The Manitowoc pilot. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1859-1932, 1892-01-28
BUILDING ROADS.
Some Sug ggestions for Constructing De-
sirable Highways.

/ sirab'e Highways.
Water is the worst enemy 30 good
roads. rites Professor William Saund-
ers. Government Landscape Gardener.
II is therefore leading principle in
road-makiny so 10 construct them that
| they may be kept dry. III absence of
a timely recognition OF this principle,
many costly roads have proved to be
! failures; but where it has had prom
! inent recognition auti its value has
been properly appreciated, good roads
| nave bccu made at trillng expense.
After locating the road aud marking
! out its course the sides should be
brought to the proper grade and I'm
+! ished by layer OF sod : guide To
| further operations. In crossing Il
| sl0Ding surface it is not necessary to
| have both sides perfectly level. hut
| the nearer this can be secured with
| due regard to getting rid Of surface
! water, the better it uli admit Of neat
| finish and more easily viii it be kept
| III repair.
| The roadbcd is then formed by ex-
| cavating and removing the soil to
| depth Of SIX inches at the sides. curv-
ing slightly higher i'll the center, and
made perfectly smooth by rolling.
producing Il uniform surface upon
winch the material of the road is 10 be
placed
The best stone for road metal is
Tough granite Hard. brittle stone is
more readily reduced by pressure, but
i'll a we'll kept road this difference is
not 80 important. 1t is however, all
81 oh Lao
brokeA small. The largest should
pass easily through u lwo-inch ring.
and if ouc, half of them are small
enough to pass through ring of only
one inch in diameter the road will
ultimately become all the more COM
pact.
The road should be filled with this
broken stone to a level with the sides,
increasing in depth toward the center
ri TIE rate Of one inch To the yard.
Thus Il road sixteen feet in width
would have depth Of about nine
inches in the center. The utmost care
saouid be applied 10 regulating the
surface and the smaller stones should
he used on top. i'll order TO secure an
even. compact, carefully nodded grade,
VhIca should be compressed by re-
peatediy passing Il heavy roller over it,
Wed@ing every stone and making the
surface almost rs smooth and solid as
a pavement. 4 thin layer. not more
than one inch in thickness. of fine.
ciaycy gravel should then be evenly
distributed over the stones and the
roller again applied until the surface
becomes homogeneous, firm and close.
The surface OF the road will thus be
higher than the sodded edoings; water
will therefore pass readily from it, and
one of the main points of keeping a
good road will be secured.
I.iS will form Il lirst-class road for
ordinary carriage drives, or for all
purposes required in public parks or
private grounds, aud, if kept in good
surface by frequent rolling, so as to
prevent the forming of ruts while it is
settling, and if a facing of gravel is ap-
piled when necessary. it will perma-
nentIy fulfill all requirements of good
road.
Tie quality of the gravel deserves
notice. Wash gravel, consisting only
of sand and rounded pebbles, should
never be used. No am cunt of pressure
will render it firm, and it is the most
disa@rceable material to walk upon.
Tie best gravel is that to be found ia
banks composed of pebbles mixed with
reddish clay, and tue stones must be
small. No detail in road making is
OF so much Importance as this. If a
wagon wheel or the foot of horse
press OH one extremity of Il stone the
other end OF it will probably be Slight
y raised, allowing small PARTICLES Of
sand to fall into the creyice when the
stone is loosencd. and will roll on the
surface; hence the necessity of using
only very finely divided stones on top,
so that they will be smaller than the
pressing point, and not become de-
san9cd from leverage OF compound ac-
ti0n.
Where stone can not be convenient
IL obtained the roadhed NAV be filed
with refuse matter of many kinds. such
as coal ashes. ciinkers from furnaces
and shells. Oyster shells are plent-
ful III many places near the seaboard,
and form an admirable road: hut the
permanency as we'll as The efficiency
of these materials IN Il roadbed will
depend altogether upon the care of
surfacing with proper gravel. Where
it is impracticabe TO procure or
deemed iueXped;ent to use anv Of the
foregoing materials, an earth road
may be rendered very serviceable by
proper attention. to the leading prin-
ciple; that is. to keep it dry. In this
case, instead of cNcavatin- the road
bed slight excavations should be made
at the sides and the material spread
over the center; aud that surface mat
ter may pass to the sides more rapidly
and thoroughly Il greater convexity
may be given to the curve. In some
sections of the country cool roads are
kept up in this manner bat they are
carefully repaired whenever necessary.
aud ali ruts and tracks are filled up as
soon as they are formed TIE same
general principles apply to the forma-
tion of walks and footpaths. The
depth of the material, however. need
not exceed n few inches. 1t is GER
tain that much unnecessary expense
is frequently laid out upon mere foot
paths. A porous, grayellv or sandy
soil is in itself good walk if properly
shaped. Such walks admit of greater
conveXity than carriage roads. which
IS equivalent to saving of material.
Walks should be we'll filed up. There
is no more disagreeable object. or one
that conveys so meager an expression
as deep raw edgings to walk. look
ing as if they had been trimmed with
a plow. Walks in this condition may
be serviceable as water courses. but