The sun. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1833-1916, 1893-07-02
HOW FRANCE BUILDS ROADS.
HIGHWAYS hROUND 81. ETIENNE,
HATRE, MhRsEIJLKS, RHEIMS

Advantage or Instant and Minute Repair
The French road system OF to-day was
founded by the first Napoleon and finished by
tho third.
During the last dozen years no important
now roads have been opened. and few new
roads OF any kind. the work now required boz
ing to keep UP the network already laid out
This splendid system OF highways has raised
the value OF lands and contributed to the ma
tional wealth by putting peasant proprietors In
easy communication with their markets
Typical French roads OF tho highest class
are those In the departments OF the Loire and
the lsere. In the 1sere are perpetua!ly snow
clad Alps. IL. 600 feet high. and furious glacial
torrents descend upon the roads now and
then. Commercial Agent Looms OF st. Etienne
says he has seen, after q summer rain of
thirty-six hours. fifty yards OF national road.
including a small bridge. washed away by
torrent from handicapped Ice field. with an
almost vertical fall Of 1000 feet. and yet has
found the road repaired and made passablo
within three hours by the road men In that
remote region.
Thorough construction. vigilant watching.
and prompt repair are the secrets OF French
success with roads. They are OF three kinds,
national, department and township. Tho
general rule In rural districts, Is to sacrifice
the straight line in order to follow tho valleys
where this is required. Side drainage is pro-
vlded for. and tho road. OF COURSE Is highest In
the middle. tho sides sloping transversely
about an inch to tho yard.
Matchmaking is the rule OF con instruction, OK
cept for tho towns. and the layer OF broken
stones is usually placed directly on the beaten
ground. though sometimes . layer Of sand or
stones intervenes to help the drainage To the
removal OF old material. worn and wasted BY
AtNv,
their roads are finished they are carefully
roll ed by the com pressor. which consists OF one
or two heavy cylinders drawn by horses or
propelled by steam. For nearly half century
the French engineers have generally used on
roadways built for heavy traffic basaltic rock
where it can be had near by. Its cost Is about
$1,000 for the amount usod on q mile Of road,
and Mr.. Loomis says that 1t Is not only far
better but about 80 per cent cheaper than the
crushed granite formerly SO much employed.
The cost of constructing o paved roadway
Mr.. Loomis puts at $2.35 per square metre.
with cents year for repair. or. on macada-
mixed road. from to 10 cents. Keeping In
mind that kilometre is six-tenths Of q mile.
we learn that the average cost Of building
road per kilometre is $500. the valley roads
costing about $4,000 and those in the noun
tains $4,000 The annual cost OF repair is
81. 40 per kilometre. while that OF street paw
ing per square metro is $2.43. Those small
estimates for fine roads are largely due to tho
cheapness Of labor in France. on ordinary
work man getting SO cents day: q man and
horse costing S1.55 per day: foreman. $50
per month: q supervisor. $500 per year: an
engineer. $1,000. and a head engineer $4,000.
Durability. eveEness. and cleanliness are tho
attributes which Consul Knowles OF Bordeaux
aseribes to the French roads OF his district.
rnUQai
nenees or depressions jar the nerves 90, Of the
or Ill care. They are immense garden paths:
amid Of erdprG and
substances. Each piece.m ust be abio To- pass
the layer is put down Smaller pieess fiji in the
ipterstices, and then comes to rolling with tho
the bepart@ent t'a 81 the af Gironde The i'm
hahitants Of the district, as a, whole
iseh aSss
days each year or furnish money equivalent
the latter Sens at two for
cart; while day is reckon at ten hours Of la-
DG5 and beast Of IL
with the ordinary eobhlestones. resting on q
snd sfs in ensi
sad and afP5h ii to When
money is appropriated for road building con-
widows and orphans Of those who are fatally
injured While is, working on tIe soadwa N.,.
Fenek 10 roads Is largely das to
the trifing DAMAGE caused by frost IN France
WITH that Msn6n bes1
made Of tho fact thst the finch coating Of
broke stone forming the body OF the French
SOIL But s sues eenssruetion as S g. % Win
OF Havre notes. would neither Withstand the
QharT mr. Nfl dAd un nuin
sS Ss Sesih Winter Mr. W afHha as
Very much better constructed than are those os
Of France all classes being considered" but
those Of France increase In excellence with
age" And besides her broader tires and
ment in the superiority OF France is that all
roads have perpetual attention e,, there When
Fss ed ape
Then. as 70 tires. Consul Knowles we'll MAKES n
% nj H. IL lss S.a;s
Ioarwheeled freight used the tires rarely
longer than The forr SO that the rear or hind Whess
IN IN men s ns q III. w n'
road width Is well rol ed by every passing The
ly over q bad road. but the broad tire helps to
prevent the road from becoming bad. We are
also at n disadvantage from the greater cost
q roads here. both in material and labor.
Each Of these cost, perhaps double as much.
while double the depth OF material must be
used with our frosts and tires. Hence 1t is not
surprising II our roads cost eight times as
much as those OF France. when equally good.
An important hint 10 also given by Mr.. Will
liams in noting that whereas In Europe farm
ponds are placed no as to catch surface water,
and every spring is confined and utilized:
American owners OF lands AUDITING on the
highways.
Consul Trail OF Marseiles says tho annual
cost OF maintaining the roads outside OF the
city in the department des touches du Rhone.
which 10 about the size Of Delaware, is S45U.-
900. The material is taken near at hand.
being preferred. The highways arc
paved. II very heavy. or where macadamiziug
will not do. as. for example when 1t wears
rapidly into dust. which is blown away under
he action OF violent and continuous winds
In Marsei les the streets OF heavy traffic are
paved with porphyry Mt n cost OF So to $50
yer square yard including material and labor.
IL makes hard pavement but Lecomes too
SIN Doth. and this can only nurtlY be OhYiated