Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1905-07-07
RIO ADS OF SAND CLAY

ROADS !5'll Is OF SAND D., CLA 4 j y
HOW THESE HIGHWAYS. ARE BulL1:.
==sz IN SOUTHERN STATES. :*:5 s5..
II Properly Constructed They II Are
Said to pc Good In All Seasons OF
tire Year Causes Of Failure In
iBjutldins Them. -. 80 ,.. ;@ 49,.
1tis<a matter Of common observation
that here; and there in the. southern
states are to be found stretches Of
sand-clay roads never known Ito: be
bad, says w: L. Spoon in the yearbook
or the department Of agriculture. This
fact hasled to study Of the reasons
why such roads are always good. sNu-
merous experiments have been made
with varying results, but all indicate
that the essentials to success inysand-
clay road building are. pudding and
saturation. What is meant" by spud-
ding or mixing may be clearly under
stood by any one familiar with thexop-
erations in the process Of ~brickmak1ng.
The=clay must be rendered homogene-:
our; and this can be tone; only by the
addition Of water during the process
until the clay" becomes. plastic: like
dough. The second essential is the ad-
dition Of sand to the point of satura-
ton, but not beyond.
No sand-clay road can satisfactorily
Withstand the severity of public travel
without having first been reduced to a
compact homogeneous mass of sand
and clay. Each grain of sand should
be in touch with other grains on all
sides. Such a condition cannot be Sc
cured without the agency of water. It
Is useless to roll dry sand-clay, road
before it has been rendered homoge-
neous by the pudding process and the
grains Of sand have been brought into
contact, with only the interstices be-
tween them filed with clay as bind
er. The first operation is mixing; the
second is rolling as the mixture dries.
This forces the particles Of sand to-
gether. and any excess of clay tends
to- rise to the surface, rendering it
sticky. This clay must in turn be
sanded and the operations repeated un-
til the surface has become hard and
compact.
Many failures have been made in the
building Of sand-clay roads, and few
Of the more common causes for these
failures will be pointed out. The first
cause Of failure is the want Of perfect
drainage. The imperfections may be
In the cross sectional drainage, the
side bitches or the drainage Of the
subgrade or roadbed. It is customary
to give to sand-clay road a little
greater crown than is usually given
to a macadam road, especially where
the grade is above per cent. The
subject II side bitches should have
more careful consideration than is usu-
ally given in case Of macadam roads.
II the subsoil upon which the road is
built is clay it is important that the
bottom Of the side bitches should be
eighteen inches or more below the
crown or middle Of the Travelled track.
Il, on the other hand, the land is roll
ing and the subsoh is sand Of consid-
cradle depth, thus giving perfect nat
ural drainage to the roadbed, little or
no side ditch will be required.
Perhaps the most common error in
drainage is the failure to drain proper
y and thoroughly all places where
there are wet weather springs. If
necessary, the roadbed must be changed
10 as to locate it upon dry ground, as
even the deepest side bitches practical
BILE may fail to give relief where such
springs exist. 1t is important to avoid
deep cuts and to carefully consider all
probable sources of trouble. The writ
Or has often seen old roadbeds with
water oozing from all parts during a
rainy season in spite Of sufficient side
bitches, the water even rising in the
oenter Of twenty foot roadbed and
standing on the surface or slowly run
ming along the wheel tracks to the
nearest mudhole. 1t should be remem-
bered that water, beyond very linn
tied amount, adds nothing of value to
the sand-clay road after it is CON-
pleted. II water is always present,
sand should be used without clay.
Sand and water make a better road
than sand and clay and water. In
proof Of this statement attention need
only be called to the numerous places
where water crosses the roads in sandy
districts. Such fords are always CON-
paratively solid.
Another cause Of failure is the want
Of thorough mixing. There may be
proper amount Of sand, and clay may
be placed upon the road, yet if it is
not thoroughly puddled and mixed to
saturation in every place the road is
not likely to Withstand public travel.
Some sections will break and become
loose sand, while others will become
muddy in wet weather and hard in
dry weather. Such variations may &C.
cur every few feet and even at the
same place, one. wheel track being in
loose and the other In mud.
In northern sections frost IL another
cause Of failure and one more dt@cult
to deal with than any heretofore men,