Frostburg mining journal. [volume] (Frostburg, Md.) 1871-1913, 1898-03-12
GOOD ROADS LESSON.
GOVERNMENT SAMPLE OF HIGHWAY
CONSTRUCTION.

ing; Foundation, Rolling and SpI inkling.
The road inquiry division of the de,
partment of agriculture was organized
under the direction of General Roy
Stone and has continued the education
al work on the subject OF roads by means
of bulletins issued from time to time
and by the construction of sample roads
i'll different parts of the United States.
The first Of these sample roads was
completed at New Brunswick, N. j.,
last June. The second was started at
Geneva, n. Y, and is by far the lon
gcst yet built. Others are planned in
course of construction or completed a t
Evansville, Ind Lynchburg, Va; H.
ion, n. Y; Kingston, r. l.; Orono,
Me. Warren, Pa, and Columbus, O.
The sample road at Geneva was plan
ned last spring. The original estimate
If its cost was 50, 600, of which the vii
lage contributed 5000, the township
So. 600 and residents of Castle street,
i'll which the road is laid, $1,000. The
government furnished free of charge the
roadbuilding plant, cons E.ng of Il rock
crusher of "a capacity of 100 tons of
broken rock i'll a ten hour day, one set
of screens, one road grader, two dis
tributing carts and one 20 ton road
roller The government also furnished
the special agent i'll charge, while the
village and town furnished material
and labor.
The sample road as constructed is
about l . miles in length. For the first
half mile the roadway is IS feet wide
and s inches deep, the 8 inches consist
ing of IL foundation of inches of broken
field stone with a surfacing of 3 inches
of broken trap rock. For the next three
quarters of mile the roadway is IA
feet wide and s inches deep, while the
final quarter of mile is s feet wide
and 6 inches deep. The first portion is
a sample of a macadamized village
street, the second is a first class coun-
try road for general use i'll thickly i'll
habited sections, while the third is a
very cheap but serviceable road for
more thinly inhabited regions. None of
these is suitable for the heavy trucking
Of cities. On each side of these sample
sections is an ordinary dirt road thor
oughly rolled, intended for light driv-
ing i'll dry weather.
The road is machine built through
out, comparatively little human labor
being used The most important ma
chine is the roller, which may be used
either as IL road roller or as perambu-
lating pickay. When it is to be put to
the latter use, its two rear wheels, each
6 feet i'll diameter and IS inches wide,
are fitted with sc case hardened steel
teeth 5 inches i'll length. The wheels
mako Il revolution every ten seconds,
and III ten hour day do an amount of
work equivalent to that performed by
800 men with picks. After the old road
had been torn up by this machine the
loOsened material was scraped to one
side by the grader. When a sufficient
depth had been reached, the new sur
face was thoroughly rolled in order to
form the base of the new road. On this
base was then laid the five inch founda-
tion course of common field rock. The
foundation rock is of all grades of hard
ness and friability, and includes shales,
standstOneS, llmestones, quartZites and
GRANTEES. 1t was broken to size about
1 I. inches square. The foundation was
sprinkled and thoroughly rolled, the
machine passing over it, a score of times.
The surfacing course of broken trap
rock was then laid, thoroughly sprin-
kled and rolled.
When the road engineers first visited
Geneva, they said that Il large proper
ton of the ordinary rocks of the field
We're suitable for the surface layer of
the road Closer examination of the
rock piles showed that it would require
al expert sorter to select the material
which could be used. Accordingly it
was decided as matter of economy to
use trap rock from the Hudson high
lands for all the surfacing. Trap rock is
said to be superior to most other rocks
for surfacing because it is not friable
or dust forming. The trap rock was
crushed to the proper size at the quar-
ries and hauled to Geneva III canal
boats. The size is somewhat smaller
than that used for the foundation.
Above the surfacing was added very
thin layer of trap rock dust, to act as Il
cushion, protecting the underlying
stone from the action of wheeled vehi
cles and the feet of animals from the
cutting action of the stone. The value
of this dust filling is increased by the
small quantity of moisture added from
time to time by means Of sprinlkling
cart. After being laid the dust layer
was heavily sprinkled and rolled for
several days The constant rolling
forces the rocks into close contact and
holds them there. The sprinkling in
creases the ease with which the angu-
lar pieces slip past each other They
grind together and form nearly per-
feet union when the 20 ton roller moves
over them. When these angular pieces
are rubbed together i'll this way, small
portion of the surface of each is ground
into dust When this dust contains a
little clay, it becomes valuable as ce-
ment or bond to hold the larger pieces
Of rock together
To increase the educational value of
the work. two days of each week,
Wednesday and Thursday, We're desig-
mated as visiting days, when special at
tention was given to every one interest
ed III road construction. On the days
mentioned either General Roy Stone,
chief of the division, or +. G. Harrison,
special agent in charge, was present