The Yale expositor. (Yale, St. Clair County, Mich.) 1894-current, 1905-07-14
ROADS OF SAND-CLAY
HOW THESE HiGH,yAYS ARE BUILT
IN SOUTHEE.J STATES.

said To BE Good In All Seasons OF
the Year - Causes OF Failure In
Building Them.
1t is matter Of common observation
that here and there in the southern
States are TO be found stretches OF
sand-clay roads never known TO be
bad. says W. l., Spoon In the yearbook
r. of the department Of agriculture. This
TACT has led 10 Il study of the reasons
why such roads are always good: NJ
rnerou2 experiments have been made
With varying results. but all indicate
that the essentials to success in sand
CLAY road building are pudding and
saturation, What is meant by pud-
ding or mixing may be clearly under
stood by any one familiar with the OPP
erations in the process Of bricllmaking.
The clay must be rendered homogeno-
pbs, and this can he done only by the
addition Of water during the process
until the clay becomes plastic like
dough. The second essential is the adj
dition of sand to the point Of satura-
tdon, but not beyond.
No sand-clay road can satisfactorily
withstand the severity OF public travel
NYithoJt having first been reduced to Il
comp9e homogeneous mass of sand
and ciuy Each grain Of sand should
be in touch with other grains on all
sides. such condition cannot he Sc
cured without The agency OF water. 1t
is usC.2ss to ron q dry sand-clay road
before il has been rendered homoge-
I,r- hi
grains Ca sand have been brought into
contact with only the interstices be-
tween them filed with clay as Il bind
GER. The first operation is mixing; the
SECOND is rolling rs the mixture dries
This forces The particles of sand to-
gethcr. ana any excess of clay tends
TO rise to The surface, rendering it
Sticky This clay must in turn be
sandeh and the operations repeated I'M
til the surface has become hard and
compact.
Many failures have been made in the
building OF saud-clay roads, ana few
of the more common causes for these
Failure viii be pointed out. The first
cause OF failure is the want Of perfect
i'm the cross sectional drainage, the
Side bitches or the drainage of the
Bubgradc or roadbcd. IT IS customary
10 give 10 saud-clay road 2 LITTLE
rreatgr crown than is USUALLY riven
TO Il nGcadam road especially whore
the grade is above 3 per cent. The
kubicrt OF side ditchcs should have
more careful consideration Than is usu-
ally given n case of mac,dam roads
~ the .rbenI tnon which t5n road is
hniIt Is cl0v il is iupo,toDt that tho
Bottom of the side bitches sbould no
efghtepD inches ar moro beloyv tho
crown or rniddIa or tho travelled track
If. on the other hand. tbe land is roll.
inc and the subsol is sand of consjd-
= cradle dauth thus riyiur psrfect NAT.
siurnl d-afn1r. In tha r,alh..l HttIo or
10 side ditch will l.. rp.tuirad
.rPorhans n, most co-r,ou o,.ror IN
Trainaga is the failure 10 drain proDer-
Nv and Thoroughly ol ularas where
there arc r.ct weather eurfncs If
I necessary, the roadhad must bc changed
So as 10 locate it uron dry ground IA
Hyen tho doepest side bitches practica-
BE may fail to give relic, where such
spriifgs exist II is important 70 avoid
Hsen cuts and 70 carefully co,si7ar,oII
5robable sources Of trorblo Tho writ
y. has orc, saon oIa r,olrnd. ,,,,.r
Tta+er oozing from ~, r.or+s d,,rIr,, O
eainv eoooon in srita of --,Fici,,t siao
Witches +bo r,,o+o-. o,.o,, ,.i.,,,,, =, e.
cn,tor of tvgeptr foo+ ro,dSod o,d
andir, an +ho s,,,.e.o, -. -, -
LIZ. -. -, -, -, -
e4,-1'9.,,'lI. -, 'A1
49, - -. ~ ~ ,.- ~
81, s-l,. 80 ~, - q '11! iui-
a. '-i'' ''o.'-' - ,'o'il.''- "a ,"4"e ~
S''" 10y 80 "l'eI - - coii.-
10 a." present
sauu sLoNi' IN use" without Guy.
Eaaau anu wafer maze oetter road
kpan sahu "nu cay anu water IN
pFooi VI Ii!S statement aI'enboh need
OILY DC Chiieu 70 lne numerous PAGES