Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1902-04-02

" W system of steel tracks as
devised by Martin Dodge.
the State Highway Commissioner of
Ohio, first advocated by him in 1891,
and of which he built Il section near
Cleveland. Ohio, in 1898. also small
sections on the Exposition Grounds at
Omaha, and other sections have been
built by the road expert of the office
of road inquiry at the agricultural ex-
pertinent stations at st. Anthony's
Park, Mimi. and at Ames, Iowa.
We take his description Of them from
the Year Book of the Department of
Agriculture:
The road thus laid consists of two
parallel lines of steel plates, eight
inches wide, laid at sufficient dis
tance apart to receive the wheels of
vehicles of standard gauge. These
plates have slightly projecting fiange
upward on the inner edge, to prevent
the wheels of the ordinary vehicles
which have no langes, from easily
leaving the track. At the same time,
these fianges, being only about one
to prevent the vehicles from leaving
the track for the purpose of passing
other vehicles when so desired. These
plates are not supported by wooden
cross ties or by longitudinal stringers
of any kind, but are provided with
fanges projecting both downward and
outward. These fanges are imbedded
in the concrete of the roadbed, so as to
form II substantial part of it, and the
steel plates are supported by Il super
structure of cement or other enduring
material"
The claims made for it are that it
can be built without greater cost in
many cases. and probably less cost, in
many cases. than any other hard and
durable road; that it will last many
times as long as any other known
material for road purposes and with
much less repair, and that the power
required to move Il vehicle over the
steel track is only Il small fraction of
that required to move the same over
any other kind of road.
The last point was shown by n load
of eleven tons which required twenty
horses TO draw it over a common road.
\ load Of the same weight was easily
drawn by one horse with light harness
over the steel track, though twenty
two times the weight of the horse, and
if it had been fifty times the weight
of the horse, or twenty-five tons, he
4 s.til e.+p h1
without difficulty.
In wet and ciayey soils there should
be Il sub5tructure of broken stone a
foot deep under the rails, and ma
cadam between them and foot on
each side of them and the joints should
be connected by cross ties. The cavity
in which the plates lie should be filed
with cement to give Il continuous bear
ing at every point. For Il grade Of
three feet in one hundred, special rails
would be needed, corrugated or ribbed
transversely.
The experimental sections which
have been laid have cost about 81
foot, but when rolling mills are
equipped for making suitable plates of,
say, one-fifth of an inch thick and
weighing thirty pounds to the yard, the
steel would cost about $500 Il mile,
and perhaps it might cost as much
more to prepare the roadbed and lay
the track including bringing the sur
face of the roadbed even with the sur
face of the rails.
Mr.. Dodge thinks the adoption of this
method would lead to the use OF We
hicles much lighter in proportion to
the load carried than those now in
use, thus reducing the power needed,
and the lowering of the wheels, now
made high to overcome the inequalities
Of the road.
The development of the bicycle since
they Were made with low wheels.
so that each now carries several times
its own weight, is instanced as what
can possibly be done. Now vehicles
for the purpose Of strength are made
about as heavy as the load they are
to carry, and some of the older ones
often exceed that, and the power re-
quired to move them was thus doubled.
For distances over five miles some
other power could be substituted for
the horse, increasing the speed and
lessening the cost of the power, saving
much time and expense in travel and
transportation. Budget.
Good Country Roads.