The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1884-06-19
ROADS! ROADS! ROADS!
Roads! Roads! Roads! Reads! Roadsl
Roads! Reads! Roads!

nhs EDlIOh h."1ild6D us III
n county court has honored me wit
r an invitation to put my shoulder
the wheel, will begin not by pul
ing and pushing through the mu
and mire, but by doing what l ca
for the cause of good roads. An
r knowing that good road well keI
- is best for all parties, will make
os few suggestions upon what const
40 tutes good roads; and also upo
os the building and keeping up {
TO turnpikes-not forgetting our poo
as dirt roads that were during the pas
winter as many mudhOles through
out their entire length, and hoping
T fondly cherisbing the glorious hop
l that our overseers will this summer
: and fall raise us out of this quag
g mire and give US a solid roadway
This cannot be done by simply
throwing up the roadbed. We have
done this year after year with nc
! permanent good, thus defacing rath-
r er than beautifying one of the pref
tiest counties in any state. We
want a road not eight but twelve
months in the year. There is q
way out of this dilemma, one that
would prove a haven of rest to our
much abused teams and that is
plainly marked by stone and gray
el. Our county strongly insists up
on this method. Il is the cheapest
and the best, and with our present
facilities let US begin without furth-
er delay by piking one fourth of
each mile in sections where the de-
mand is most urgent. Now then,
after getting control Of the water
by side drains and culverts, we
must make the roadway solid. This
is usually done by the McAdam-
sometimes by the Telford system.
The first is built by placing upon
the slOping Toadbed from six to ten,
sometimes twelve inches of finely
broken stone. The first coat is put
on from three to four inches thick,
and left until partially solidified.
Neither dirt nor gravel must be
placed upon this, for these stones
are to be raked into every rut or
hole as soon as formed by passing
vehicles. A second coating is then
put on and treated as the first, keep
ing constant care of the bumps and
depressions. Finally q third which
will be necessary on low or miry
sections. The Telford road is built
upon a level roadbed. The first
course of stone being broken into
angular blocks from four to seven
inches in height, is carefully plac-
ed by hand IN the form of q pave
ment, each upon is broadest face,
beginning in the centre with the
taller and gradually diminishing to
those only four inches high on the
edges. Pass over this with the
hammer, smoothing Irregularities
and packing fragments into the in
terstices. A second coat four inches
thick of finely broken stone is car
ried on with the first. 1t is
now open to traffic, taking care to
rake in the ruts until the surface is
partially consolidated. Finally, if |
necessary put on one and half
inches clean gravel or finely broken
stone. This road requires no more
stone than the McAdam, quickly |
forms a more solid and compact |
road co sering, and for this first es-
sential of a good road with its great
er durability economy and smooth
less, Telford claims preference as
three to two. would most especial
ly recommend the construction of
this road across low ground or
mirey clay long retentive of mois-
ture. For any road drainage is of
first Importance. 1t will often
change a bad road into a good one,
and without it no permanent good
can be effected. The erroneous
idea that the evils of an undrained,
wet, clayey soil can be remedied by
a large quantity of material has
caused many costly and unsuccess-
full expenditures in road making.
The constructor will find many and
frequent rock culverts most efficient
in this part of his work. They dis
pose of the water before it has gain
ed volume enough to cut the road
bed and dry the road many feet in
both directions. There is not one
among the many essentials that will
yield so rich a return for a trife of
cost as this.
Next in Importance is the smooth
ness of the surface. This is gov
erned by the size and quality of
the stone. The finer they are,
the more quickly they solidity, and
the smoother, more compact and
the road. They should not
be larger than three to the pound
or two and one half inches in their
longest diameter. The hardest and
the toughest is the best and the
cheapest. Gravel makes a cheap
but most unsatisfactory road. AS
often used here it is only superior
to no road at all. 1t is incapable
of forming a permanently solid
but becomes soft with
every rain and loose with every
drouth. Thus it presents a contin- I
uous hill in front of the wheels
which renders the resistance to
draught double that upon a well .
kept stone road. Should economy /
require its use, let it be upon a
stone foundation, or if alone, upon I
high, dry and sloping sections, put /
On clean and coarse in two LAYERS ,
and keep well raked. On low, wet
ground during continuous wet
weather it soon becomes saturated 5
with water, thereby losing its
form and the loaded {
wagons quickly cut through. That ,
he surface may remain smooth,i it is
that repairing should be
lone daily by adding fresh material
lpon all points where hollows or /
'uts commence to form. This !
should be kept at convenient sta
lions along the road ready for the
cart or wheelbarrow.
Without constant supervision the
hest road will in n short fimo ba