Clinch Valley news. [volume] (Jeffersonville, Va.) 18??-2019, 1891-06-05
COUNTRY ROADS.
THE IMPROVEMENTS RURAL
THOROUGHFARES NEED.
lMacadam and Telford tho Great
Scientific OBSERVATION-DISCLOSURES
Fine Systematic Ancient Iso-
man Mcthod-Niodcrn Needs.

toadways is that in France and there. too.
perhaps are found the best roads in the
world. The French Minister of Public
Works has charge of all ronds, and these
ire administered by n special department
md council Of which the Minister is
PRESIDENT. There is staff of six hun
ired engineers and inspecthrs and two
thousand inferior officials. The depart
nent also has school of roads aud
bridges for the education of engineers.
The roads are national, departmental,
military and vicinal. The national roads
ire maintained entirely by the national
treasury. There are twenty-five thou
land miles of these. The vicinal or cross
roads are maintained chiefly at the cost
81 tie communes, but under national
administration. On these roads there are
constantly employed fifty thousand work.
men and thousand ovcrseers. What
contrast this is to our happy-go-lucky
method OF working out taxes on the
'oads2
Switzerland, too. is famous for excel
ent roads, which are mainly cantonal.
corresponding to State roads here. Oc-
:asionally, however, cantops have united
IN some difficult work of construction,
Of the three greatest Republics of the
world the United States is the only coun-
'ry which has no decent system of COM
non roads.
The roads in England and Scotland
are, as rule, very good. They were
formerly, however, most wretched.
L. With the exception that our common
\ roads are now supplemented by railways
we are to-day where England was two
hundred years ago. England met the
difficulty by the establishment of turn
pixies with tolls, and thirty thousand
miles of these roads had been built from
l710 to- 1880. The turnpike system does
not seem to be what we want in America,
even though with it we might have good
roads.
The earliest roads about which any,
thing definite is known are those of an
Gent Rome. One of the oldest of these,
and the most celebrated for the grandeur
OF Its worSs-the Appian Way-was be-
gun in 312 B. G. Roman roads are re-
markable for preserving straight course
from point to point regardless of oh.
staclcs which might have been easily
avoid. In solidity of construction they
have never been exccllcd, and many of
them still remain, often forming the
foundation for modern road, and in
some instances constituting the road sur
face now used.
This allusion to the Roman method of
road building has not been made in the
h,pe that it will be initiated in America.
There are other aud cheaper methods,
which, if employed, would give us all we
could desire. These two systems are
known as the Tclford and Macadam.
The name of TelfoTd is associated with
pitched foundation, which is always
desirable for road that is subject to
heavy traffic. 1t consists of fiat stones
set on edge in courses across the road,
with the broadest edge downward. The
upper edges should not exceed four
inches in breadth to hold the broken
stone well. All Irregularities must be
Knocked off, and small stones and chips
must be firmly pinned into the inter
stices with hammer, so as to form
regular convex surface, with every stone
firmly fixed in place. The thickness of
the pitching is generally six or seven
inches; it should not be less than four,
and it may generally be thicker without
any sensible increase of cost. AT least
four inches OF broken stone are required
over the pitched foundation, and when
consolidated six inches are always suffi-
cient. Tclford, i. will be seen, paid
most particular attention to foundations.
Macadam, the other great scientific
road builder, differed from Telford in
regard to foundations. lie maintained
that if there were good drainagc-Tel-
ford insisted upon good drainage, too.
that the subsoil, however bad, would
carry any weight that could be placed
upon it, if it were made dry by drainage
and kept dry By IN iinpervioas covering.
Either of these roads answers the pur-
pose very well, though the Tclford-the
most costly Of the two-wjll unquestion-
ably last the longer and better withstand
any accidental periods of neglect.
The name Macadam is sadly mis-
applied to roads in this country. ANY
road upon which metal has been placed
is said to have been macadamized. But
it will have been seen that Macadam in
sisted on perfect drainage of the subsoil
and such complete consolidation of the
: stone covering that neither water nor
NauPuSss Couiu Bct through II.
What we need in this country is com
prehcnsive system of roads such as these.
The country people cannot build them.
If they had the inclination they have not
tle means, and even if they happened to
have the means they have not the knowl-
edge and skill required to do such work
properly.
1t takes as much if not more, skill to
locate common highway than it does to
locate railway line. A railway line
only needs to be accessible ct the various
stations, and these are usually chosen
after the line has been located with
refereace to the general Typographical
features of the country. A common
highway, however, must be accessible
from every farm on either side for its
entire length. 1t therefore requires en-
lightened skill to lay out highway, even
in the country. The old fashion of fol-