The Laurens advertiser. (Laurens, S.C.) 1885-1973, 1902-04-09

piactiCdl, ~cfcry-u"y loau WHINING anu
depths, One Of the worst pieces Of road
the writer has ever seen was q place in
which the section was as shown in Fig.
3. 1t was in a clay varying from red to
yellow and very soft. A natural drain,
3 or a #. deep, had been formed on each
side by washing, and the roadway be.
tween was barely wide enough for sin.
gle vehicles, and sloped naturally to
either side when dry. 1t was on a
hill, too. Yet, Notwithstanding this ap
parently excellent drainage, this place
cut up in wet weather SO as to become
nearly or quite impossible, and wrecks
were strewn along its sides.
A sandy loan will often make a good
covering when the proportion of sand
is heavy. A mixture of fine and coarse
sand with a little gravel is excellent. A
small amour OF clay with the gravel
and sane not only does no harm, but by
%compacting and cementing the other ma
terials makes q surface that sheds water
perfectly, and resists abrasion or depres'
sion. The use Of gravel, especially
coarse gravel. is strongly objected to
further north, where frosts are heavy,
because of its holding water in the form
of ice and snow, and becoming cut up
in the thaws of late winter and early
spring. L have especially noted the Oh
jections Of the Supervisors Of Roads in
Ontario, Canada, to gravel, on this &C
count. This objection does not apply in
the South, where frost does not pcne
trate so deep, and the ground dries out
more rapidly.
COST OF WORK.
The actual cost Of the work, even
when done under some drawbacks, has
been remarkably small. With a gang
Of only two or three scrapors it has
ranged from l21 to Is cts. per lineal yd.
of road, with a haul Of about 400 yds.
over a rather rough road, from u gravel
pit off the road. Only the common
teams Of the country were used, al
though they were light for such work
aud inexperienced men handled the
scrapers. The gravel at the pit was
plowed and no snatch team was used In
loading, making the loads q little light
on the average.
With a larger gang of scrapcrs, say
from four to six, the latter being proba
bly, the best number, and with expert
enced hands, the cost could be reduced.
With the larger gang of %scrapers, a
snatch team could be proftably used,
and the loads increased. The loaded
scrapers passing over the material al
ready put out roll and pack it sufficient.
~ ohO lah lo hCpt VII IL uuhp,
or point Of unloading, to spread and
, level off the material, with a common
, hoe.
The claycy surface of the roadway
may be previously prepared either with
a o machine very preferably or by
hand. With a light gang of scrapers on
/. a long haul, it has been found that the
man on the dump" could do the work
fairly well, %scraping the clay from side
to center and letting the scrapers pack
it by passing over 1t before turning, as
, they were unloaded This was in ono
/ of the lighter micaceous clays, in a ra
Their damp condition. In the tougher
clays, and in dry weather, more labor
. would be required.
The cost as shown, ranges from
/, $4,000 to $265 90 per mile of improved
part of road, and as these improved
/ parts are often detached, and alternate
, with others not needing improvement,
except ditching, the cost Of making q
uniformly good road Of a very bad and
often almost impossible one, is thus re-
duced to 1926 90 to $4,000 per mile, in
many instances.
This is no fancy sketch, but is based
on work actually done, the results OF
which are there to stay and to be seen.
This ought to encourage the poorest
and feeblest communities, in which the
physical conditions are at all similar to
ours, to undertake the work Of road i'm
provement. 1t is not commended that
the plan presented is adapted to all
parts Of the country but it is t thought
that it is we'll adapted to a great part
of the South, including the southern
and eastern parts of Virginia, the Caro-
linas, Georgia, Tennessee, Arkansas,
and the States further South.
The wheel scraper plays an impor.
tant part in the work. No. 2 scrapcrs
are generally best for the purpose.
These can be bought for a moderate
amount, and worked either by teams
bought and kept for the purpose, or
I" hired in" from the surrounding coun.
try ; or by a coordination Of the two,
some being regularly kept and others
hired.
! A road machine is a desirable addi-
ton to the plant, and should be used
where practicable but where means are
too small for it, good work can be often
done without t. The writer earnestly
hopes that others may be induced to
give the plan p~resented4a full and fair
trial and will be glad to give further
information to those Interested. and in a
position to put it to practical use.