Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1891-05-15
STAUNTON, VIRGINIA, MAY Is, 1891.
SOME POINTS ON ROAD MAKING.
Practical Hints for the Constructors c
ImprOyed HIGHWAYS.

SOME POINTS ON ROAD MAKING.
Practical Hints for the Constructors OF
Improved Highways.
The following practical points have
been gathered from the essays on road
making and maintenance which were
awarded prizes or honorable mention in
the recent competition under the aus
pieces of the University of Pennsylvania
published in book form by Henry
Carey Baird 6 Co., Philadelphia:
In locating highways in hilly country
it will generally be found advantageous
to follow along water courses-a prac-
tice which is very often adopted in the
case Of railways.
In going from valley over a hill care
should be taken to avoid running down
hill If possible. The advantage of having
a road run close to quarries from which
good road metal can be obtained should
also be kept in view.
Money spent in securing good, firm,
dry roadbed will save vast amount of
trouble in attempting temaintain a good
Su11ttCC dill hccp III C1CStu.
Culverts to carry the drainage across
a road should, if possible, be made of
stone, as timber does not last long, and
the caving in of wooden culverts is a
common cause of accidents. In all cases
they should be made larger than suffi-
Gent to discharge the greatest known OF
estimated quantity of water which has
to pass through them, and their slope
should not be less than in $780,
The slopes of all cuttings or banks
should be sown with grass seed, 80 as tc
prevent their being washed away by
rain and damaged 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 allow
ed on the north and east sides Of roads
SO as to allow the sun and wind to dry
them as much as possible; this precautior
is specially necessary i'll damp or leve
places.
No sods or vegetable refuse should be
used in grading up the crown Of the roa6
Oh in filing in ruts, but the earth chosen
for that purpose should be as graveHy as
possible.
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 {
two and half inch ring make a rough
road, and do not bind well, being very
liable to tilt up under the wheels.
No road scrapings should on any &C
count be put on the new stone, as it viii
prevent it from binding, and the result
will be yielding and uneven surface.
The best time to apply the stone is
during wet weather in the spring and
fall
Captain D. Torrey estimates the extra
cost of bad roads in wear and tear Of
vehicles 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 can market
their produce at whatever time they can
get the best prices, without being de.
pendent on the weather, and that they
can also use the roads in wet weather
during the winter and spring, when they
cannot pillow, thus utilizing their horses
when they would otherwise be idle.
The continued jolting of heavy vehicles
over rough and badly kept roads strains
the horses in such a manner as to shorten
their lives, and to develop in them such
diseases as often render them unfit fol
heavy work.
Engineering News Of Feb. %, $780,
publishes a statement made by Captain
Brown, manager of Hollywood truck
farm, in Virginia, to the effect that a
pair Of horses can draw ifty-fve barrels
of produce over the roads on that farm,
which are in excellent condition, where
as on the ordinary country roads they
can only draw twelve barrels.
From tables we learn that team can
draw four times as much on a telford
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.
In a paper on "Road Drainage" by
Thomas Mace lanahan, of Monmouth
Ills., the estimate is made that for one
fourth of a year a good load can be
hauled; for another fourth two-thirds as
much, and for the remainder of the year
only half load, or only two-thirds. of a
load on ali average throughout the year.
Wherever practicable no road should
have a grade much exceeding one in
forty-four, or 1870 feet to the mile. On
such slope a horse can draw only three
rourti1s as much as on level ground. Il
is safe to trot horse down hill on ma
cadamized road of this grade On a
slope of one in twenty-four, or 22O feet
| to the mile. horse can draw only half a
! load, while on a slope of one in ten, OF
528 feet to the mile, only one-fourth as
much as on level ground; such grades
should therefore be avoided if possible.
It is estimated that in this state penn
sylvania $200,000,000 have been spent
during the last fifty years in the main
tenance Of the public road system. This
| would be at the rate Of $4,000 per
| year. This has certainly been an enor-
nous expense. The average cost to
maintain one mile Of macadam road is
ten dollars per year, while ordinary dirt
roads cost from thirty dollars to ninety
dollars per year for each mile. If 81 ,000,-
900 OF Isl 5000 could be appropriated
annually by the state and divided among
the counties it would prove Of great
value to the rural districts, and the ad-
vantages derived from improvements
carried out in this manner would be be-
You'd estimation. Such an outlay of
money would repay itself many fold in
a few years.