The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-03-19
THE Road MnvEMENr

IN T. kDAD MOVE ENT
Many millions of capital, together with
the results of much scientific study.
nave gone into the construction of rail
roads, but, while the highway has ex-
pandcd its mileage in accordance with
the requirements of the locality, no ma
terial progress has been made in the care
or skill bestowed upon its construction.
Formerly the highway amounted to
lttle more than rightof way, separated
sometimes by fences from adjacent
private property, but in many instances
undlalned. ungraded and unimprovcd,
so that it was frequently impossible.
Nor has its condition materially i'm
proved by time, and to-day the embargo
Ot mud roads is so universal that not
only the farmers, but many of the rail
roads which are dependent on common
roads Tor their traffic, as well manu-
iacturers needing prompt and constant
supplies OF raw materials and fuel, cti-
Zens OF large communities requiring
cheap produce, pleasure seekers and
cyclists" have become alive to the
great Importance of improvement in this
long neglected line of traffic. From
Maine to Mexico, and from the Atlantic
10 the Pacltic, there is demand for bet
yer roads, which is manifesting itself
through the press, in the universities, in
leglSlatlve bodies, in popular meetings
OF cltlZens, III technical societies. and in
scientific periodicals. EVERYWHERE the
opinion prevails that our roads are n
disgrace to our civilization and serious
impediment to our development. for
| facility of communication is one of the
most potent elements in promoting the
general welfare, whether of country or
city.
In sympathy with this movement
special endowments have been created
| for courses of instruction in road en-
/ gineering in some of our technical
schools, and prizes have been offered
for contributions bearing on this sub
| lect. One of the latest of these was the
competition invited by the committee
on better roads, composed of citizens of
| Philadelphia, which offered and paid a
/ comparatively large sum for ESSAYS on
road making and maintenance.
The principal difficulty in the way of
| the improvement of the public roads is
that OF providing the ways and means.
| for so long as the entire burden rests
! upon the agricultural community it will
| be difficult to make change in the ex-
| listing maladministratiOn of affairs. The
/ working OUT system under supervisors
| is not productive of good or economical
results and should be abolished. while
the taxes for road purposes should be
more equitably distributed. In many
! places the location of the roads could be
changed to great advantage, resulting in
| shortening the distance, improving the
| grades and drainage and taking less land
from the farmer. Before any of the
roads are permanently improved, there
fore, their location should be carefully
| revised by competent engineers or road
! builders. This being done, their resist
ance could be greatly reduced by pro-
/ viding hard and smooth wearing sur
| face for traction, technically known as
| ''metaling."
This may be accomplished by different
! systems where stone of suitable quality
is available, known as the Tresaguet or
French, the Telford, or the Macadam.
the relative merits of which have long
been warmly contested.
Without stopping to describe the pc
cullarlties of these systems, it will SUI
llce III general way to state here the
| recommendations of the board of adjudi-
Gators appointed by the provost of the
University of Pennsylvania to determine
ana award the prizes upon the numerous
| papers submitted in the competition
already alluded to. They were to the
effect that in the improvement of our
roads the Macadam system. consisting
of small angular fragments, in sizes not
exceeding from two to two and half
inches in their longest dimension, ac-
| cording to quality, should be used wher-
ever stone roads are both practicable
and juStifable.
That the minimum width of the met
| aled surface for Il single track should be
a demirod eight and one-quarter feeD
| of such depth as the amount of the traf-
tic and character of the subsoil may
require, to be determined by the en-
gineerin charge.
That the bed to receive the stone must
be so prepared thatitcannot be saturated
with water, and to accomplish this great
attention should be paid to the character
and drainage of the SubsOil
That there should be legislative enact
ment regulating the with of the tires of
wheels, and that the minimum width for
| all carts, drays, wagons or other heavy
| draft vehicles should be four inches, to
be increased when thu capacity of the
vehicle exceeds half net ton per wheel,
at the rate of one inch for each 400
pounds in excess.
1t is believed that attention to these
particular would result in greatly inn
| proved roads without increased taxes,
and with much less cost for maintenance.
There are many details upon which the
durability of a road may depend, but it
is not the purpose of the writer to dis
cuss them here. One point, however,
needs TO be specially noted, and that is
the selection of foundation material.
There are some road builders who not
only regard clay as suitable substance
| for the roadbed, but actually recommend
its use in binding the surfabe together.
| This practice is to be condemned, since
clay is one of the most unstable of the
| earths, and is most readily affected by
thermal or hygrOmetric changes, which
is just what should be avoided. That
material is best which is most constant
in volume under extreme physical con
ditions, and which offers greatest resist
ance 10 wear, and of nj! available ma
terials trap rock is found to fill these
requirements best; but in selecting his
material the road maker must be gov
erned by the facilities of the district and
the requirements of the traffic. In
short, he must secure the best economic
result from his available resources, for
the successful engineer must be an econ
omist in every sense of the term. and
there are many cases where he must APP
ply an inferior grade of material or
leave the road in a state of nature, save
only for such assistance as may be pro-
vided by drainage. VI. Hdupt,