St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1891-01-10
ROAD CONSTRUCTING.


/ Thorough Drainage 1oo0e1oS Woos~
Good Roads Ar Dssirs6.
George w. Hinkle writes to the Or
ange Judd Farmer: In constructing any
system Of roads the most important part
is thorough drainage. both under and
surface. An earth road should b -
least hfty feet wide. with surface
bitches cut Is far out on tho sides -
they can be made. Garry tho earth TO
the center. forming an oval grade. about
six feet wide. eighteen inches deep ON
outer and sloping ON inner edge Con-
tinue side bitches entire length.
Then underdrain all low land. springy
and seepy hills ON both sides Of the
roadway, conveying the water to good
outlet Where surface water stands ON
the side Of tho road, dll in small
space over under-drain with broken
tile. II not able to tile both sides Of
the road. then put tilc in the center Of
the roadway. before grading; practical ex.
away with all small culverts, replacing
them with double-strength sewer tile.
A road 50 constructed Is Is near perfect
IS ono can be OF earth. II constructed
according to the above directions. an
excellent foundation II now provided
for gravel road.
In maay parts Of this State Qllinois)
gravel exists In quantities seem-
ingly sufficient to 'spiderize" the
State in every direction with first.
class Highways We have shout
forty miles Of gravel road In this
(Paris) township; eight miles built this
summer. with four miles moro under
contract To construct these roads .
tax Il levied to full limit Of Law lone
dollar to each one hundred dollars) and
when collected such roads are built q
the people vote to be constructed out OF
this special fund. The road to b made
Is divided into sections Of one-hslf mile
in length. We purchase our gravel.
strip the earth from the surface. and
then advertise for bids by the section.
per cubic yard measurement
In putting on the gravel We use stoch
boards twelve inches wide, fourteen
feet long. set MP on each side Of conter
Of roadway. held In place BY iron pins,
boards ten or twelve feet apart with
iron pins in center every seven feet
twelve or fifteen inches above ground.
Whenever two pair Of boards arc filled
one pair Of boards and one pair of cen.
ter pins are taken up and moved for.
ward and set again. and 80 ON until the
line Of road Is finished. Now. IL taken
caro- of for twelve months, by keeping
the gravel worked to tho center With .
wooden drag, you will have road af.
fording pleasure 10 ride over at any time
Of the year. IL costs from two hundred
to four hundred dollars per mile to
grade. nnderdrain and sSwer such road,
but all Of this IL done with the road and
bridge tax The special tax above noted
is used for the gravel Tho cost of
depends ON many circum-
much dirt is Oh the
gravel. how close the bank is - the
road to be constructed. how strong the
In bidding. etc, etc. We
get the earth removed from our gravel
for six and seven-ninths 70 eight cents
per cubic yard. We get the gravel pat
On the road (according to last contract)
Tor an average Of twenty-eight cents
per cubic yard. On road four and ens.
quarter miles long. Gravel bank with
In one-q usrter mile of road and within
pne-half mile Of end Of road