The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1892-12-09
How 10 TRzAT oiRT ROADS


Proper ninngc u 81 PARAMOUNT ~"
port:.nce in Their Maintenance.
By dirt roads is meant those roads
which ara formed OF the natural soil
founl il the line Of the roadway. They
M, 80 common rs 10 be almost our only
road outside Of town and city limits ard
will for many years he used largely IN
country districts, and especially on the
lines If crossroads which connect the
main hiraways. Dirt roads at their
best are greatly inferior to macadam /
ard tofora roads in every essential
IT 4 GOOD bility, cost OF I
maintenance, drainage. tractive quah-
ties and IL many localities III point OF
economy also. But the dirt road Is here,
and the public hand must be directed 10
its treatment The first and most I'M
rortaut thing necessary for the mann
tenarce Of a dirt road may be stated III
n single word-drainagc. IL Is the one
thing that con mother be dispensed with
nor neglected. Most dirt Is soluble ana
Is easily displaced under the softening
influence Of rain. and this process Is
fastened in the dirt road by the passing
of heavy warons over the wet surface.
In providing for the drainage OF DIRT
road we should first consider APE ma
terial of which tho roadway isscom-
nosed. IL n heavy, yiscous clay pre-
dominates the ordinary side bitches
should be OF good depth, and Will even
then in many cases be inadequate for
thorough drainage without the addition
Of a center drain running midway be-
tween and parallel with the side bitches.
The center drain should Of course be
filed with loose, irregular powders,
cobblestones. broken bricks or similrr
filing. covering u line OF tiles or las
cines at the bottom. and should be con-
nected with the side bitches by cross
drains carrying the water outward from
the center drain at proper intervals
along the length Of the roadway.
! In locations where the prevailing MA
terial is of a loose sandy nature the diffi-
entities of drainage are more easily over
come. and side bitches, if found neces-
sarv at all. I,lay be made OF moderate
de,jtn and left open without mourning
the risks and dangers Of travel that pre-
vail where the deeper open bitches az
used for draining heavier soils. But on
the other hand, the light and shifting
I nature of sandy road material destro
its value as surface layer for an ear. n
4 roadway. aud its efficiency in this re-
spect Is most easily remedied by the adj
4 dition Of a stronger and more tenacious
{ substance, such a. stiff clay.
When mixed with sand in proper
a proportions (which in each case depends
Z mon the nature cf the clay and sand
> used. and which can best be determined
!, by experiment.. this composition affords
!. many advantages which make it supo-
!. rior to roadway composed OF either
| sand or clay when used alone The
4 sand serves to quicken the drainage and
to destroy the sticky, tenacious qualities
+ of the clay. while the clay supplies the
Qualities of cohesion in the substance OF
the road surface, counteracting thu
shifting qualities Of the sand and max
ing the roadway more easily packed ant
II rolled, and more likely TO retain IT
4 proper grade and slope.
Y Every day it is becoming more firml.
I established that good road roller is tn
q most valuable piece of machinery EN-
I ployed in the roadmaker's art, and III
y deed without it neither can the founda
Z ton nor subsoil Of the roadway be mad
= uniformly hard and reliable, nor tn
surface layer he given that uniform
= compactness and solidity which give ea
a cellence to the road and insure pei
10 pe,ual economy in the cost of maint'
10 nance and repairs. In using the roller
IN actual work the depressions and sol
IS. spots are carefully filled and brought I
10 the line of the required grade, while tn
ut successive passing Of the heavy role
I'll over the filing gives to the entire roa
Il that form and consistency which are :
III essential to every good highway.
" Potter in Century.