a
travelled road. The a1cumulatlng
dust and dirt soon prevent Tree
drainage. Water should not be al
lowed to accumulate at any time, OF
for any ZENITH OF time, on the road
bed cannot be kept dry with
stacnant wafer in the side bitches
9 RE diiiciIcs Should never be so
deep as TO cause wagon to tip
10 over if tie wheels on one side
should acciden ally run into il. Ii
the grade is such as to require
deeper ditch it should be in the
form Of an underdlain. n 3-inch
title laid through the oeat.e Of tie
road-bed in the direction OF lis
length, at depth OF , feet below
the su,lace, with an outlet every
10 lods. would lie beneficial 10 al
mot all roads, 10 matter Though
what soil tley iur. In spring and
fall, and in open winters. the beniht
of a centre nnderdraln is beyond
question. The inclination should
be / TO I2j III the direction Of It's
length to secure etcciual drainage.
A similar drgin under each SIZE
ditch would be money well inves-
tel.
In most coils it is a detrimeni
TO use the surface soil in their con-
strucliou. 1t would lie better 70
sclape it off to be us,d to fill ~
hollows, or il the country is level,
it had better lie used by the adj
Joining land owners as Il toF.dless-
ing on Their lands. Almost any
other use that can be made o. il
w.uid be better than to have ii Oh
the road to form mud after every
shower. In grading road, and
after it has received the desired
convex form, the bed sh uld be
thoroughly plOwcd a number OF
times IN oider to thoroughly mix
the material and have it settle
evenly. This is an important
feature, though seldom practiced.-
Grave IS the Oest dressing tor coun
try roads, ii OF uniform material
Tree rom soil, though a hg~t mix
lure OF clay helps 10 bind ii. All
.siones larger than hens egg
ssnould be carefully removed. Il on
a much travelled road, the gravel
should be al least one foot deep in
the c,nne, carefully leveled off by
means OF a shovel and sclaper.-|
Rolling with LeaNy rollers IS very
beneficial. Ii the gravel is put Oh
N iall, the rails will help to settle
Il moe ,tfrclually than if pat Oh III
all. the rains will help to settle 1t
more ,tftciually than put on III
summer, when it often remains IN a
lUl sc state tor months.
Limestone or fntsiole chips:
c.bOlesl r .arge stones OF any klnd
ae unfit tor lok-dressing OF roadside
fill shallow holes or rrts. They can
be used by first excavating the ro"d
bed from l ID TO , feet in the CEN
tie, gradually rising towards me
ditcLes; this en- he filled up with
stones, the larger ones set OIL edge,
until the bed has the desired form,
when tie upper layer Should lie
broken up fine, the largest not to
exceed , inches in diameter a
thin dressing OF gravel may be ad
ded, and tie whole thoroughly
rolled with heavy oller. IulS is
one way 0, using stone III read
making. though IN INST cases too
expensive iOr country roa-s. Large
stones scattered through a road bed
are sure TO come 10 the surface IN
time by the irost raising them, and
allowing sand Or soil to deposit
itself beneath; or If struck on one
side by W eel, the opposite SIDE
is raised, and i'll time it is Oh the
surface. an impeachment 10 every
passing vehicle. Every lime a
wheel strikes a stone 1t suffers to
toe same extent as II struck with a
sledge, 10 say nothing OF the ezra
force required to carry the wheel
over the obstruction. Remove all
stones from the roadway.
The limit OF practicable inclina-
lion varies with the character Of
the road. For the best roads the
limit is l in 50. The advantage
of a level road over an Inclined one
is superior to tie cost of increased
length i'll avoiding hill. The
resistance OF gravity at different
inclinatlons. irrespective OF the