Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1892-09-09

enGineer-in-chief. who has the direction
and responsibility of maintaining such
portions of the national roads ifs lie
within that department He is MEM
Der of the corps of engineers of bridges
and roads, and is also placed in charge
Of some other engineering work in that
department, such as Railways or river
and harbor improvements. Sometimes
he is also in charge of departmental
roads and in Il few eases of the county
roads. Under him are several arron-
basement engineers, who have charge
Of the work in certain sections Of the
department, There they direct the re-
pairs according to the general plans of
their chief, but at the Salur time arc
allowed considerable liberty to display
their originality. rh il duties REQUIRE
them TO carefully inspect every road
Contided to their care at least four times
Il year. Below them are the conductors
or assistant engineers Each has n sub
division of such length that he is ahlo
&c inspect it in detail twice each month.
to the other requirements of the service
with which the chief is charged, irclud-
me- bridges, railways, canals. rivers and
harborS. The subdivision usually com
priScS % tC 90 miles of read. according
to their distribution and the difficulties
attending thCir maintenance. The con
duclor gives orders to the foreman Of
their work, and has charge of the tlnan-
rial accounts. Where there is much
work to be done, the conductor IS aided
by Il second assistant engineer. This is
the grade of the younger engineers.
who have charge of the draughting and
clerical work III the chief cnginccr'S of
flee, and also assist i'll outdoor work
when there is Il press of it, They are
promoted from this grade as vacancies
occur i'll the higher ranks and they arc
able to pass the necessary eNamiua-
tons
Under the conductor and second u.s.
siStant engineers como the road labor
erS. They are divided into gangs of
i've OF six, each gang Icing in charge
of Il foreman chosen from their number.
Eacl. laborrr has charge OF Il length OF
road varying from I IA to > II mites.
depending upon the condition of the
road, the amount of traffic, ana The,
method of maintenance If there is l0
be WClk that will require extra lahorcrss
for q considerable length of time, an
othrr road gang is organized so that thl,
work will be done by regular hands
The foreman has charge of Il shorter
division than the others, in order that
he may have time to inspect their work.
The road laborer is upon the road from
D Il. m. to I p. III. in summer and from
sunrise to sunset in winter.
The duties Of these laborcrS are az
follows: 70 keep the cutters clear So
that water flows freely; to Scrapc Off
the mud IL wet w ,athCr and sweep off
the drGst in dry, so that the read is III
ways clean: to clean off the Su0;v rs far
as possible break up ice on the road
and i'll the cutters during the winter: to
pick up. break and pile I'LL loose stone
into regular heaps at the roadside
ready for use in repairing the rutS and
holes: to keep the mile posts in good
order, and to take care of the trees
along til" road. They are furnished
with Il book, in which are noted their
names. the nature Of thC work on which
they are engaged and the Instructions
they receive" \ series of fines AMI re-
wards tends 10 increase the zeal of the
men.
This system, while employed through
ont France for the maintenance of the
national roads. is employed in but ~ of
the - departments for I'LL the other
roads. In three departments the en-
gincci-in-chi"f has the direction of Ill
the work, but has under him different
corps of engineers to work on the
county highways. In 81 Of the depart
mcntS commissioner appointed by til,
minister of the interior has charge or
The county roads, and under him are
commissioners in the ACCOMPLISHMENTS
and cant' rs who are appointed by the
project of TIL department.
As now constructed the French roads
hay" til" following points in common
A macadam rOad-hcd from - to u feet
wide about 6 inches thick and having Il
crown Of | in 30; Il pathway ON each
sid" from ; ID to I - feet wide. ana
generally raised ; or 6 inches above the
gutter. in which case The latter is paved
with pitching fer a width of three feet
In cas-" tn" pathways ar" not raised
above thr roadway there are no gut
tors, but the wafer drains at2O&S the
paths into tho bitches on either side
These bitches are usually square in sec
ton, about | 10 feet deep. ana ar
ranged in falls on steep grades