The Arizona sentinel., 1886-07-03
ROAD IMPROVEMENT.
How Dirt Roads Can Be Kept In Rea-
 sOnably Good Condition.

sOnably Good Condition.
 The matter of country roads and their improvement is to many like the roof of the mans house which could not be made water-tight when it rained, and when it was dry weather it did not re- quire repair. It often happens that poor roads, especially what are com monly called dirt roads, are found to be tremendous inconvienceS when they are miry or impossible, and then when it is dry and pleasant wheeling and riding it is unnecessary to rebuild them or abol- ish their defects.
 Prof. G. E. Morrow, of the University of Illinois at Champaign, has given this subject much careful attention, and re- gently read paper on dirt roads at the convention of Highway Commissioners at Springfield. The broad view is taken that good roads in every neighborhood are essential not only to the economical transportation of produce, but also to the best development of the people, so- cially, Intellectually and religiously.
 The perfect road is straight, level, smooth and hard. The main difficulty lies in keeping the roads in good con- ditiOn during wet weather. In a level country it is necessary to make adequate provision for promptly removing or carrying off the surplus water. As Prof. Morrow forcibly remarks, to most eff Actively do this is the great object of work in making or repairing dirt roads on the prairies. Chiefly to secure this the road-bed is raised above the general level, its surface is ''crowned," and ditches are made at the sides, and tiles are sometimes laid, frequently the most important point of all, because they most effectively prevent trouble from stag nant water. Doing these things in the best way, and then frequently smooth ing the surface and preserving its slopes, is about all the wisest can do in securing good earth roads, aside from building and caring for bridges and culverts and reducing the grade where it is exceptionally great.
 It is a suggestion worth considering that it is sometimes economy to vary the rule requiring roads to follow sec ton lines. The departure from this rule is to run the roads along ridges or high and dry land rather than to blindly and vigorously go through thick and thin, ponds, slough or sags, which can not be easily drained. The road-bed should be graded, also, so that the surface is made higher than that of the land on either side, but this should not be done to the exclusion or neglect of good ditches, kept well opened and with free outlets. In recent tests at the University at Champaign it has been found that dry soil will take up from thirty-eight to forty per cent of its weight of water by capillary attraction. Where there is standing water at the road-sides, or where the soil is saturated, it will draw much water even to the height of three feet. The engineering on railroads has this always in view, and the engi- neer prevents, as far as possible, water standing within three feet of the surface, even though the cars move on the rails held in place by heavy ties, often ballasted with stone or gravel. A narrow, raised roadway is recommend ed in preference to one of greater width, as the surface drainage will be better, but a very narrow bed with heavy slope to the sides is almost al- ways objectionable as not giving enough choice in travel, thus causing deeper ruts.
 In wet land, lines of tile laid at the sides of the road, inside the open pitches, are recommended as great help in car rying off water, which would otherwise have to be removed by evaporation. This tile work should be we'll done and the drain outlets kept free. Highway or road commissioners have consider able authority, let it be remem- bered, over the land beyond the narrow limits of the road itself, and diches and | their outlets come within their jurisdic- ton, and can be made to contribute 1 materially to the success of road-mak- ing and repairing will be done by men whose special business this is. and not | men working out their tax. The throw | ing of lot of unpacked earth on the surface at certain seasons is alluded to l as an abomination, and particularly, it i may be added when that loose earth is too often dragged up from the still damp ditches and put into the middle ot the road, only to make vile pitch-hoies ] during moist months of the year, anG an indifferent road at any time. Chica- go Inter- OceGR |