Democratic Northwest. [volume] (Napoleon, Ohio) 1869-1894, 1890-02-13
Thin bIacadam Roads.

Mr.. James Owen, county engineer
of Essex County, n. j., under whose d.
rection the admirable macadam roads
about Orange lave been built, sends the
loliOWing communication on their con-
ing Record. -.
1 obtained my experience. saws Mr..
Owen, in the sixties. In the constrnetion
oI PARK roads in Brooklyn, when the
thickness OF the pavement was never less
IMAM sixteen inches, laid on bed ofI2
ancnes OF sand, and was undoubtedly a
Ieitord pavement. When, however,
had 70 initiate in New Jersey more eco
hoHlcal system, decided on O depth
OF II lncnes, inches of pavement aud
iches OF broken stone; between 80 and
~ miles were construed of this depth
IN the avenues radiating from Newark
through the Oranges and Montclair.
ihey nave stood the wear and tear
LOT sixteen years admirably, of course
win proper repairs, and in only two or
three instances did the foundation ever
oloW up. These roads were county
ROADS, and really main arteries, but
when the local committees decided to
build their own roads, the divergence
OF opinion and lack of crystallized sem
tlment led to the adoption of anything
from to II inches in thickness. The
Oranges, East, West and the city, have
laid their roads 10 to IL inches in thick
ness, and the uniformly good condition
of their roads is proverbial. Bloomfield
and Montclair have been building
theirs inches, and the difference is re-
markablei quickly appear, holes are
common, and they look, as they are,
cheap roads. In these cases, however,
there was an attempt at a pavement.
In other townships, like Clinton,
Millburn and parts of South Orange, no
attempt has been made further than to
spread to inches of broken stone on
the natural soil, and the result shows
that it is to a certain extent waste Of
money. The only advantage accruing
in such q road is to keep the wagons
from getting mired, but as means of
travel they do not reach very high or
der. ,.'
In the red sandstone formation of
New Jersey, in which all the roads
mentioned are laid, there are critical
periods, especially when the frost is
coming out, when it seems absolutely
necessary to have q foundation of some
sort to keep the roads from breaking up,
and only in specially favored localities
is it possible to keep inch pavement
without rutting unless there is sharp
fall to the roads. In the latest roads
built in this section at BelIeville I
adopted q rule Of making the thickness
Of the pavement as follows: For grades
fiatter than l per cent, 10 inches; be-
tween l and per cent, inches, and
over per cent, 6 inches. This is the
thinnest construction advisable in this
locality with any certainty of good, per-
manent results, unless the roads are
merely built as preventive from mir.
ing instead of from travel. =. ,
In conclusion, wish to deprecate as
strongly as possible the idea of doing
cheap work in road construction, as In
my experience there is more money
wasted in these attempts than is gener.
ALLY realized. A community, if educa.
ted to proper standard, will prefer to
spend dollar well than fifty cents IN
make-shifts, and it should be the duty
, of every engineer to guide them to thai
end,