Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1892-06-30

that should he of particular interest to u
all. OF late number of articles have
appeared on the subject, illustrating the
beaut' es Of drive around Lake MENDOZA
This will be great addition TO the many
advantages of our city, and will De So
much doae towards making our city, whaI
it will certainly be, noted summer resort
The adv ntages of this move are SO well
described in a numter Of newspaper art
Giles, with which nearly every one is IA
mlliaz and leave but little to be said j.
that direction. The promoters Of this
work have baen very liberal by donating
the necessary land and will do the work
through their own property, the public S
asked to do but small portion of tn
whole and it is hoped that ever! one viii
contribute to the effort. The final que.
ton is: what is the best plan and the bss
material to build good road?
From, some remarks On road building Ii
would almost appear as though road
making was among the lost arts or that it
was a great secret known to but few, and
yet, when the subject is spoken of, every
one will suggest plan which is the best
Of all. Now | intend to give away the
whole secret. Whatever you build your
roads Of, make your roadbed impervious
to water ard you will have a road as per
manent as the material Of which it is
constructed. will speak only Of macadam
roads, as these are the kind we will be
obliged to use on account of circumstances.
There are various ways in which these
can be construct ed but on the whole Il
amounts to covering the roadbed or a por-
ton Of the same with broken stone and
c0mpactlng the same with severe rolling
with heavy rollers.
Nearly all the specifications which I
have seen ere faulty in one important
respect. They advise that, after the stone
has been spread to the required depth, the
stone should be thoroughly wetted b.
sprinkler Or hose and then rolled down.
after which fine screenings are to be sea- %
tered over the surface, wetted and again
rolled. From my observation | know that
it is right here that the destruction of Tx
road begins. The water passes through
the stone and vets and softens the clay
below, and the resulting mud is forced up
through the stone when the roller is az
piled, and instead of stone road there is
mixture Of stone and mud, which will
soften and break up at every subsequent
wetting. Ny experience, with satisfac
ton IN every case, has been to first grade
the road bed in the middle. This should
be rolled hard, but not wetted unless COW
cred with dry dust ard only sufficient 10
lay the dust; then put on the broken stone
and shape the surface with a good crown
IN the center, after which put on screen
ings until the same no longer sift down.
which indicates that all the interstices are
filed. Now spread a coatina of screen
ings over the surface and use plenty OF
water while rolling and continue the roll
ing until the surface is sound and solid.
The rolling is completed only when the
roller will crash a fragment Of stone laid
on the surface without making an i'm
preston.
As to material, if the covering is put On
IN two courses or layers, as it may be done
With economy, the first or lower layer may
be an inferior quality of stone of irregular
sizes and bonded and rolled as before men
toned; the top layer should be of hard
stone nearly uniform in size. All stone
except hard frica5e lime stone should be
seasoned before being crushed; otherwise.
while being crushed into fragments, every
part OF the stone is injured to some extent
and will disintegrate under the roller and
wear out rapidly under future trafice. It
is In this respect that stone broken with a
hammer is superior to crushed lock; here
each piece is sound as far as the nature Of
VIC L4dtCL4di is COuCEIUGU,
With regards to the amount of screen
mgs required, | found that q measure of
broken stone shaken closely together.
would hold about forty per cent. of water
in the inJerstices, so that this amount,
less the amount crushed by the roller
would be required to mako solid road,
Impervlous to water and as durable as the
material used in construction. The shape
Of the cross section is a matter of great
Importance, too often the surface section
is made a segment Of circle.
here we will find the surface too steep
near the sides and const quently
increased wear, and too fat in the middle
50 as to hold water, and unless the stone
is very hard, it becomes saturated and
Softens and wears out much sooner than it
should; the cross section should be two
straight lines from the cutters to the
center with raise of one in sixteen to
one IN eighteen, such a surface will drain
Itself at all times and the road will be
more durable. For country roads width
of fourteen to sixteen teet is sufficient to
make a good driveway; the sides
OF the road should be graded so as to carry
away the rain and snow water to prevent
Its getting under the stone, in which case
1t Is sure to break up, beginning at the
sides and WORKING towards +bo oo,,.o.