The people's journal. (Pickens, S.C.) 1891-1903, 1899-09-07
THE TIsUM PURPOSE OF ROADS.
How They Are to De Made to Sub
scrvo tho Best Interests OF tho
People.

Agriculture, at tho recent good rOat
- institute in Charlotte
The purpose of roads Is to transpol
from the place of production to tn
8 place OF consumption those agricu
tural and commercial supplies whic
are so essential to our life and wei
: being, as well rs to subserve the bes
, Interests OF society, education and re
= ligiOn consequently, they should b
located and SO constructed that prod
!, ucts and people can be easily, quickl
and cheaply moved from one place t.
another.
In order to most successfully attain
those essential ends, it is necessary
that roads should be hard, smooth
comparatively level and fit for use a
all seasons Of the year that they
should be properly located or laid out
on the ground, SO that their grades
may be such that power may be az
piled upon them to the best advantage
and without great loss Of energy; that
they should be properly constructed,
the ground well drained, tho rOadbCd
graded and shaped, and that they
should be surfaced with the best ma
tcrinls procurable that they should
be properly maintained or kept con-
stantly in good repair.
A horse can pull only four-ffths as
much on u grade Of two feet in 100 as
he can on a. level road, and this grad
ually lessons until with Is grade Of ten
! feet in 100 he cnn draw but one.fOurth
as much as he can on u level road. AS
q chain is no stronger than It's weakest
! link, just SO the greatest load which
can be hauled up the stccpcst hill or
through the deepest gushy mirc on "
road is the gauge OF that road. The
! cost Of hauling is therefore necessarily
increased in proportion to the steep
ness OF the grade or the rOughncss OF
| tho surface. 1t costs one and one
fourth times rs much to haul over n
road having > per cent. grade and
! three times as much over one hay
! ing 10 per cent. grade as on a level
road.
Good roads should, therefore, wind
around hills instead Of running over
them, and in many cases this can bc
done without greatly increasing their
, length. The mathematical axiom that
~ straight line is the shortest distance
between two points is not therefore
the best rule to follow in laying out a
road More appropriate is the provcrb
that the longest way around is the
shortest way home
1t has been asccrtHincd that a horse
or mule can for Il short time double his
usual cXcrtiOn, also that on the best
/ lbaN IS HNci Vs. III CSSut Ills
collar Of about one thirLy-iifth OF tho
load. If he can double his cXcrtion
for Is time he can pull one thirty-lifth
mora, and the slope which would force
him TO lift this proportion will be one
Of one in thin ty-tivc or about. az ) per
cent. grade. On this slope, however,
he would be compelled to double his
ordinary CXcrtion TO draw a full load,
and it would therefore be the hropcr
grade for oil public highways.
The essential feature Of IL good road
is good drainage: where you lind the
enc yea are sure to find the other.
Drainage alone will often change Il bad
road into good one, while ON the
other hand, the best road may be de.
stroycd by the absence Of good drain.
The drainage problem remains sub
SLanJi@lly tho same, whether the road
bc constructed Of earth, gravel, shells
or stone. The essential feature is that
tho surface should be crowned or
rounded up towards the ccntDr to the
side, thus compelling the water to flow
rapidly from the surface inco the
cutters, which should nc constructed
ON one or both sides.
In addition to being we'll covcrl d
and surface drained, the surface should
be kept as smooth rs possible, that Is,
free from ruts, wheel tracks or holes.
| any Of these exist. instead Of bong
thrown to the sides, the watcr is held
back, and Is either CVapOratCd by the
sun or ub5or bed by the material Of
which tho road is constructed. In the
latter case the material loses its solid
ity, softcns and yields to the impact OF
the horses feet and the wheels OF
vehicles. and like tho water poured on
| a grindstonc, 80 the water poured on a
road surface, whicn is not properly
| drained, assists the grinding action OF
! the wheels in running or completely
destroying tho surface. Wncn water
! is allowed to stand on IL road the holes
and ruts rapidly increase in numbc,
| and size until the road finally become.
utterly bad.
Where tho road is constructed on :
| grade or hill the slope from the ccntcl
to the sides should be slightly sleeper
than that on a level. 1t must be stcel
enough to lead tho water into the side
bitches instead OF allowing it to rul
down the middle OF the road. Ever.
wheeltrack on an inclined rOadwa.
becomes q channcl for carrying dow
the water, and unless the curvature i:
sufficient these tracks arc quickly dccp
cned into water courses which cut int
and sometimes completely destroy tn
best improved roads. Water break
should never he used until all Othc
means have failed to cause water tt
flow into the side channels. Ncithe
should they be allowed to cross the en-
tire width Of tho road diagonally, bu
should be constructed in the shape q
the letter V. This arrangement per
mits teams following the middle Of tn
road to cross tho ditch sQnarcly an
thus avoid the danger Of ovorturning.