Eagle River review. [volume] (Eagle River, Wis.) 1890-1927, 1891-02-12

I'VE condense," says the Eng i1aeer-
Jag Neecs, 1.-THE following hints from a
circular issued by the Roads Improve
ment Association OF England, an or
ganization formed to distribute matter
for the education of local highway au
thorities, road contractors and others,
on the proper construction, mainten-
ance and repair of highways.
Never allow hollow rut or pud
die to remain on road, but fill it UP
at once with chips from the stone
heap. Always use chips for patching,
and for repairs during the summer
months. Never put fresh stones on
the road if by cross picking and thor
ough use of the rake the surface can
be kept smooth. and kept at the proper
strength of section. The rake is the
most useful tool in your collection, and
it should be kept close at hand the
whole year round. Never spread large
patches of stone over the whole width
of the road but coat the middle or
horse track first, and when this has
worn in, coat each of the sides in turn.
In moderately dry weather, and on
hard roads, always pick up the old sur
face in ridges six inches apart, and re-
move all large and projecting stones
before applying new coating. Never
spread the stones more than one stone
deep, but add a second one when the
first one has worn in, if one coating be
not enough. Use steel-pronged fork
to load the barrows at the stone heap,
so that the siftings may be available
for binding and for summer repairs.
Never shoot stones on the road and
crack them where they lie, or q smooth
surface will be out of the question. Go
over the whole of the new coating ev
cry day Or two with the rake, and
never leave the stones in ridges. Never
put stone upon q road for repairing
purposes that will not pass freely in
every direction through a two-inch
ring, and remember that still smaller
stones should be used for patching and
all slight repairs Hard stone should
be broken to finer gauge than soft,
but the two-inch gauge is the largest
that should be employed under any
circumstances. Never be without your
ring gauge. It should be to the road
man what the compass is to the mari
ner, and if you have no ring gauge,
remember Macadam's advice that any
stone that you cannot easily put into
your mouth should be broken smaller.
Use nothing but chips for binding
newly laid stones together, and remem-
Der that road sweepings, horse drop
pings, sods of grass, and other rubbish,
when used for this purpose, will ruin
the best made road.
"Water-worn or rounded stones
should never be upon steep grades, or
they will fail to bind together.
Never allow dust or mud to lie on
the surface of the road for either of
these will keep road in q filthy con-
dition for weeks at a time, instead of
allowing it to dry in few hours. See
that all sweepings and scrapings are
put into heaps and carted away I'M
mediately.
"The middle of the road should al
ways be little higher than the sides,
SO the rain may run into the side gat
tiers at once Never allow the water
tables, cutters and bitches to clog up,
but keep them clear the whole year
through. Always be upon your road
in wet weather, and at once fill up
wi chips any hollows or ruts where
the rain may lie. When the main coat
ings of stone have worn in, go over the
whole road, aud, gathering together
all the loose stones, return them to the
stone heap for use in the winter to fol
low: for loose stones are a source of
danger and annoyance, q d should
never be allowed to lie on any road"