Pittsburg dispatch. [volume] (Pittsburg [Pa.]) 1880-1923, 1890-02-08
THE COUNTRY ROADS.
An Experiment With the TelfOrd
System Satisfactorily Tested.
WHY IT'S BETTER THAN MACADAM.
A. J. Cassatt Clearly Points Out the Diff
ference Between the Systems.
CONSTRUCTING IELFORD ROADWAYS

CONSTRUCTING TELF0RD R0ADWAYS
The almost impossible condition of the
roads in the spring of 1889 induced the COM
mittee appointed by the Yearly Meeting OF
Friends of Philadelphia to have the charge
of their Westtown boarding school to build
a stone road from the school to Westtown
station, writes J. G. Williams, the superin-
tendent of the school. to the Philadelphia
Ledger Before the work was begun, and
as no member of the committee had any ex-
perience IN such work, correspondence was
opened with some practical road builders
on the subject. A. J. Cassatt wrote:
1 take pleasure in giving you my opinion
upon the different questions you ask: First.
From number of years experience with both
Telford and macadam roads, am strongly OF
the opinion that the latter Is the best for our
| country; the Telford pavement consists OF
| foundation OF large stones, covered by layer
| of broken stones; as these last wear away the
| larger stones are exposed and the road becomes
rough and requires complete resurfacing,
| which is costly, and requires long while Tor
| the surface stones to bind in with the
[ old road and become solid and COM
| pact. The macadam road consists Of
| bed of broken stones of an even size
| from the bottom to the top; such road
| can never become rough; the worst thing
that can happen is that 1t may cut into ruts
Especially in the spring when the frost is COM
| ing out) but the ruts if taken in time can pc
| filled up with broken stone which will soon pack
| and consolidate and give smooth, hard surface
| again; cart load of broken stone will hll IN
| many yards Of ruts, but will not go far toward
| resurfacing a Telford road. Second The
J stone should be what is called l71-inch stone
| throughOut; that is to say the stone should all
| be small enough to go through Pinch ring.
| Third. Sixteen feet is wide enough for the
| heavy hauling the depth of the stone should be
| IL inches, otherwise 8 inches would be suth-
| cient. There should be spread on top OF the
| stones thin coat of screenings (made by the
crusher in the process Of crushing the stone) to
| assist in the building process, and the whole
| should be rolled with steam or heavy horse
roller. 1t will be necessary to keep the road
| thoroughly watered while rolling, otherwise
the roller will have little effect. II you can do
| SO without too much expense it will pay you TO
| water the road in dry weather. Dry weather is
During long continuance of dry weather the
| mass loses its compactness and loose stones
| work up TO the surface.
| BEST FOR HEAVY HAULING.
! The above valuable remarks were pub
lished in the Philadelphia Record and
| called for the following letter from Andrew
| n. Frantz, of Lancaster:
! noticed in the Record Mr.. Cassatt's opinion
| to you about max ng a stone road. You VIII
| excuse me for volunteering an opinion as the
| question attracts public attention and is in
| fact public matter. The distinction he draws
| between the macadam and the Telford system
| Is too general. The macadam Is the best, or
may be so for pleasure, carriage or light travel
of any kind, but when you talk about heavy
hauling, the Telford is the only system that
| will hold out
If the stones are all broken fine a heavy team
will cut through in the spring of the year or at
any other time when the earth is wet On coun-
try roads earth will collect on the roads and re-
tain water, and subject it to the ordinary
effects of freezing and thawing. 1t does not
matter what depth you put the stone on. there
is nothing to check the wheels cutting in and
| forming rut. You want solid foundation
made of large stones that will arrest the action
| on the surface and prevent the road-bed from
cutting into ruts or the body of the road from
| cutting through. Small stones will disappear,
where they go to it is hard to tell, but they
| press into the earth and go down somewhere
| have been connected with the management of
| turnpikes in Lancaster county for % years.
| Some of the roads have the suDstratum made OF
| large stones; in fact all the old ones made dur
| ing the first turnpike era from 179O to 1925
| Other roads that helped to build were made
| on the macadam plan, nearly all of them made
| since 1910. The cost of keeping the old roads
| in repair is not one-third that of the new ones.
| 1t is almost impossible to keep good surface
| on the new roads, for the simple reason that
| there is no foundation. The large stones form
a solid foundation, and a surface dressing of
| from four to six inches of small stone to begin
| with. will after being fairly settled down and
packed and levelled up last a long time.
In old times there was no discussion about
| the two systems, though the Telford is the old
| est system and was no doubt dictated by the
| judgment Of common sense.
THE TELFoRD SPECIFICATIONS.
After deliberately considering the above
| and other valuable letters, the committee
we're united that Telford road would best
suit the wants OF the school, as large
amount of coal would have to be drawn
over it each year. The following specifUa-
tions were adopted as nearly meeting our
| wants:
The road shall be constructed on the Telford
| system and to be IA feet wide; depth of stone
in middle IA inches. and 10 inches at the sides,
| and regularly sloped from the middle to the
| Sides The foundation shall be composed Of
| large stone, inches deep, set on edge and
| closely together, SO as to make the foundation
| compact and solid throughout, and to be ap-
| proved by the committee before the top or
| surface material is put on. The top or surface
| material to be put on the foundation, made as
provided, shall be composed of broken stone,
| known as 114inch stone, to go through 2-inch
| ring and TO be built up with this description
of stone to the total depth height of IA inches
| in the middle and 10 inches at the Sides as
| aforesaid Chat is IA inches and 10 inches IN
| depth, including the foundation).
| The surface shall then be covered with screen
| ings of sufficient quantity or depth to make it
| perfectly even, without any projecting stones;
this surface dressing to be done to the salts
faction and approval of the committee. All
material used the large stone in the fOunda-
ton, the small stone on the top of the founda-
ton and the screenings for the surface dress
ing to be approved by the committee before
they are used. In preparing the bed for the
stone superstructure, before any stones are put
on it. there shall be four inches elevation given
to the roadbed, slOp1ng regularly to the sides;
this work to be done by the contractor
The work as it progresses shall be rolled
with a roller of not less than ten tons IN weight
the first rolling to be done after the large stones
are laid and sufficient quantity of small stones
put on the foundation TO level it up to perfect
when the small stone and screenings to a sufh-
cient depth to comply with these specifications
are put on the whole to be rolled TO the salts
faction Of the committee.
A SATISFACTORY TEST.
After advertising for proposals contract
was entered into with NJ. & 7. E. Farrell
of West Chester, as the lowest and best bid
ders, to build the road according to the
above specifications for the sum of 81, 200 for
distance off 800 feet, being about 80 per
running yard; an additional sum OF $606
was allowed for hauling surface stone of
better quality distance OF one mile, and
$3.50 for cleaning out bitches and grading up
to the finished stone road on each side of it,
to make the travelling surface fully 20 feet
in width, thus making the total cost of road
S., ,O5O, exclusive OF grading. The latter
item was paid for at the rate of % cents per