The Coalville times. [volume] (Coalville, Utah) 1894-1923, 1904-07-29


n names viii live M long Ms
8 N 8 civilization exists Is that
Il "A Of John l.. Macadam, the
SJolS road builder. Not only has
his name become part Of the Eng
llsh language. hut the kind OF road
which he built has been adopted by ali
civilized nations. The ancient Ro-
mans built stone roads. but they were
very different aud vastly more expen.
slve than the macadnm roads OF mod.
crn times. They built substantial
foundation OF rock, sometimes several
feet in depth and then covered Il with
pavement Of large fiat stones. This
kind OF road win outlast any other.
Indeed, some parts OF the Apinn Way,
the building OF which was begun three
centuries before Christ, are still In use.
and In good repair II remained for
/ John l.. Macndam. n modern English
man. TO prove that the great cXpcn'
diturc OF time aud money required In
the building OF the old Roman roads
was largely wasted. He demonstrated
that a smooth. hard. enduring road
could be built OF crushed stone few
inches In depth properly spread and
compacted ON foundation OF earth.
The main points In successful mac.
adam road building are; u) That the
foundation be properly constructed and
drained; ~ that the surface of the
road be slightly curved so as to shed
water; and C3l that the surface OF the
finished road be made hard and smooth
and as nearly waterproof as possible.
The last OF these qualities IL secured
by spreading on the stone In layers.
beginning with a layer OF the largest
fragments and finishing with layer
OF very fine crushed stone with which
some sand Is often Incorporated. Each
layer is well compacted with a heavy
roller.
Although the expense OF building
macadam roads Is triflng compared
with that OF constructing a stone.
paved road like that OF the Roman
Emperor. Appius Claudius, II is stlll
so great as TO form the principal oh.
stacle TO macadamizing modern high.
ways. The cost. OF course. depends
largely on the case with which suita.
BILE stone may be secured. Where the
material has TO be transported by rail
for a considerable distance the cost
Is greatly increased, .lome OF the Mas.
sachusetts highways have cost 5000
TO $4,000 a mile; while In some other
States good macadam roads have been
built FOR $500 10 $1,000 per mile.
7, Some friends of the good roads move
! ment hesitate TO join in the demand
for national aid because they are ap
I. palled by the enormous expense In
= volved IN merchandising the entlr
!, road mileage OF the country. sucl
J persons are laborlng under a mistake
The national aid bills now before Con
= gress do not propose TO construct an,
particular kind OF road. They simply
7, propose TO Improve the public roads.
and provide for Investigations ant
experiments TO determine the hes
kinds OF road material ard the bes
! methods OF road building" In a re
cent article Representative Brownlov
says:
my own Individual opinion n tina
some OF the principal thoroughfarel
/, ought TO be macadamlzed. Wen In
formed road experts have estimated
!. that II one.tcnth OF the road mlleag,
OF the country were macadamlzed an,
. the other nine.tenths were improved
4 In other and cheaper ways, using tn
!. best local materials available. the cos
a OF hauling the farm products OF tn
United States to market would be re
- duced one-half."
n II this estimate is correct. the savlnl
- to the farmers would be enormous
a and would In a few years be sufliclen
4, TO cover the entire expense OF MAXIM
the improvements Besides lessenlnl
the cost OF hauling. good roads vii
bring 20 the people Of the rural dis
trlcts pleasures and benefits whlcl
y cannot be measured in money.