The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1903-01-07


cure the Best Resuits--The Use O.
Road Machines In Building These
Highways.
In an interesting address delivered at
the GreenvilIe Niich) good roads con-
vention FraSk r. Rogers, G. E., had
the following to'say regarding the Inn
provement Of earth roads:
II you must always have an earth
road and cannot get gravel or stone at
q reasonable cost, put clay on the sand
and sand on the clay. When these be-
come suitably mixed. they Will form q
sort OF hardpan, making a very good
road surface at most seasons Of the
year. or course, the clay Is good when
hard and dry md the sand quite passa-
bic when the weather Ii SO wet that
nobody wants to travel, but to secure
q medium earth road, good the great.
est number OF days In the year, that 1t
Is possible to make It this is the best
method that we can prescribe.
Il should be borne in mind that mel.
ther Improvement is very good until
suitably mixed, and clay should be ap-
piled to sand In manner to secure
that mixture as speedily as possible
and vice versa.
Decide on the width Of given road
between ditches-say twenty to twen-
ty-four feet. not much narrower and
not much wider. These are economical
widths. and the lack Of uniformity in
this particular Is one Of the greatest
evils Of our lack Of system In road
building all over this country. Bring
che road to a suitable crown from
twelve to eighteen inches above the
side CUTTERS. This, however, will have
to be varied to meet the special needs
Of drainage FOR the locality. and should
large ditch be required on narrow
road 1t should be entirely outside the
regular gutter. which will protect the
vehicles from the danger Of tipping
over.
To prepare the bed IL may have to be
plowed toward the center. but. II 80.
do not disturb the old roadbed unless
absolutely necessary. After blowing,
harrow thoroughly. take a road ma
chine and shape the whole bed to
perfectly rounded shape and roll till
no more compacting is possible with a
roller weighing four tons or more. A
farm roller Ii Of little use for, this pur-
pose.
After the bed Is properly shaped and
rolled as described take q road ma
chine and crowd enough earth to each
side Of q central strip Of such width as
It may be desirable to cover with clay
or gravel. This being done. clay should
be applied on sand t9<s depth Of i've
or six inches whercSho gravel Is used
and to the depth of three or four inches
where dressing Of as much gravel
can be placed upon the clay. After the
clay is applied, 1t may be leyeled with
q road machine II well pulverized. or,
II lumpy, It may be leveled by first
rolling to crush the Jumps, then har-
rowing till smooth. but in each case 1t
must be rolled till hard after a smooth
surface has been secured
Where no gravel Is used the clay
must be covered with from one to two
inches Of sand by reversing the road
machine and crowdIng a little Of the
surplus sand from the sides to the
center. This will prevent the roads
from becoming muddy mt the first wet
spell II top dressing Of gravel Is
used, 1t should be applied to the thin
coat Of clay Immediately after rolling.
then be brought to true surface by
the use of a road machine and rolled
till 1t Is thoroughly compacted. II the
weather Is dry. the gravel should be
kept sprinkled during the final rolling.
When sand is used on clay. We
secure as good results as by
putting clay In sand, for 1t does not
always prevent mud when the ground
is extremely soft. A clay road should
always be well piked with good side
which must quickly take the
water to its nearest natural outlet,
which In turn must always be SO
well kept as to take the water at once
away from the road allowance. Sand
should be applied to clay after the
picking Is done, without forming any
for its reception, as has
been recommended for gravel. Sand
should never be applied at season Of
the year when long dry spell is ex-
pected, but rather Immediately before
wet fall weather and winter sets In,
30 that by the next season 1t may be-
come sufficiently mixed with clay to
produce the condition already referred
to. The same practice should be en-
ployed when any considerable depth
Of loose gravel is applied to a clay soil
with the expectation that travel will
make 1t hard.
The application Of sand and gravel
o clay, as above described, can be done
In layers, giving time for the first layer
to pack before the second Is applied.