Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1890-11-14
PRACTICAL ROAD BUILDING.
Some Useful Hints from a Man who
Understands the Subject.


Thomas Nevins, of East Orange, N. j.,
thinks about the effect of improved
roads on land values Mr.. Nevins is
practical builder of roads as well as
man who knows how to turn them to
account, and the facts which follow are
gathered from conversation with him.
"New Jersey has about as fine a sys-
tenn of broken stone roads as there is in
the United States-in all, about 600
miles. The Telford plan has been
adopted and, l think, has proved its
superiority over the Macadam system.
The latter, you know, consists of merely
spreading broken stone on an earth
foundation. This would be all right if
it were not for frost and rain. But
when the road has been well soaked by
a heavy rain. or when lively thaw
follows a heavy frost, the foundation is
sure to soften and let the surface stones
sink into it. Then repairs have to be
made by putting on more broken stone.
The next year the frost and rain do their
work again and more broken stone must
be applied. This is kept up until enough
stone has been sunk in the road to make
a firm foundation, when good road is
obtained. The Telford system includes
a solid stone foundation in the first place
and thus requires fewer repairs and
really costs less in the end.
"What is the average cost of we'll
built Telford road? Well, say from 80
cents to $1.25 per square yard. The cost
depends, of course, largely upon how
near the building materials are to the
scene of operations.
ga road sixteen feet wide is about
right for most farming communities.
/ That allows plenty of room for big loads
of hay, etc, to pass each other and allows
/ for tie increased traffic which is sure to
come with the added prosperity brought
to community by road improvement.
A road sixteen feet wide and twelve
! inches deep costs on the average about
/ S12. 900 mile. A road six inches deep
! can be built for 5000 mile, but the
$1,000 mile saved in first cost is more
| than made up for by added cost for re-
pairs and the great difference in EN-
durance.
"This question of repairs, by the
way, is one that ought never to be over
looked. 1t should be considered as care
fully as the building of the roads in the
first place. No matter how well you
build your roads, they will go to pieces
in comparatively short time if left to
take care of themselves. On the other
hand, if they are intelligently cared for
they will last pretty nearly forever The
best way TO do this it seems to me. is
for a community to advertise for bids
for repairing its roads for long term of
years-ten anyway. The contract should
be carefully drawn up, with explicit
specifications, and awarded, of course to
the lowest bidder. Among the provis-
ions should be one providing that in case
the contractor fails at any time to keep
any given mile of road in good condi-
ton, as per contract, he shall forfeit
the pay for repairing that mile for the
entire quarter during which the offense
occurs Then inspectors should be APP
pointed to carefully examine the roads
every month or two. These inspectors
should have no regular time of visitation,
but should visit different sections of the
roads at irregular and unexpected times,
thus acting as a wholesome check on the
contractor. These inspectors should. in
my opinion, be in the pay of the state.
The importance of making long repair
contracts is easily explained. The say
ing A stitch i'll time saves nine APP
plies to roads as well as to ANYTHING
else. One load of stone, if put on the
road as soon as the need for it becomes
apparent, will go further than six loads
would after few months delay Con-
tractors will recognize this fact and see
to it that the roads are kept in first class
condition all the time, providing their
contracts run long enough to make them
the losers from delay.
1T is fair to estimate the cost of re-
pairs on a good Telford road at about
500 a mile per year. And 800 couldn't
be better invested than in keeping mile
of good road in repair. Union county,
n. j., has siXty-six miles of Telford and
it costs $4,000 year to keep it in repair.
In Summit, N. j., there are twenty five
miles of dirt road and it costs IS 900 a
year to throw dirt on them and keep
them in state of sticky, rutty, muddy
and dusty impassableness. Summit could
put down eight-foot wide macadam and
keep it in repair for twenty-five years
for what she pays for keeping up her dis
reputable dirt roads. This will apply
more or less exactly to every other place
that clings to the old mud holes and
gravel ridges and calls them roads.
YES, | am in favor of convict labor
on the roads, but it must be well direct
ed. have had men working as fore
men for me for twenty years whom
wouldn't trust to take charge of build
/ ing road. It's better to get high
priced man to direct operations and
have good road as the result than it is
to get "a cheap man and have a poor
road.
Briefly, my idea of how to build a
good Telford road is about this. The
foundation should be eight inches deep
and should consist of well sledged and
joint broken stone, set ON edge, with the
fat edge down to give good bearing
surf..a On tbic choulJ coD,a tbraa