Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1901-09-03

49, j
in way that makes q solid top for the
road. Until the rains fell the wheels Of
vehicles cut into the surface much as
| they would in sand. After the rain
comes the road is hard and the wheels,
as you see, make no impression on the
| surface.
While at this season OF the year
there is little need of such roads az
these, in the springtime they are a ne
cessity. Some of this strip Of road is
the muddiest in the country and a team
and wagon stuck in the mud used to be
no uncommon sight along here. These
roads remedy this defect.
l The roadbed is made up Of two or
three layers, according to the way it is
Dullt The first layer of rock placed on
the earth Is made up of broken stone of
4 considerable size. The rock is scattered
along in sufficient quantities so that aft
| ter the steam roller, which weighs 21,C00
pounds, is rolled over 1t several times
the layer of broken rock is about six
inches thick, The road bed is made
4 twelve feet Wide. The next layer is
macadam and is the larger rock from
the stone crusher. This is laid on about
three inches thick after it is rolled. The
last or surface Of the road is of gravel
Two OF three inches thick. In all the
4 rock road-bed is twelve inches thick"
Inc party then returned to the place
| where the stone crusher Is at work. AT
p. j. Hiftonss corner is a small triangle
OF space between the three roadways at
the corner and this, 1t is said, will be
planted with flowers and made into a
small park. What will become of the
4 flowers when cattle are driven along the
highway is not stated, but 1t is supposed
that the flowers will have to take the
4 chances with the weeds at the roadside.
BY the way. there are few weeds to be
seen in that part of Scott county. They
are kept well trimmed down and chan
ces of spreading are reduced to mini
mum.
When the party arrived at the stone
crusher the scribes alighted to see the
machine in operation Mr.. Wilson gath
Tered UP boulder about 9x12 inches and
all mounted to the feed platform TO gee
the wonderful and powerful oscilating
paws eat up the HARD bite. But the
boulder was not even strain on the
machine. 1t was ground and crushed
and crumbled, coming out of the hopper
| in all shapes from the size of pea to
\ that of walnut. The limestone which
1 is fed to the crusher is no task at all for
1T and the machine works merrily on
crushing rock t the rate of seyenty-fiye
wagon loads day. The machine has a
capacity of eighty to 100 cubic yards of
rock day. -Four and a half yards of
the broken rock, when it is crushed,
makes about three yards of the nacad-
am. The crusher is not operated stead
lily all day on account of the limited
supply of rock, but it provides enough
crushed stone to keep the four wagons
busy hauling the product to the road
way, where 1t is spread out on the SURF
ace of the first course of broken rock
About four wekes ago the county re-
ceived from the Port Huron Engine
Il Company combined traction engine,
4 road roller and stationary power plant,
i which is a model in every way. 1t looks
very much like the common steam
thresher engines and cost S1,S45. The
{ machine is provided with very heavy
wheels, and operated with these wheels
Is an effective road roller the 10000
pounds weight being sufficient to roll
hesroads and the macadam. and is at
) the same time not too great strain on
j. the county bridges. The engine is of the
compound Woolf patent and is operat-
ed With 140 pounds of steam Peter
schwarz says the high pressure engine
is economical and is a great coal saver.
The engine develops Is horse power,
which is sufficient to operate the stone
crusher at its fullest capacity. A belt
Is used to operate the crusher, the trac-
ton gear being readily disconnected for
: that purpose. When it is desired to
move the engine long distance the
traction wheels may be substituted for
: the roller wheels and the cross country
run can be made readily.
, Some people may think that we
t ought to have the stone crusher at the
{ quarry" said Mr.. Schwarz. but the
: plan of crushing the stone where it is
t needed for the road is most economical
On account of the fact that we have to
, haul all the stone used for this work
from the Boland quarry at East Daven-
port, we do not always have rock
enough here to keep the crusher busy.
We then disconnect the crusher and
send the roller out on the roadway to
roll the rock. which has been placed on
the road. In this way we keep the en-
CINE at work all the time"
1t was explained by members of the
J. road committee that the finished road
costs about $4,000 mile Two miles are
I being built at that point on the Harrison
street road. The people along the way
: and many beyond, who have to use that
road have made cash contributions to-
: ward the cost of the improvement to the
: amount of $1,000. This is in addition to
= their taxes. 1t is in the nature of boz
: nus to the county. The stone is con-
tracted for by the supervisors at s1.65
per load. about one and one-half yards
: being hauled at load. Each teamster
is able to haul about two loads a day
The supervisors are getting from forty
= to fifty loads of rock day. Nearly s.
: 900 cubic yards of rock and gravel will
be required for the two miles of the road
which are now building.
, 1t may be news to many. and certain
> ly is interesting to know the county
] owns a gravel pit at Dewitt. whence all
the surface material for these macad-
amized roads comes. The county now
2 owns seven acres there. AT first the
: county purchased five acres. Two more
acres were acquired. Mr.. Schwarz is OF
the opinion that three more acres ought
2 to be purchased at once by the board
l for the supply will even then run gu,
2 before all the gravel for the roads OF
. Scott county is obtained. The Dewitt
gravel is excellent for road building for