Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1906-08-30
DIRT ROADS IN WISCONSIN
How FirSt-class Clay Roads are
Made Cheaply and Easily
When Fundamental
Principles are
Followed.
rsE Or rnE Rom nRAG.

of economic geology, Wisconsin geo
logical survey, spent some time in
Mineral Point last week He is an
enthusiast for the use of the split-log
road drag in improving country
roads. In n recent article which he
prepared for the press Of the state he
says:
1T is almost too good to be true,
but it is a fact nevertheless that the
best dirt road in the state is one of the
cheapest. In Waupaca county about
six and halt miles south of the
county seat an enterprising road over
seer, Mr.. ChaS. w. Gibson by name,
got tired of three-quarter mile stretch
of bad clay road in his district and
fixed it up at n cost of twenty-four
dollars so that it is the best dirt road
in the state.
"Before it was made over this road
was like most other dirt roads lower
than the ground alongside OF it so that
the water couldn't get out of it but by
evaporatiug. The ground was low so
the evaporing was n slow process, and
teams had plenty of chance to work
the road into an impossible bed of
puddled clay OF about the right con-
sistency To run through brick ma
chine to make brick, but pretty poor
stuff to travel through, and through
is literally the word. When the water
finally dried up the humps baked to u
brick-likc hardness which made the
road extremely uneven and hard to
travel over until they were beaten
down by the travel to form a two inch
layer of fine dust.
"But all this is changed. Now the
road is never muddy in rainy weather
and there is almost no dust in dry
weather, and better still the road is in
condition so that it can be kept in this
desirable dustless aud mudless state
for an annual cost of only three to
five dollars per mile.
"All this sounds like difficult thing
to do but it was simple rs could be.
Mr.. Gibson cut out the brush along
his road, plowed the sides, turned the
dirt in toward the center with road
grader and made good rounded
grade of such shape that the water
readily found its way to the bitches.
SO far he did just like any other road
overseer does with his road machine.
But MIR. Gibson went farther. He
took forks and threw the sous outside
the bitches and narrowed the soft new
l, aI "a rrY, 40 IN n nd al .
even. Then after the first rain he
went over it with King split.log
road drag to fill up the ruts which the
travel had made in the still loose dirt
of the grade. He repeated the drag
ging after each subsequent rain and
on which heavily loaded wagon
made hardly any impression even
right after a rain when most clay
roads would be all mud
"This road drag was made for the
town by the local blacksmith for about
five dollars. 1t consisted of an eight
inch log split into pieces. These
pieces were set up with the fiat faces
forward and connected with wooden
braces to hold them about thirty inches
apart. For about half its length the
front log was shed along the lower
side of the face with steel and provid-
ed with a chain to draw the apparatus
by. A team was hitched on the chain
in such manner that as the drag was
pulled along it lay at an angle with
the road and worked "a little of the
dirt toward the center to fill the ruts.
"By going over the roads after
every rain a little soft puddled clay
was dragged toward the center filling
the ruts and keeping up the good
rounded shape OF the grade so that
water ran off readily. This puddled
clay was packed into the ruts by the
ravel and dried hard as brick so that
10 became steadily harder for wheels
to cut any ruts in it; thus it came
about also that the road was not cut
into big clods which could dry and be
pounded into dust and so the road Is
nearly dustlcss in dry weather. "
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