The Birmingham age-herald., 1905-12-18
IMPROVEMENTS FUR
 ROADS OF DALLAS Experiments Being Made to Build Macadam Highways THE GOVERNMENT ASSISTS Citizens Raise Money With Which to Carry on the Work-Ruilding
 One Mile Near Union
 town.
THE GOVERNMENT ASSISTS
BY JAMES G. ADLER.

UJnontown. December 17.-(Special)- The beginning of the movement looking to the improvement of the roads in the Canebrake began of June 13 at the Farm CTS institute held at the government diver sification farm, mention of which was made in these columns at the time The subject of good roads-one of the live topics of the day-was brought up by Prof. J. F. Duggar of the Agricultural and Mechanical college at Auburn in his address on the above occasion.
 In a very earnest plea he set for the almost necessity of having good roads through this section of the country. In his opinion the United States government through the office of the public roads of the department of agriculture would help the people build an object lesson road at this place, of which a considerable num- Der have been constructed by this office stated the plan followed by the office in building the object lesson road which is one of cooperation, the government furnishing all necessary machinery and expert assistants free of charge and the authorities with whom they cooperate furnishing the local expense.
 Professor Duggar then suggested that a committee be appointed to take up the matter at once This suggestion was ap- proved and the following were named: Mayor w. J. Walden, G. D. Stollenwerck and G. B. Johnston. J. E. West was ap- pointed to solicit subscriptions of money to help build the road and Capt. R. A. Hardie to secure subscription of teams.
 This important matter was then taken in hand by Mayor Walden, who at once put himself In correspondence with the office of public roads on the subject. He received hearty encouragement and the promise of government cooperation. The next thing was the matter of finances. About $500 was raised here by MT. West by private subscription. Then Mayor Walden, Judge w. II. Tayloe and Capt c. B. Johnston went before the commits sioner's court then in session and through the united efforts of these men and Com missioner Val Taylor of this city an ap- propriatlon of 5000 was secured from that body for Perry county. Too much praise cannot be bestowed on these gentlemen for their success in this undertaking, and it is needless to say it is highly appre- ciated by the entire community.
 Machinery Arrived.
 The machinery to be used on the road arrived about the middle of October.
 The most important itemsaof sssachnery necessary to cheapen the cost of construc- ton and obtain the best results consists of ten-ton steam roller. d portable crushing outfit. road-grader, wheel scrapers blows, etc. The experts arrived here on November D. These men are J. H. Dodge, road expert; D. ". Randall, as- sistant engineer. and J. H. Rodger, ex- pert roller operator, all of the office of public roads, department of agriculture. The work on the object lesson road began November and is now about one-h half completed. The three men named are In charge. Prof. J. M. Richardson, director of the Canebrake Experimental station. was employed by Mayor Walden to assist these experts, and he has worked faith fully in discharge of his duties The point of beginning of the road Is at the edge of the city limits, at the intersection of Pitts and Water streets, continuing east along Pitts street to the intersection of Pits and Broadway thence north on Broadway to the intersection of College and Broadway; thence east on College street to the public road leading north from town. and thence north on this road terminating near the Canebrake Experi- mental station The first sixteen hundred feet is fourteen feet wide, the remainder being twelve feet.
 The plan of construction Is that usually followed in the system of constructing macadamiZed roads, which consists in reducing grades, securing a perfect sys- tenn of drainage and solid foundation for the surfacing material Tn this in- stance a comparatively smas, amount of excavation was necessary to make the maximum grade four feet in one hundred The storm ditches and culverts were all ready in fairly good condition. The sub grade is made by obtaining earth from the side ditehes and set at a slope of three-quarters of an inch to the foot to conform to the finish surface of the road.
 Treated With Roller.
 This is then treated with a roller until it becomes absolutely firm. Upon this foundation is placed a sub-grade course of limestone rock, local material, broken with hammers and placed at uniform depth of four inches after a thorough consolidation with the roller. Upon this course is placed a finishing course of wearing surface of chert from Bessemer at an average depth of two inches after consolidation. It Is then made copiously wet and rolled until a perfect matrix is formed. which Is impervious to water. It is again rolled dry until no further con soldation by compressing force can be obtained. The chert mentioned above for the finishing course was purchased in Birmingham by Mayor Walden some three weeks ago, he going there expressly for that purpose.
 The cost of road building varies greatly. and is determined by the local conditions to be met In this instance the local ma terial is obtained from various points from four to six miles distant, and has to be hauled by teams at an average cost of s1 per cubic yard or II cents per square yard. one cubic yard making nine square yards of sub-grade course The cost of quarrying breaking and spreading the stone for this course is 3 cents per square yard making a total cost of IA cents per square yard for placing this course ready for the roller. The greater part of the local material was hauled by the farmers of this immediate vicinity who contributed liberaly in the way of teams for the work. The remainder of the haul ing was done by hired teams. The cost of the second or finishing course is II cents per square yard in place. This makes the aggregate cost of material 25 cents per square yard. The total cost of this mile of road to the local community will be ap- proximately s25Oo
 When it's bad it's very bad