The Neihart herald. [volume] (Neihart, Mont.) 1890-1901, 1894-04-28
CLAY AND SAND,
With Proper Drainage Combination
Makes a Firm and Durable Road

with Proper Drainage This Combination
Makes a Firm and Durable Road.
hon. H.. w. Thornton of Mercer coun.
", Ills, IS a veteran in the wal for good
roads. For more than 80 years he has
labored with voice and pen for the i'm
provement of country highways, and his
wide experience has led him to devise a
plan for road work which the builders
OF the roads across the prairies, where
material is scarce, will do well to inyesti-
gate. He says:
From 1857 to 1868, having in charge
the construction of a railroad between
Savannah and Warsaw, Ills, ! had &C.
caslon to make many trips between those
points in company with a civil engineer.
The subject of the improvement of the
roads we Travelled was frequently dis
cussed. The distance is about 100 miles
and most Of the way near the Mississippi,
many miles being all sand. A few miles
III the vicinity of Nauvoo stone is album
dant, but the greater portion of the dis
lance is pure Illinois soil.
In winter or wet weather t,,e sand
made a good road, butt hot, dry wealth
er it became very heavy. When sand
was incorporated with the soil, rs is
often the case between sand drifts and
other localities, there was a passably
good road at all seasons. Sand in MANY
localities in combination with clay pre-.
pared Sin the long ago. has given man
a foundation for u roadway that is al
ways in repair aud always good at no ex-
pense to any one.
In these 90 years CT my journeying
over the p~rairies Of Illinois l became
fully convinced that drainage in some
way with the use of sand in combination
with the soil of the prairics would tend
very much toward the improvement of
the roads. The clay roadbcd we have.
1t is a fixture. 1t has come to stay,
With sand it may be utilized in drainage.
Gravel or broken stone is a poor substi-
tute for sand to be incorporated with
the clay roadbed. Except for water the
roads would always be good. Thorough
drainage is therefore the cure.
If sand is most convenient and cheaper
than gravel or broken stone, put down
tlllng In the center of the roadbed 81
feet below the surface, the dirt displaced
in tiling is distributed evenly over the
roadbed. first 6 inches next to the thing
filled with the soil of roadbed to hold
the sane above with which the remaining
3 feet of the ditch is filled. A coating of
sand G or s inches in depth and 6 feet in
width is placed on the center of the road,
leaving 6 or s feet on either side of this
for a dry weather road.
The theory is that continued rains
would o o put the central track in use
and incorporate the sand with the soil,
thereby facilitating drainage of the sur
water into the sand OF gravel over
the thing, thus securing continued and
permanent drainage. This coating of
sand may be repeated so as to be thor
oughly incorporated with the roadbed
The sand mixed with the soil renders the
roadbed porous in proportion to the
quantity of sand in combination with it.
No material is better than gravel or
broken stone for filling the ditch above
Tho tile: it drains more readily than
sand and is preferable i'll all respects ex-
,ept to combine with clay to make it
All three are very useful and
necessary in the construction of IL good
Dad. Availability and cost of material !
lecide which shall be used in different
ocalities.
A well drained roadbed by this method
equires a less quantity of at least one
lalf of sand and gravel or broken stone
han any method heretofore presented to
public. 1t will take =! to 2 yards of
he above to fill the ditch per rod above
he thing, and about the same amount
IS a coating on the central track.-Good !
roads 1