The suburban citizen., 1901-06-22
flls
G556d Roads R0tss
Maintenance.

Maintenance.
n n AINTENANCE is important
N II with any road, as no style
" Of construction is sufficient
ly permanent to admit OF
the roads being left to take care of
itself. Whether built Of earth or
stone, 1t will eventually wear into ruts
and holes, the time depending upon
the quality Of the material, the form Of
construction and the amount Of the
traffic. When ruts or holes have been
formed, the deterioration of the road
will proceed rapidly unless repairs are
promptly made.
The chief object in the maintenance
Of an earth road is to get rid of the
water as quickly and as fully as possi-
bic. In maintenance, as in construc-
tlon, water is the great enemy Of good
roads. The secret of success in main
tenance is to keep the surface smooth
and the side bitches open
If the surface of tleroadway is prop
erly formed and kept smooth, the
water will be shed into the side bitches
and do comparatively little harm. but
IL it remains upon the surface, it will
be absorbed and convert the road into
mud. If all ruts, depressions and mud
holes are not filed as soon as they APP
pear, they viii retain the water upon
the surface, to be removed only by
gradually soaking into the rOadbed
and by slowly evaporating and each
passing wheel or hOof will help to de-
stroy the road. All inequalities Of the
surface, the depresslons and the mud
holes, are caused by water softening
the roadbed. A hard road can not be
made out of soft mud, and no amount
of labor and machinery will make an
earth road that win stay good unless
an adequate plan Is adopted to get rid
of the water. Water is hard to confne
and easy to let loose. 1t is always
seeking a chance to run down hill
The chief duty Of the road tender Is to
give it a chance to get away.
In the winter there frequently comes
times when the road is full of holes
and ruts, while the surface soil is dry
and mellow. This condition occurs
most frequently when the ground be-
low the surface is frozen. II at this
time a harrow is run over the road 1t
will fill up the ruts and holes and leave
the surface smooth. This improves
the road for present travel, and gives a
smooth surface which will greatly de
crease the deterioration of the road by
subsequent rains. often there is only
a few hours in the middle of the day
when the frost is out of the ground
sufficiently to permit this work to be
done, and therefore it is best to have
each farmer harrow the road adjoining
his own land The ordinary adjusta-
BILE farm harrow should be used, and
the teeth should be set to slope well
back. The labor required is not great,
since a twelve-foot harrow can be used
and then a single round is sufficient.
The work comes at a time Of the year
when the farmers time is usually not
very valuable, and hence the expense
is small. The writer has seen frequent
examples of this method OF treating
the roads, which have proved very
beneficial both in securing good roads
and preserving them.
In the early spring just after the
frost goes out of the ground, earth
roads are usually full of deep ruts. AT
this time the roads can be greatly i'm
proved by running over them that tool
called indifferently 'road machine"
''road grader" road plane or "road
leveler." The object is simply to cut
off the ridges and I'LL up the ruts, and
thus "Dreak the way" for travel. 1t is
well to break the road early in the sea
son, both to accommodate the present
travel and to hasten the coming of a
better condition of the road. 1t is
much more economical to make the
road smooth with the machine than to
wear 1t down by travel.