Middletown transcript., 1899-09-09
GOOD GRAVEL ROADS.
FAR SUPERIOR TO THE COMMON
EARTH HIGHWAY.

EARTH HIGHWAY.
Information as to the Selection O
Material = Preparing the FOunda.
tion = Grading and Rolling Very
Important.
In connection with the building ant
maintenance OF gravel roads the mos
important matter to consider is that oi
selecting the proper material A small
proportion Of argillaceous sand, clayey,
or earthly matter contained in some
gravel enables it to pack readily and
consolidate under traffic or the road
roller. Seaside and river gravel, which
Is composed usually of rounded, water
worn pebbles. is unfit for surfacing
roads The small stones Of which they
are composed, having no angular pro-
jections or sharp edges, easily move OF
slide against each other and win NOT
bind together, and even when mixed
with clay may turn freely, causing the
whole surface to be loose. like materials
In a shaken sieve
Inferior qualities of gravel can some
times be used for foundations, but
where IL becomes necessary to employ
such material even for that purpose it
is well to mix just enough sandy or
clayey loan to bind it firmly together
For the wearing surface or the top layer
the pebbles should. If possible. be COM
paratively clean. hard. angular and
tough. so that they will readily consol-
idate and win not be easily pulverized
by the impact of traffic into dust and
mud They should be coarse. varying in
size from half an inch to an inch and
one-haH.
Where blue gravel or hardpan and
clean bank gravel are procurable good
road may be made by mixing the two
together. Pit gravel or gravel dug from
the earth. rs a rule. contains too much
earthly matter. This may. however. be
removed by sitting. For this purpose
two sleeves are necessary. through which
the gravel should be thrown The
meshes Of one sieve should be one and
one-half or two inches in diameter.
while the meshes Of the other should be
three-fourths of Tn inch. All pebbles
which win not go through the one and
one-hah inch meshes should be rejected
or broken so that they viii go through
All material which sifts through the
three-fourths inch meshes should be re-
jected for the road but may be used in
making side paths The excellent road
which can be built from materials pre-
pared In this way Is so far superior to
the one made of the natural clayey ma
terial that the expense and trouble of
sitting are many times repaid.
Some earth roads may be greatly i'm
proved by covering the surface with
layer of three or four inches of gravel,
and sometimes even q thinner layer
may prove of very great benefit If kept
in proper repair. The subsoil of such
roadway ought. however. to be well
drained or of light and porous nature
Roads constructed over clay soils re-
quire layer of at least six inches of
grnvel. The gravel must be deep enough
to prevent the weight of traffic forcing
the surface material into weak places
in the clay beneath. and also to prevent
the surface water from percolating
through and sof:ening the clay and
causing the roadway to be torn up
Owing to lack of knowledge regard
ing construction. Indifference or care
lessnest in building or improving, roads
n.,..e Of gravel are often very much
worse than they ought to be Some of
them are made by simply dumping the
into ruts. nudholes or butter
like di.pressionsor on uninlproved foun-
dation and ar, left thus for traffic to
while others ara made by
covering the surface with inferior ma
beriai without any attention being paid
10 the fundamental principles of drain
age. As result of such thoughtless
and haihazard methods til. road usual
y becomes rougher and more complete
y covered with holes than before
In constructing gravel road the
roadbed should first be l.roaght to the
proper grade Ordinarily an excavation
Is then made TO the depth of 8 or 10 |
inches, varying in width with the re-
lnirenents of traffic. For a farm or |
community the width need not |
De greater than 10 or 12 feet A road |
way which is too wide IL not only use
ess. bnt the extra width is d positive |
iamage Any width beyond that need |
ID for the traffic is not only waste Of |
money III constructing the road. but is |
he cause Of never ending expense in
1t The surface Of the |
'oadbed should preferably have fall |
rom the center to the sides the same as
hat TO be given the finished road. and
hould. II possible. be thoroughly rolled
md consolidated until smooth and firm.
A layer. not thicker than four inches,
Il good gravel. such as that recon-
nended above. should then be spread /
'venly over the prepared roadbed.
IL roller cannot be had, the road is
brown open to traffic until il becomes
yell consolidated. but It is impossible
o properly consolidate materials by the
Of vehicles over the road, /
md IL this means is pursued constant
vatchfulness is necessary TO prevent
lnequal wear and to keep the surface
mooth and free from rutg The work
nay be hastened and facilitated by the
lse Of horse roller or light steam roll
q, and. Of course. far better results can
. accomplished by this means II the
Eavel be too dry to consolidate easily,
! should be Kept moist by sprinkling.
3 should not. however, be made too
vet, as an earthly or clayey matter in