The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1893-05-19
FIRST STEPS IN ROAD IMPROVE
MENT.

MEN L.
The Selectmen of the various towns of
Vermont are now measuring the high
ways in accordance with the provisions
of the new road law which provides that
this measurement shall be made in each
town during the month of May for the
purpose of establishing a basis for the
payment to the various towns of the
monies realized from the State road tax.
In many parts of the State this work has
been hindered by the backward spring
and the bad condition of the highways,
and the chances are that the Selectmen
of not few towns will be compelled to
call upon the Secretary of State for an
extension of time for the performance of
this duty.
The measuring of the highways is one
of the first steps under the new law
whose operation it is hoped will usher
in new era of road improvement in the
Green Mountain State Inasmuch as the
amount of money which each town is to
receive under this law will depend upon
the manner in which the Selectmen per-
form their work in measuring the roads,
it is safe to say that this part of the law
will be generally complied with and this
part of the work will be thoroughly
done. Now if the actual labor of i'm
proving the highways in every town in
The State can be done so promptly and
as efficiently as is the preparation for re-
ceiving the funds from the State road
tax the new law will be an unqualified
and gratifying success.
In this connection it may be of service
to consider some of the features of prac-
tical road making. 1t will be remem-
bered that several correspondents of the
Free Press have taken the ground that
good gravel roads were the most practi-
cal in this State, but it seems that this
has not been found to be the case in 9th
er States. For instance, in the current
Engineering Magazine, Mr.. W. E. Nc
Clintock of the Massachusetts Highway
Commission, in an article strikingly re-
plete with practical suggestions, writes
as follows in relation to the use of
gra eel in road-making:
where there is any great amount of
heavy travel, gravel does not constitute
an economical road. The first cost is
less, but the repairs necessary to keep
the surface even and smooth will bring
the annual cost to much higher figure
thar would be the case if broken stone
were used. The general principles of
broken stone roads are the same now as
they were when Macadam first intro
duced a system in the construction of
such roads. With modern machinery
for breaking and rolling we can obtain
better results in quicker time, and less
care has to be exercised in watching the
road as it hardens. Many roads are built
in the United States with but four
inches of broken stone, which have with
stood the wear of several years; but the
greatest care has to be used in every de-
tail of the construction. These roads
have been constructed for the most part
on foundation of sandy loan, but none
that am aware of on clay OF heavy soil.
| The soil was first conpacted by rolling,
the crown conforming to that of the
finished roadway. On the prepared
foundation the broken stone was laid
about four and a halfIinches thick. This
was lightly rolled by passing the steam
roller four times over it. Sand was then
carefully spread over the surface as the
| roller passed back and forth until the
interspaces were thoroughly filled to the
| tops of the stone. About one inch of
broken stone screenings which had
passed through half-inch screen were
J then laid on, watered and thoroughly
rolled until the surface became even and
| firm'
Where town has means at its COM
mand to use more than four inches of
broken stone in the construction of per-
manent roadways it is undoubtedly bet
ter to do so. Many towns in Vermont
will undoubtedly be obliged to content
themselves with roads made with gravel
and possibly even poorer material for
some time to come, but it is well to keep
firmly in mind the fact that the best
roads are the most permanent and the
cheapest in the end and the possession
of such roads is what every town should
aim at.-Free Press