The Fulton County news. [volume] (McConnellsburg, Pa.) 1899-current, 1906-10-18
The Worst Enemy.

The worst enemy of the good roads
movement is the stupid neglect to
which the newly-made roads are so
often subjected--a neglect which
dates from the very day on which
they are completed The indiffer-
ence of the public and the parsimony
of legislatures are not more hurtfuI
to this good cause than the fact that
in so many cases the new highways
are suffered to fall .lto disrepair,
just as fast as the traffic and the
weather can wear them down. II is
likely that everyone who reads this
statement can call TO mind one OF
more stretches OF macadamized road
in his immediate neighborhood,
which to-day present a surface which
is merely a mockery of that over
which they rode when the roads were
first opened to the public. This
rapid deterioration was evident even
in the days when the bicycle was pop
ular, and before the automobile had
commenced to tear loose the top
dressing of the roads and scatter it
to the winds under the united trac-
tion and suction of its rubber tires
The deterioration of newly-made
roads was far too rapid, even in those
days; but in this age of the automo-
bile, the rate at which our highways
have been torn TO pieces. mainly be-
cause of lack of maintenance. or of
maintenance that is properly applied,
is simply appalling.
OF all the works of man that come
within the province of the civil engi-
neer, there are few. If any, which call
for more careful attention. and more
immediate repair on the first signs of
disintegration, than the common
turnpike macadamized road. Per-
haps the nearest to it in this respect
are the track and roadbed of a
steam railroad; though we doubt if
even that heavily-worked system
shows the lack of upkeep so quickly
as does a frequently-traveled high
way. The amount of ignorance, or
Indifference, displayed in the neglect
of new macadamized roads would
scarcely be credible to a European,
who has been accustomed to witness
the watchful care with which the
ldluOuo IOduS vi EUROPE are Uldlu-
tanned and the very first signs of
wear corrected. Instead of keeping
a gang of men employed in the con-
stant, day-by-day repair of weak
spots, hollows, and ruts, our authori-
ties in many cases seem to think that
1t is sufficient to spread few loads
of top dressing over the whole sur
face of the road annually or bien-
nially, as the case may be, and let
it go at that. Under this method the
solid portions of the road receive
just as much care as those which
have developed soft spots and show
the need of more extended repair
The top dressing serves no better
| purpose than to temporarily cover up
the damage of the last seasons trav-
| ell. and in few weeks time the sur
/ face is about as badly, If not more,
/ broken up than before. Matters go
from worse to worse until there is
a call for drastic remedies. In nine
cases out of ten the drastic remedy
consists in breaking up the entire
surface. and practically rebuilding
the road.
NOW, II has been proved to dem
onstration, not merely in Europe, but
in certain sections of this country
where the maintenance of roads is
intelligently and conscientiously car
ried on, that if rnacadamized road
be properly built in the first instance,
with firm foundation, adequate drain
age, and an ample crown to shed the
water from its surface; and if small
force of men, answering to the Sec
tion gang on a steam railroad, be
kept constantly employed in repair
ing any incipient wear of the road,
such a highway need never be re-
built, but will be good for all time.
That is the great lesson which needs
be enforced by the advocates of good
roads. When it has been brought
home, and commissioners have
learned to maintain their new roads
in absolutely first-class condition, so
that the value of a nlacadamized road
will be apparent, not merely in the
first few months of its life, but con-
tinuously through the succeeding
years-then, and not till then, we
may look for the rapid extension of
a system of macadamized highways
throughout the whole of the United
States.-Scientific American.