Waterbury evening Democrat. [volume] (Waterbury, Conn.) 1887-1895, 1893-12-08

noise which suggests great resistance.
and if properly handled il l. easily broken
by machinery to fairly uniform size.
LimeStOues are both good and bad.
The softer limcstoneS wear rapidly. form
a good road on which mud collects and
yield rapidly TO the effects Of weather.
The upland, or mountain limr>CCI.eS. On
the other hand, are frequently we'll
adapted for Use as mad metal. They
bind quickly and make 4 smooth and
durable roadway. The rubbing and
wearing OF hmestuueS form u dust
which. when Wet btco-nes 4 sort Of NOR
tar. filling the spaccS between the pieces
Of stone and consolidating the entire
roadway into 4 solid and sometimes into
4 durable crust. Some Of the best lime
stones are found i'll the Devonian and
the older siluriau rocbS.
Granite Is generally inferior because Of
excessive tritJlencss due 10 the fcll~Iar
contained in il. but >veujtic granite Of
ten makes an excellent Rad metal.
Slndstouc> are generally inferior, but
some sandstuncs contain iron. which
hardvus and tou-hcnS ;heIn. and in ;hcs,.
exceptional cases >audSJone> may he used
10 advantage.
The construction II IuaCadam ruad
in any given locality generally involves
the Use Of material found near a; hand.
and whero a local quarry dos Isnf exist
field stone and stone gathered from the
beds OF rivers and small streams may h.
made 10 serve every purpose. Many Of
the stones and powders thus obtained
are of traprock. and il general Il may
be said that all hard field stones and
river stones, if broken 10 . proper size.
will make fairly good and sometimes
very excellent road metal.
No elaborate test i required 10 deter
mine the hardness Of any given .speci-
men. \ steel hammer in the hands Of
an intelligent workman Will reveal in a
general way the relative degree Of tough
ness of two or more pieces Of rock. Field
stone and river stone offer an additional
advantage in that they are quickly han
! died. are generally Of convenient size,
and are more readily broken either by
hand or by machine than most varieties
of rock which are quarric,i in the usual
way.
II Is a simple task 10 break stone for
maCadam roadwayS, and by the aid Of
modern inventions II can be done cheap
( " and quickly. Hand broken stone IS
| fairly out Of date and Is rarely used in
I America where any consijerablea amour:
/ Of work Is IL be undertaken Stone may
be broken by hand 1t different points
| along the roadside. where repairs arc
needed from time 10 time, and by Grim
! inals confined in Ttnal institutions. WIG
/ could not BE- otherwise protitably CIl
| ploycl. Int the extra cost Of production
by this method furblds its being carried
ON where extended work Is undertaken
Hand broken stone Is generally mor'
uniform in size. more nearly cuhical II
shape and has sharper angles than that
broken by machine and Is undoubtedly
superior to the machine made road met
al. but the latter when I:npcrly assorted
or screened has been found to meet
every requirement..
In breaking 10y hand two >Icrl face,
hammers ri different weights are used
One weighing from five Ia SIX pounds is
used for sl,1i-iu- the bowlderS and laTE,
pieces into smaller sizes. and the other
small steel faced hammer wcishIu-
about one pound and having 4 stron-
flexible handle. Is used for breaking til,
stones into proper size for uSe on th'
road. In breaking by hand a skilled Ia
bOrer will break from uue-half a cub,
ward To- three or four cubic yariS l,''
dav, according 10 the skill of the work
man and the touEhneSS Of the stonc.
American stone CrrShers are now USE
in all parts OF the civilized world They
present a considerable variety in design
size. cost and capacity. \ good CrU>llrI
driven by eight horsepower will turn ON
from 40 to ~ cubic wards of two inch
stone per day Of 10 hours and will co.'s
from 800 upward. according to quality
Good Roads.