Pike County press. (Milford, Pa.) 1895-1925, 1896-08-14
STEEL ROAOs 10 CONE n1x1.
Gen. Stone Believes the Country Highways
WIN in Future Have New Character.

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Gen. Stone Believes the Country Highways
WIN in Future Have a New Character.
believe that the ultimate solu-
ton of our good roads problem for
all great thoroughfares lies in the
steel highway" said Gen. Roy
Stone, the head of the Government
Road Department, few days ago.
Gen. Stone is the best authority on
the road question in the country.
Undoubtedly the wearing sur
faces of all highways connecting
our great cities and traversed by
wagons and light vehicles are to be
flat steel rails" Gen. Stone con-
tinued. FThere is no greater pro-
priety or economy in running wag-
on than there would be in running a
railroad train over a rough surface
of earth or stone Horseless vehicles
will undoubtedly develop metal
roads. The cost, to begin with, will
be higher than that of stone or con-
crete roads but with the present
low price of steel the saving in wear
would soon compensate for the diff
ference in cost At the same time
the saving in the expense of hauling
would be from fifty to eighty per
cent. "
What is your idea of the way
such a steel highway should be
built ?''
1t should consist of a double line
of track, with a carriage road on
either side. Wagons with heavy
loads could follow one another upon
it in straight line either way, while
lighter and faster vehicles could
pass them by turning out OCCASION
ally into the roads. Flat rails laid
upon stringers should be the style of
track used. They should be laid
level with the roadway, so that
wheels might pass onto or off them
without difficulty. The general form
of the rail should be a shallow
trough with fiat bottom and outer
edges raised only enough to give q
gentle guidance to the wheels, The
width should be suited to the gauges
of all vehicles. / find that in New
York and vicinity-where there is,
perhaps the greatest variety of road
vehicles-the gauges of wagons and
carriages range from four feet ten
inches to sixfeet. A rail ten inches
wide would therefore, be necessary
to accommodate all of these gauges
comfortably.
The State Road Commissioner of
New Jersey, Mr.. Henry I. Budd,
proposes to lay steel rails about the
thickness of ordinary boilerplate,
rolled in the shape of q gutter, five
inches wide, with a square perpen-
dicular rim one-half inch high. 1t
is arranged to form a conduit for
water, and make it easy for wheels
to enter or leave the track. Mr..
Budd says that one horse will draw
on steel track twenty times as
much as on a dirt road, and five
times as much as on macadam. A
double track steel highway of his
design, he says would cost 81 900
less per mile than one of macadam
the same size, while a rural one
track road would cost IS, 600 less, or
$4,000 per mile. Mr.. John O'Don-
nell, ex-member of the New York
Railroad Commission, proposes the
use of gutter shaped rails, spiked to
timbers, running the length of the
rails, the heads of the spikes being
below the ground surface. He also
prescribes cheaper steel highways
to be used for branch lines con-
Meeting the main highways with the
residences or barns of farmers
along the way Steel highways, he
says, would be adapted to light
steam engines or horseless motors.
For SO trip, he estimates steam
motor could be run for one hundred
miles, carrying from fifty to one
hundred tons burden. Sussex Inde-
pendent.