The record-union., 1893-09-22
GRADES oF ROADS.

gravel can be made to give 1alrly salts
factory results.
GRADES OF ROADS.
Many Of the older roads of our country
were laid out with grades far in excess of
what should have been allowed. When the
abutting property had been improved to
any great extent, these hills cannot be re-
| duced without great cost for damages,
in addition to the outlay for Surfacing.
! In such cases the road way will have
to be improved on practically the old
grade. Ii this should exceed five or six
feet to the hundred, the wear from sur
| face water will be great and much diff
Guilty will be experienced in obtaining
road which will quickly divert the
water into the side cutters without pro-
ducing ruts or gulleys. If the natural
soil be sandy, it can be covered with
thin layer from four to six inches thick
of clay or sandy clay, having crown of
about one inch to the foot. On this clay
| lay coating a fairly coarse gravel about
two inches thick. Under the action of
rain and traffic the gravel will be grad
ually worked into the clay, until a COM
pact, even mixture is had, which will
Withstand the wash of water very we'll.
Ruts will work ruin to any hill road
| Therefore, as the ruts begin to show in
new road, they should be filled in by
moving the surplus material at the sides
| into them.
THE BRoKEN-sToNE ROAD THE BEST.
Unquestionably, the most economical
road to build is one made of broken
stone, if the stone can be found at a rea-
sonable distance. 1t is prevailing be-
lief amongst men with no experience that
any kind of stone is suited to road build
ing, and that it may be applied in any
manner.
The same custom prevailed before Mac
adam's time; and then, as we'll as now,
there were many failures from this cause,
and an immense waste of money.
If we recall what has already been said
about the roadway constituting a roof
over the foundation, we can readily see
that large stones thrown at random into
a wet soil will not lie close together; the
mud in which they rest will be pressed
upward by the weight of the superin-
cumbent material until the stones cease
to be of value on account OF the mass of
mud on top.
| TOP AND BOTTOM STONE.
On the other hand, if the stones at the
bottom be large and carefully laid to
practically cover the ground, leaving
| only small spaces, and if these spaces be
| filled as for as possible by smaller stones,
| then a pavement is provided through
which the mud cannot press upward, and
the stones will remain where they are
| uTSb WuIl0 Tile IOdu Will De
good and durable. These large stones
will afford not only a good foundation,
! but the small interspaces will act as an
underdrain to. the roadway. 1t is to be
borne in mind that under such condi-
tionS free outlet must be furnished, or the
result will be the reverse of what was ex-
pected, as the water will stand about the
stone and soften the ground so as to rem
der it unit for foundation. Oversize
] top of a foundation SO prepared may be
| laid either gravel, as before described, or
! broken stone. If broken stone is to be
used. it should be laid on in layers, with
fragments of nearly equal sizes. the larger
bits at the bottom and the smaller ones
on top.
THE SUBSTRUCTURE STONE.
What is usually used for such purposes
is stone at the bottom. which has passed
through a two-and-a-half-inch screen and
not through one-inch. On this is placed
a layer which has passed through a one
| inch screen and not through a quarter or
three-eighths-inch screen. The whole
surface is then covered by layer of fine
screenings about one inch thick, which
have passed through quarter or three
eighths-inch screen. This stone should
| be thoroughly compacted by a heavy
roller, each layer by itself, before the
next layer is spread on. The dust would
better be watered as well as rolled, so
as to insure its being worked in to fill ali
the interspaces in the larger stone. The
| fragments of stone should be brought as
close together as their shapes will per-
nit.
A STONE ROADWAY.
When this is done the bulk of the road
way will be OF stone, while but a small
amount of dust or '.binder'' will need to
be used. A road built in this manner
will shed water and at the same time
bear up a loaded wagon without being
rutted or wearing uneven. The small
stone on top will be slowly crushed be-
meath the wheels of passing wagons and
] furnish q constant sunplY of fresh bind