The Norfolk weekly news., 1899-10-12
GOOD GRAVEL ROADS.
FAR SUPERIOR TO THE COMMON
EARTH HIGHWAY.
Information rs 90 the Selection of
Material - rrcpnring the Founda-
tion - Grading and Rolling very
Important.

In connection with tho building and
maintenance Of gravel roads the most
important matter to consider is that of
selecting the proper material A small
proportion of argillaccous sand clayey,
or earthly matter contained I'm some
gravel enables 1t to pack readily and
consolidate under traffic or the rond
roller Seaside and river gravel, which
IL composed usually of rounded, water
worn pebbles il unfit for surfacing
roads. The small stones of which they
are composed, having no angular pro-
jcctions or sharp edges easily movo or
slide against each other and will not
bind together and even when mixed
with clay ma, turn freely, causing tho
whole surface to be loose, like materials
in shaken sieve.
Inferior qualities of gravel can some
times bo used for foundations, but
where it 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 he com
paratively clean, hard, angular and
tough. so that they will readily consol
idate and will not he easily pulvorizcd
by the impact of traffic into dust and
mud. They should be coarse, varying in
size from half an inch to an inch and
onc-half.
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, as II rule, contains too much
earthly matter. This may, however, be
removed by sitting. For this purpose
two sieves are necessary, through which
the gravel should he thrown. The
mcshes of one sieve should be one and
one-half or two inches in diameter
while the meshcs of the other should be
three-fourths of an inch. All pebbles
which will not 90 through the one and
one half inch mcshes should be rejected
or broken so that they will 90 through.
All material which Sits through the
three fourths inch mcshcs should be re
jected for the rond, 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 a
layer of three or four inches of gravel,
and sometimes even 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 a light and porous nature.
Roads constructed over clay soils re-
quire layer of at least six inches of
gravel 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 softening the clay and
causing the roadway to be torn up.
Owing to n lack Of knowledge regard
ing construction, Indifference or care
lessness in building or improving, roads
made of gravel are often very much
worse than they ought to be. Some Of
them are made by simply dumping the
material into ruts, mudholcs or butter
like depressions or on unimproved foun-
dation and are left thus for traffic to
consolidate, while others are made by
covering the surface with inferior ma
terial without any attention being paid
to the fundamental principles Of drain
age. AS result Of such thoughtless
and haphazard methods the road usual
ly becomes rougher and more complete
ly covered with holes than before.
In constructing gravel road the
roadbed should first be brought to the
proper grade. Ordinarily an excavation
is then made to the depth of or 10
inches, varying in width with the re-
] quirements Of traffic For farm or
farming community the width need not
be greater than 10 or IL feet. A road
way which is too wide is not only use
less, but the extra width is a positive
damage. Any width beyond that need
ed for the traffic is not only waste Of
money in constructing the road, but is
the cause Of never ending expense in
maintaining it. The surface of the
roadbed should preferably have fall
from the center to the sides the same as
that to be given the finished road, and
should, if possible be thoroughly rolled
and consolidated until smooth and firm
A layer, not thicker than four inches,
of good gravel, such as that recon-
mended above. should then be spread
evenly over the prepared roadbed.
If roller cannot be had, the road is
thrown open to traffic until ii becomes
well consolidated, but it is impossible
to properly consolidate materials by the
movement of vehicles over the road,
and if this means is pursued constant
watchfulness is necessary to prevent
unequal wear and to keep the surface
smooth and free from ruts. The work
may be hastened and facilitated by the
, use of horse roller or light steam roll
er, and, of course, far better results can
be accomplished by this means If the
gravel be too dry to consolidate easily,
it should be kept moist by sprinkling.
oh l,.,. la DO tAg