The Jasper weekly courier. [volume] (Jasper, Ind.) 1858-1922, 1893-02-24
CLAY ANo SAND.
NTH Proper Drainage This Com
~s.Le. n Firm and Durable lsosd.

NTH Proper Draihnx0 80.
Makes n Firm and Durable H"so'
Hon. VI. w. Thornton OF Mercer cou'',
~ Ms. ia veteran in tho war 10. soo'
roads. For more than 80 years nc n'S
,.hored with voice and pen for the I'M
orovement Of country highways, ana ms
vide experience has led him to devise
80, Co.. road work which the builders
20 the roads across the prairies. where
..,a,ar;a, IL scarce, will do well to invess'-
gate. He says:
Eron 1851 to 1858. having in charge
tho construction OF railroad ue'wec"
Savannah and Warsaw. Ills, mao oc-
casion 10 make many trips between thoso
ro;p.s in company with civil engineer.
The subject Of the Improvement OF tie
roaas we traye ed was frequently dis-
cussed. The distance Is about 10Y niiies
and most Of the way near the MISSISSIPPI
many miles being al sand. "A rev ni'eS
In the vicinity Of Nauvoo stone Is apuh-
dant. but the greater portion OF Inc a's'
lance is pure illinois soil
In winter or wet weather the sanu
r,aIs a good road. but in hot, dry wealth
~ n became very heavy. When SAND
was Incorporated with the soil. as Is
oftan the case between sand DRIFTS ana
other localities. there was passaoiy
GOOD road at all seasons. SAND IN niany
localities in combination with clay pre-
nared I'm the long ago" has gwen man
n Foundation for roadway that 10 al
WAYS in repair and always good at TO ex-
pense to any one.
In these 10 years CT my Journoyins
over the prairies Of Illinois ! Decanl'
fully convinced that drainage IN SONY
way with the use of sand in comblnaao,
with the soil Of the prairies would ten'
very much toward the Improvements
the roads. Tho clay roadbed we nave
II "a q fixture. It has come to stay
with sand it may be utilized in drainage
Gravel or broken stone is a poor subs1'
t,,ta for sand to be incorporated VII
the CLAW roadbed. Except for water tn
roads would always be good. ihorous
drainage is therefore the cure.
fsand is most convenient and cheape
than gravel or broken store. put dow
t;l;ny IN the center Of the roadbed
feet below the surface, the arr oisPla.,
in thing is distributed evenly over u
roadbed. first 6 inches next to ire t,iAi
filled with the soil Of roadbed 10 no
the sand above with which the relAalnii
q feet of the ditch il filed A coating
sand G or inches in depth ana rect
width is placed ON the center OF the roa
leaving G or 4 feet on either side OF u
track for dry weather road.
The theory is that continued ra'
would soon put the central track IN
and incorporate the sand with the s.
thereby facilitating drainage OF the 8
fore water into the sand or gravel o
The filing. thus securing continued
permanent drainage. This coatlng
sand may be repeated so as to be "a
oughly incorporated with the coadn
The sand mixed with the soil renders
roadbed porous in proportion 10
quantity Of sand in combination VIII
No material is better than gravei
brolen stone for filing the ditch ab
tho lilo. it drains more readily Z
sand and is preferable in all respects
| cent TO con. binc with clay to max
norons. All three are very useful
| necessary in the construction OF
| road. Availability and cost OF mate
decide which shall be used in diffc
4 localities.
a well drained roadbed by this ne'
requires a less quantity OF at least
half Of sard and gravel or broken 8
than any method heretofore presen''
the public II will take II to ysr'
the above TO fill the ditch per ROD a
the thing. and about the same aIn
"a a coating on the central track
Roads.