The Providence news. (Providence [R.I.]) 1891-1906, 1895-05-18
More About the Country Roads
of the State.
Further Extracts From the Report OF
the Highway Committee.

The highway committee in their report
to the General Assembly give the follow
ing important review of q part OF their
Investigations:
The laying out and building OF country
roads, although apparently a simple task,
demands as much thought and skill as
almost any problem which is brought to
the engineer to solve.
The subject of road construction can be
divided into three parts:
First, locating or laying out the road;
second, grading and making the road
bed and draining; third, surfacing, or
making the top Of the road.
Location.
The shortest possible route between
two points, consistent with proper grades,
should be selected. Steep grades are
equivalent TO extra length, and the load
which q team can haul over the whole
distance is limited by the amount which
can be drawn over the steepest grade.
To prove the first statement the follow
Ing figures are quoted from a we'll known
authority: The maximum load which an
average horse weig hing 1900 lbs. can draw
6270 lbs. II the road rises at the
rate of but two feet in each 100 of
its length the same horse can
draw only 3114 lbs, or Only about
one half the load IL can draw upon
level road. In other words, q man would
require two horses on a road rising at the
rate OF two feet in 100 to do the work
which one could do on n level road. OF
course, it would be impossible to lay out
perfectly level roads, in fact, they
would be unadvissble owing to the
difficulty in getting rid of the
water, and the above illustration Is only
given to show how great q difference
. slight grade makes In the power re-
quired to haul a given load, and the inn
portance Of considering the grades care
fully In laying out q road.
A grade of three to three and one half
feet in one hundred is the steepest grade
which Is profitable to have for any very
great distance, although a grade OF five
feet per one hundred Is permissible for
very short distances, as q good horse can
exert double his average pull for short
time.
The committee found upon q number OF
the main roads of the State, hills which
were not only entirely too steep to haul
loads over, but were absolutely unsafe to
ride over in light carriages.
The loss of tractive power on the in
clines is increased In winter by the slip
perry condition of the surface; the water
of rains gulley the road destroying its sur
face, thus causing a constant expense for
repairs. 1t will be readily seen from the
foregoing statements that II will pay to
lengthen q road considerably for the sake
OF avoiding a long, steep incline; just
how much would be question which
could only be decided by a study of each
particular case.
Grading and Making the Road-Bed
and Draining.
After the location OF q new road has
been settled upon and the stakes set,
marking upon the ground the lines and
grades which have been determined upon
the plans and profiles, the road-bed must
be excavated to whatever depth below
the finished surface may be required to
get in the foundation and surfacing
materials.
The essential requirements Of q good
road bed are that 1t shall be practically
unyielding and free from water. The
first and most important point to be con-
sidered is thorough drainage, which
should be OF two kinds-surface and sub
drainage. The first provides for the
speedy removal of surface water or rain
fall, on the surface; and the second for
the removal Of water which exists be-
meath the surface. Sub drainage, by
keeping the soil under the road COM
parstively dry, prevents the action of the
frost In the winter and the softening and
destroying Of the surface and body OF the
road during wet seasons.
For the sub-drainage of roads what
are known as agricultural tiles, or small
porus pipes, should be laid from three to
four feet below the surface and having a
continuous fall to an outlet at some
stream crossing the road. Serviceable
drains for this purpose may also be made
by digging trench and filing it with
loose stones.
For surface drainage bitches or cutters
should be provided at either side of tho
road OF sufficient capacity to carry off
rapidly any water which reaches them.
Where 1.-THE land rises rapidly from one
sf both sides OF the road, the Importance
Of ample ditches to intercept and prevent
the water from aswipg across and into
the road-bed, can readily be seen. 1t
seems to be the common practice in the
country roads OF this State to utterly