The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1904-09-01
MACA0AM HIGHWAYS
The Cost and Construction of These
Roads.

that OF John l. Macadam, the road
builder. Not only has his name be-
come part of the English language,
but the kind of road which he built
has been adopted by all civilized ma
tions. The ancient Romans built
stone roads, but they were different
from and vastly more expensive than
the macadam roads of modern times.
They built substantial foundation
of rock, sometimes several feet in
depth, and then covered it with a
pavement of large, fiat stones.
This kind of road will outlast any
other. Indeed some parts of the APP
plan way, the building of which was
begun three centuries before Christ,
are still in use and in good repair. 1t
remained for John L. Macadam, a
modern Englishman, to prove that
the great expenditure of time and
money required in the building of
old Roman roads was largely wasted
He demonstrated that a smooth hard,
enduring road could be built of crush
ed stone few inches in depth proper
ly spread and compacted on a founda-
ton of earth.
The main points in successful ma
cadam road building are, first, that
the foundation be properly construct
ed and drained; second, that the sur
face of the road be slightly curved, so
as to shed water, and third, that the
surface of the finished road be made
hard and smooth and as nearly water
proof as possible. The last of these
qualities is secured by spreading on
the stone in layers, beginning with a
layer of the largest fragments and
finishing with a layer of very fine
crushed stone, with which some sand
is often Incorporated. Each layer is
well.compacte ed with heavy roller.
Although the expense of building
macadam roads is trifling compared
with that of constructing stone paw
ed road like that of the Roman EN-
pei vi AJDluS SlduulUS, IL Is SUN 81
great as to form the principal obstacle
to matchmaking modern highways.
The cost of course depends largely on
the case with which suitable stone
may be secured. Where the material
has to be transported by rail for a
considerable distance the cost is great
lIv ir0arnnSol Of Il,
setts highways have cost $4,000 to so,
900 mile, while in some other states
good macadam roads have been built
for $1,000 to $4,000 mile.
Some friends of the good roads
movement hesitate TO Join in the de-
mand for national aid because they
are appalled, by the enormous ex-
pense involved in matchmaking the
entire road mileage Of the country.
These persons are laboring under a
mistake. The national aid bills do
not propose to construct any pan ticu-
lar kind of road. They simply pro-
pose to Improve the public roads,
anu piONlNiO III 1uN eSOlSd JlOllS anu
experiments to determine the best
kinds of road material and the best
methods of road building" In re-
cent article Representative Brown
low says:
MY own individual opinion is that
some of the principal thoroughfares
ought to be macadamized. Well in
formed road experts haye estimated
that if one-tenth of the road mileage
of the country were macadamized and
the other nine-tenths were improved
in other and cheaper ways, using the
best local materials available, the cost
of hauling the farm products of the
United Stotes to market would be re-
duced to one-half."
If this estimate is correct the saw
ing to the farmers would be enormous
and would in a few years be sufficient
to cover the entire expense of making
the improvements. Besides lessening
the cost of hauling good roads will
bring to the people of the rural dis
tricts pleasures and benefits which
cannot be measured in money.