The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1896-01-12
ROAD BUILDING.
The Difference Between TeifOrd and
Macadam Roads Explained.

smooth and hard enough 10 reduce fric-
ton to a practical minimum, and that
minimum is reached whe1 the least in
/ crease Of surface hardness makes il diff
/ cult for a horses hOof 10 grip the road
way. They must be so graded and form
| ed in their cross-sectiOns that water viii
drain from them easily. II in The country
/ they must be constructed Of material cas-
| lily obtained, and their construction must
/ be such ina, they can sTeadily repaired.
They must be bbiIt With a view TO the
nature OF the use 20 whieh they will be
put. and to remain g5>9d they must be
watched constantly. These are the prln-
/ ciples which have been held By roadmak-
/ ers from the times of the RonlaSls VINO
/ were the first and the best Of highway
I builders.
These fundamental principles apply to
4 all kinds of roads, whether dirt, grave,
/ macadam, Ieiford' asphalt, wooden
/ lite block roads. 1t follows that where
/ road traffic n the heaviest as in cities.
/ the roadway should be built of the strong
/ est and best material, and the fight for
! supremacy is narrowing down TO con-
hict between granite blocks, Nitrlned
/ brick and asphalt roads. Country roads,
/ however, In the United states, are dirt
/ roads. The mileage of dirt roads in this
/ country is so large in the aggregate that
/ the combined length OF the macadam.
1 Teford and gravel roads outside of towns
and cities is comparatively so Insignia
/ cant that 1t amounts to nearly nothing.
The host of bicycle riders and the sure
/ approach OF hOrseless vehicles have III
/ rected attention to the miserable roads
/ Of the United States with such an insist
ent voice that state legislatures and the
/ national congress have been forced to
make promises of immediate action.
The League Of American Wheelmen has
/ taken up the cause of good roads, and
/ men who are accustomed to feel the pub
lie pulse say that good roads will soon be
/ politics. What bicycle riders are doing
at present was done by the horseless We
hicle men Of England IN 1881. when their
| agitation resulted in the appointment OF
| committee Of the House of Commons
| ito inquire into and report upon the pro-
portion of tolls which ought to be i'm
/ posed upon coaches and other vehicles
propelled by steam or gas upon turnpike
I roads"
A large part of the deliberations of this
committee was taken up in the discussion
| of the wear of horses hoofs and of the
| wheels of coaches upon roadways and OF
the roadways themselves. 1t was just
about the time that James Macadam, road
| surveyor, and Thomas Teford, president
of the Institution of Civil Engineers, with
their adherents, We're engaged IN contro-
"Macadam' and "Telford" roads.
Up to that time England's best roads
| were the remains of the old Roman roads
but Macadam and Telford began an era
/ of road building, each after his own kind
4 which brought English roads to a high
4 .
two engineers famous as the originators
Of the two systems which to-day bear
| their names
1t is interesting to note that horseless
vehicles, or motorcycles" as they are
now called, were so common in England
in 1881 that the stage coach companies
became alarmed and had prohibitive tolls
/ imposed upon the steam carriages" and
the committee of the House of Commons
selected to inquire into the matter came
THAT carriages can be propelled by
steam on common roads at an average
rate of ten miles an hour.
THAT at this rate they have conveyed
upward of fourteen passengers.
THAT their weight, including engine,
fuel water and attendants may be under
''That they ascend and descend hills of
considerable inclination with facility and
''That they are perfectly safe for pas
That they are not Tor need not be if
properly constructed nuisances to the
THAT they will become a speedier and
cheaper mode of conveyance than car
rages drawn by horses
THAT, as they admit of greater breadth
of tire than other carriages, and as the
roads are not acted on so injuriously as
by the feet of horses in common draft,
such carriages will cause less wear OF
road than coaches drawn by horses"
Unfortunately for horseless vehicles, the
steam locomotive, which ran on rails,
motor and the steam carriage, having
demonstrated its ability and utility, and
having. started a good-road agitation,
The Roman roadway was formed with
large stones as a foundation; over this was
laid a stratum of flint and pebble; then ce-
ment, and on this was laid the wearing
surface of wooden block; granite or small
stone. In Holland hard brick were used
for the foundation; in France willows are
planted in marshy ground and bent down
so as to form basket foundation; on this
green sod is laid to a thickness of five
inches and a gravel or stone wearing-sur-
face tops off the whole.
The roads made by the early settlers
in this. country for crossing sWamps were
versely, and few weeks ago, a section
of a corduroy road was unearthed while
digging into a street in Chicago.
The common method of making roads in
the western states is to plow up a ditch
on both sides of the roadway; heap some
dirt in the center of the proposed road by
means of ScrapperS and leave the rest &c
wagon wheels and rain.
The macadam road has the earth graded
and rolled for its foundation. The prin-
ciples laid down by Macadam were as fol
lows 1t is the natural soil which really
supports the weight of travel; while it is
preserved in dry state it will carry any
weight without sinking. This native sol
must previously be made quite dry and q
covering as much impenetrable TO rain as
possible must then be placed over it to pre-
serve it in that dry state. That the thick
ness of a road should only be regulated by
the quantity of material necessary to form
such imperVious covering and never by
any reference to its own power of carry
ing weight.
These principles, modified in some res
poets, govern the making of a macadan
roadway to-day. The natural earth foun
dation is graded so that the curve of the
foundation will be parallel to the curve
of the surface of the roadway when com
pleted. The earth foundation is rolled and
reroued under a heavy roller until the
earth is firm, compact and even.
on both sides. of the roadway excava.
tions are made for the drains. In the bot
tom of the ditch thus made thing is
laid covered with hay, straw, or some
such altering material, and over it is laic
broken stone in such a manner that wa,
ter will easily find its way down to the
tile. no
rods or straight limbs of trees, bound to
gether fagot fashion. are laid in this
bottom of the drains instead of tiles. This
is a cheaper construction, but is not re
garded so good as the U-shaped filing. i.
When the roadway has been graded and
rolled and the drains have been built the
first layer of broken stone is put on the
rolled surface of the earth foundation
This layer is about six inches deep, anC