The Opelousas courier., 1891-12-19
PRACTICAL ROAD BUILDING.
Some Useful Hints from a Man Who
Understands the Subject.

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Some Useful Hints from a Man Who
Understands the Subject.
A previous article told what Mr..
Thomas Nevins, of East Orange, N. j.,
thinks about the effect of improved
roads on land values. Mr.. Neyins is a
practical builder of roads as well as a
man who knows how to turn them to
account, and the facts which follow are
gathered from a conversation with him.
SNew Jersey has about as fine a sys-
tenn OF broken stone roads as there is in
the United States-in all, about 600
miles The Te1ford plan has been
adopted and, I think, has proved its
supefiority over the Macadam system.
THefatter, you know, consists Of merely
spreading broken stone On an earth
foundation. This would be all right if
d were not for frost and rain. But
when the road has been well soaked by
q heavy rain, or when a lively thaw
follows a heavy frost, the foundation is
sure to soften and let the surface stones
siaR into it. Then repairs have to be
made sBputting on more broken stonG
The next year the frost and rain do their
work again and more broken stone must
b9applied. This is kept up until enough
stone has been sunk in the road to make
firm foundation, when a good road is
obtained. The Telford system includes
asoIid stone foundationin the first place
and thus requires fewer repairs and
really costs less in the end.
"What is the average cost Of a well
built Telford road? Well, say from so
cents to $1.25 per square yard. Thecost
depends, of course, largely upon how
near the building materials are to the
scene of operations.
ga road sixteen feet wide is about
right for most farming communities.
That allows plenty of oom for big loads
of hay, ETC., to pass each otllera and allows
for the increased traffic which is sure to
come with the added prosperity brought
to q community by road improvement.
A road sixteen feet wide and twelve
inches deep costs on the average about
$4,000 a mile. A road six inches deep
can be built for $4,000 a mile, but the
1900 a mile saved in first cost is more
than made up for by added cost for re-
pairs and the great difference in en-
durance.
"This question of repairs, by the
way, is one that ought never to be over
looked, 1t should be considered as care,
fully as the building of the roads in the
first place. No matter how well you
build your roads, they will go to pieces
in a comparatively short time if left to
take care of themselves. On the other
hand, If they are intelligently cared for
they will last pretty nearly forever. The
best way to do this, it seems to me, is
for a community to advertise for bids
for repairing its roads for a long term of
years-ten anyway. The contract should
be carefully drawn up, with explicit
specifications, and awarded, of course. to
the lowest bidder. Among the proyis-
ions should be one providing that in S
the contractor fails at any time to keep
any given mile of road in good condi-
ton, IS per contract, he shall forfeit
the pay for repairing that mile for the
entire quarter during which the offense
occurs Then inspectors should be APP
pointed to carefully examine the roads
every month or two. These inspectors
should have no regular time of visitation,
but should visit different sections of the
roads at irregular and unexpected times,
thus acting as a wholesome check on the
contractor. These inspectors should, in
my opinion, be in the pay of the state.
The Importance of making long repair
is easily explained. The say
"A stitch in time saves nine APP
plies to roads as well as to anything !
else. One load of stone, If put on the
road as o as the need for it becomes
apparent, will go further than six loads
would after a few months delay. Con-
tractors will recognize this fact and see
to it that the roads are kept in first class
condition all the time. providing their
contracts run long enough to make them
The losers from delay.
sit is fair to estimate the cost of re
pairs on a good Telford road at about
BOO a mile per year. And 300 couldn't
be better invested than in keeping a mile
If good road in repair. Union county.
N. J., has sixty-six miles of Telford and
Il costs $4,000 q year to keep it in repair.
Summit, m. r., there are twenty-five
niles of dirt road and it costs Sc, 900 a
rear to throw dirt on them and keen
hem in a state Of sticky, rutty, muddy
md dusty impassableness, Summitcould
put down eight-foot wide macadam and
Keep it in repair for twenty-five years
or what she pays for keeping up her dis
equitable dirt roads. This will apply
more or less exactly to every other place
hat clings to the old mud holes and
,ravel ridges and calls them roads.
eyes, I am in favor of convict labor
n the roads, but it must be well direct
d. / have had mel working as fore
men for me for twenty years whom |
wouldn't trust to take charge of build
ng a road. It's better to get a high
man to direct operations and
ave a good road as the result than it is
D get a cheap man and have d poor
Dad.
Briefly, my idea Of how to build d
God Telford road is about this. The
should be eight inches deep
nd should consist Of well sledged and
oint broken stone, set on edge, with the
lat edge down to give a good bearing
urface. On this should come three
inches of three inch broken stone of
God quality, clean and of a uniform de-
rec of resistance. Next, there should
ONE a layer of inch and a half broken
tone, and a small amount of pure, red
for binding material. Al half inch
{ stone screenings or screened gravel on
will make the road ready for the