The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1901-06-27
ABOUT GOOD ROADS.
The Importance of bitches or Other Drains
Emphasized.

Emphasized.
A recent issue of The Hub, trade
/ journal devoted to carriage building
says, regarding road improvements:
ut is hardly saying too much to assert
! that the three great principles of
| building good roads may be summed
up in three words: Drainage, drain
age, drainage There is no enemy of
good roads so ubiquitous, so insidi-
( Gus, so persistent and so fatal in its
doings as water. If moisture can
under roadbed from its sides or in
any way percolate to its foundations,
then that road is not properly drain
ed and built, and sooner or later
| generally much 'sooner') it will get
muddy, wear into ruts, need constant
repairs, and be source of dissatis-
faction and expense. No other one
thing does so much to injure a road
as does water; not even narrow tires,
| for those are sometimes changed by
| thoughtful people of their own &C
cord, and some are displaced by leg
islation; but rain, like death and tax
es, is sure to come, and is certain to
do harm unless carried away by a
system of thorough drainage. If such
a system is not proviC ed smooth,
compact, well wearing road surface
cannot be maintained; mud and ruts
will appear in summer and frost will
break up and ruin the road in the
spring.
Roads should also be so laid out
that no water can find its way upon
them from adjoining lands which may
be higher, and which tend to shed
the rainfall toward the roadways. To
prevent this the bitches on either
side of the road must be Of ample ca
| pacity to carry off any rain that may
fall. 1t not infrequently happens,
too, that one side of a road is higher
than the other, and that, at some
point, the water from the higher side
flows across the roadway and main
tains perpetual mudhole where it
/ crosses. Every heavy storm furnishes
a more or less startling object lesson
on these points, for bitches overflow
upon roads, and water from the high
er side floods the surface and necessi-
tates heavy expenditures for the re-
| pairs.
1.-THE function of the road surface is
that of roof, whose purpose is to
keep the base dry by shedding all
water which falls upon it, and it can
not do this if it is not, among other
things, so graded and shaped as to
permit water to readily run off, so
kept in repair as to have always a
smooth and even surface, and so
thoroughly drained as to carry away
all water without overflow. The side
bitches should have fall throughout
their length, and their size should de-
pend upon the maximum volume of
water they are likely to be called to
carry. They should alwaysibe kept
clean and free from distractions, and
if the water cuts their bottom the
channel should be protected by paw
ing it in some way.
ut sometimes happens that it is
impossible to make open bitches deep
enough to drain the center of the
roadbed, and when this is the case it
is necessary to use side or central
drains. In macadam road the foun-
dation course should be somewhat
porous so that if any rain works down
from the road surfaces or finds its
way in from the sides it may bejable
to reach the drains and be led off by
them. A drain of four inch earthen
pipe placed beneath each gutteriat
depth of three and one-half feet be-
low the crown of the road, and cover
ed with broken stone, course gravel
or pebbles nearly up to the surface,
should be used and will generally
prove sufficient; but if the road lies
in very wet place it will be better
to locate a larger drain under the
center of the road. In all cases a
slight fall must be provided for and a
free open outlet must be. maintained