Staunton spectator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1849-1896, 1891-08-12
Some Points on Road Making.
PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTOR
OF IMPROVED HIGHWAYS.

PRACTICAL HINTS FOR THE CONSTRUCTOR
OF IMPROVED HIGHWAYS.
The following practical points have beer
gathered from the essays on road making
and maintenance which were awarded prizeI
nr honorable mention in the recent com
pstition under the auspices of tho Uni7er
sty of Pennsylvania (Published in booE
form by Henry Carey Baird & Co., Phila.
delpha):
IL locating highways in billy country il
will generally be found advantageous to fol
low along water courGes--a practice which
is very often adopted in the case of rail.
ways.
In going from valley over a hill care
should bs taken to nVoid running down bill
if possible. tic advantage CT haveg q
toad run close to auar:ias from which good
road metal csn be obtained should a!s, he
Kept in view.
Money spent in securing good, firm, dry
roadbed will save vast amount of trouble
10 attempting to maintain good surface
aud keep it clean.
Culverts to carry the drainage across a
road should, if possible, be made of stone,
as timber does not last long, and the cavine
in of wooden culverts is common cause of
accidents. In all cases they should be made
larger than sufficient to discharge the great.
est known or estimated quantity of water
which has to pass through them, and their
slope should not be less than in 100.
The slopes Of all cuttings or banks should
be sown with grass seed, 80 as to prevent
their being washed away by rain and dam.
aged by frost. If the cost be not too great,
the surface soil should be reserved and
spread over the side slopes.
In general, trees should only be allowed
on the north and east sides Of roads, SO as
to allow the sun and wind to dry them ss
" necessary in damp or level places.
used in grading up the crown of the road or
in filling in ruts, but the earth chosen for
that purpose should be as gravelly as possl
BILE.
Stones less than one inch in diameter will
not stand the pounding of traffic. They
will break up and hinder the other stones
from binding properly; while stones which
will not pass through a two and half inch
ring make rough road, and do not bind
well, being very liable to tilt up under the
wheels.
No road scrapings should on any account
be put On the new stone, as it will prevent
it from binding, and the result will be a
yielding and uneven surface.
The best time to apply the stone is dur.
ing wet weather in the spring and fell
Captain D. Torrey estimates the extra
cost Of bad road in wear and tear OF vehiclef
and harness at one cent per mile per vehicle
over what it would be on proper roads.
The principal advantages Of good roads
are that larger loads can be carried with
greater speed, that farmers car market
their produce at whatever time they car get
the best prcas, without being dependent On
the weather. and that they can also use the
roads in vet weather during tho Wiater and
spring, when they cannot plow, thus ubiliz
ing their horses when they would other wise
be idle.
The continued joltIng of heavy vehicles
over rough and badly kept roads strains the
horses in such manner as to shorten thei1
lives, and to develop ip them such diseases
as often render them unfit for heavy work.
Engineering News Of Feb. %, 1890, pub
fishes statement made by Captain Bfown,
manager of Hollywood truck farm, iu Vir.
ginia, to the effect that pair of hcrsss can
draw fifty five barrels produce over the roads
on that farm, which are iI excellent condi.
tion, whereas on the ordinary country roads
they can only draw twelve barrels.
From tableg va learn that 6 team can
draw four times IS much on G talfuid road
and allied systems than on common earth
roads in good condition. This shows the
enormous waste of time and draught caused
by the present System. To paper on ''Road
Drainage" by Thomas MaoClanahan, ol
Monmouth, Ills, the estimate is inade that
for one fourth of a year good load cln be
hauled; for another fourth two-thirds as
much, and for the remainder of toe year
only half load, or only two-thirds Of a
load on an average throughout the year.
Wherever practicable no road should have
a grade much exceeding one in forty-four,
Or 100 feet to the mile. Ga such q slope a
horse can draw only thres-fourths as much
as on level ground. 1t is safe to trot q horse
down hill on macadamiz5d road of this
grade. On slope of one in twenty fonr,
or 220 feet 10 the mile, horse can draw
only half a load, while On slope Of ore in
ten, or 5a0 feet to the mile, only one fourth
as much as on level ground; such grades
should therefore be avoided if possible.
Il is estimated that in this state (Penn-
sylvanis) $500, 900 900 have been spent dur
lbS bno 1aSt nitJ YoaIS III ti1o i.idihtOnoii 20
of the public road system. This would be
at the rate Of 81 600, 900 per year. This has
certainly been an enormous expense. The
average COST to maintain one mile of mac
adam road ia ten dollars per year, while
ordinary dirt roads cost from thirty dollars
to ninety dollars per year for each mile. II
81, 600, 600 or 81, 500, 006 could be appropri-
ated Annually by :he state and divided
among the counties il would prove of great
value to the rural districts, and the advan.
ous.i in this manner you'd be beyond osti-
nation. Such an outlay of money wonid
repay itself many fold in few years.