The news & observer. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1894-current, 1897-06-06
NEW STEEL ROADS
THE CLAIM MADE THAT THEY ARE
Better TAAN MACADAM.
The Building of Country Roads Great
observation-disclosures of Steel
Roads Given.
Roads Given.

lie roads, and there is no live community
that is not engaged in some methods Of
improvement The macadam roads have
been pronounced by experts to be SUI
perior to all others, but the following ar
ticle clipped from an exchange shows
that it is probable that a cheaper and
better method can be adopted:
Secretary Wilson has given directions
to Gen. Roy Stone, chief of the bureau
Of good roads at the department of agri-
culture to construct a sample steel road
way at the most convenient location he
can find at the Nashville exposition,
where it may be seen and studied by the
visitors who will attend the exposition
during the summer. Secretary Wilson
thinks the steel trackway for wagons is
the easiest solution of the good-road
problem, particularly in the west, where
stone and gravel are scarce and the soil
Ia deep and sticky.
mo road material promises so much
hope to the western farmers and village
populat ton as the fiat bars of steel at the
present cost of the manufacture" said
the secretary yesterday, "and | propose
to have sample roads built, not only at
the Nashville exposition, but at different
points througaut the country, where they
will afford practical object lessons to
county commissioners and other officials
having the highways under their charge.
The steel manufacturers of the country
are taking hold of the matter with much
interest, and are making experiments ON
their own account, which have already
brought valuable suggestions as to the
details of construction. The Cambria
Iron Company Of Johnstown, Pa, has
joined heartily in the work of the de-
partment, and is cooperating in the de-
velopment of our plans. The result has
been that very promising designs and
methods of construction have been evolv
ed, sufficient, at least, for experimental
construction, and the Cambria company
will soon be prepared to furnish the
trackway for experiments or for larger
use.
The advantage Of the steel roads in the
reduction of the pull required to move
load from an average of forty pounds
per ton ON macadam road to eight pounds
on the steel track is sufficient to over
come many objections" continued the
secretary: ''but, in fact, the objections to
steel roads have mainly disappeared I'M
der the present investigations. The OBJ
stacle of original expense is overcome by
the reduced price of material, and the
anticipated high cost OF maintenance
avoided by doing away entirely with wood
in the construction.
"The danger of horses slipping on the
rail in going up or down hill is met by
indenting the rails used on grades suf-
fciently to catch the calks of the shoes
without roughing the tread for wheels.
1.-The difficulty of low joints is met by
making the joint stronger than any 9TH
er part of the track, and the danger of
forming a rut alongside the rail is over
come by making every rail joint serve as
a .remount' for wheels. The form of rail
proposed is an inverted trough with a
slightly raised bead on the inside. The
rail is imbedded in gravel laid in trench
which is well drained A little gravel is
spread between the rails for the horse
path. The rails are tied together at the
ends and in the middle, The present de-
sign is for an eight-inch tread, seven
sixteenths of an inch thick.
I'm addition to the steel road, another
recent departure is in the direction OF
building object roads at agricultural col
leges and experiment stations" contin-
ued the secretary, sin accordance with
the provision made by congress for aid
ing those institutions in disseminating
information on the subject of rOad-build-
ing. The limited funds at command have
not encouraged any practical work in
this direction, but cooperation has now
been established by the director of roads
under which the manufacturers of road
machinery furnish the necessary plant
free of charge, the county or city au-
thorities provide the material, and the
labor of men and teams and the govern
ment furnishes an engineer to oversee
the work and instruct students and visi
tors and pays for one or two skilled OPP
orators for the machines. In this man.
ner a very slight outlay of public funds
accOmplisheS a large amount of in
structive work
The work will begin at the New Jer-
sey agricultural college at New Bruins
wick, where a fund of about $4,000 will
be provided by the local authorities, and
at Geneva, n. Y, where contributions
have been made by the city, the expert
ment station and private individuals
amounting to about $1,000.
I'm sections where stone is very
scarce" said Secretary Wilson, "as in
central Illinois, experiments are being
made for the construction of brick roads
At Monmouth a road has been made Of
a single course of vitrifed brick set ON
edge, laid on sand, seven feet wide be-
tween curbs of oak plank and borders
of broken stone to a distance of two
feet on each side. This road has not
been in use long enough to be fully tested,
but has given very favorable impress
sion at the outset. 1t has been recon-
mended that an experiment be made with
brick trackways for wheels and gravel
between for the tread Of horses, and it
is quite possible that steel trackways
may be profitably substituted for brick.
"a more thorough test of brick roads
has been made in Cuyahoga county,
Ohio, where they have proved so salts
factory that they are being extended in
several directions. The plans for their
extension call for "a stone curbing ON both
sides of an pipht foot fra ok of brick thn