The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1896-12-25

should be the location of the proposed |
road. In engineering and locating a
road, the following should be we'll |
considered: A straight line, whenever
practicable; evade all steep grades;
build for the interest of the most peo-
pie and always recollect that roads are
built for future as we'll as for the pres
ent generation; therefore the location
should be well considered.
The next step is to grade, which
should be well up from the level of the
country or cut loose from it by good
bitches, so that no water collecting
near the road will seep in the road bed
and make it soft; the road should be at
least l6 feet bed, from ditch to ditch,
and elevated in the center to sufficient
heigth to ensure the water caught on
road to go directly to the drains, 10
inches is none too high for new work,
as the center of the road will be driven
down much more than the side.
Proper drainage is the countersign
for good road. This does not only
mean good bitches, but also good water
crossings from one side to the other,
where nature has made drains. know
of no better water crossing than stone
-culvert under the road. These culverts
can be built by any overseer and his
hands if he has good business Judgment,
and will last more than a hundred
years; they should not be built smaller
than 3Ox3O inches, which will carry 900
square inches of water; smaller ones
are easily choked up with trash. Many
make mistakes in building these Gull
verts by lowering them in the ground;
this is alright If the fall below is enough
to carry the water away as fast as 1t
comes, but it is all wrong If it don't 1t
is useless expenditure of labor and
money to build one that nature has
hedged below, and soon to be choked
up with weeds and leaves that collect
about it. The proper place to build a
culvert is on top of the ground; then
build the road over it.
After the road is properly graded and
drained, and not until then, is 1t ready
, for metal. The most available metal
for Maury County is crushed limestone,
or what is called bastard limestone.
The western portion of our county
, abounds in flint gravel, and when not
too large that is the best metal in the
county-except, possibly, chert--a
metal / have never seen on roads.
Many in my judgment make mistakes
, in putting on crushed metal; it will not
sement until travel has crushed 1t fine
and mixed the dust among the stones
on the road. Vevy find sand put on
after the course metal gives satisfac-
ton to the travel; it soon bonds the
metal and makes a smooth road, but is
subject to be lifted with frosts.
, Earth on course metal is not at all salts
: factory in winter or wet weather; 1T
holds water and is muddy on top. ~.
No road is considered we'll metaled
a under inches deep and 8 feet wide. l
have found that to estimate the cost of
building a Macadamised road no better
/. rule can be applied than to estimate
: that one foot, one mile long, will cost
500; feet will of course cost 5000. This
. of course is to be applied in running a
road over ordinary country where
there are no large hills to be taken
down or fills to make
> $500 is some money, but We'll never
have good roads until we eXpend in the
q neighborhood of that amount per mile
. for them. We can not have better
a roads than we have now by spending
: less money. 1t certainly takes money
and muscle to build roads.
d Respectfully, j. A. 5.