Iron County register. [volume] (Ironton, Iron County, Mo.) 1867-1965, 1906-05-31
TYPES OF OLD ROMAN ROAD.

they don't last long, but that they
last as long as they do.
Macadam, who was one of the best
modern road-builders, constructed his|
roads OF the idea that when any road,
bed is thoroughly underdrained, so as|
to remain permanently hard, crushed
stone alone may be used, the pave.|
ment of Roman practice becoming UNI
necessary. Please note-thoroughly|
underdrained, and crushed stone may|
be used. The point is, how many
macadam roadbeds are thoroughly un.|
derdrained, so that they remain per
manently hard? l feel safe in say.|
ing not n in ten; in fact, the roads,
built outside of cities and suburbs|
are not, as a rule, undetermined in|
any way.
In France, which has perhaps the|
finest roads in the world, the roads|
are divided into sections, and one on
two men are put in charge of a sec.|
ton to keep it in perfect repair.
They are required to go over the|
road every day, and in every section
there is a Toulouse, with a quantity
Of stone ready for repair work all
ways on hand. The result is the cost
of maintenance is very low and the|
roads last for years.
Edward K. Parkinson.
In commenting upon the above ar.|
gument by Mr., Parkinson, the editor
of the Country Gentleman says:
Mr.. Parkinson has preached a subj
ject that certainly deserves most
earnest consideration. If a macadam|
road becomes rutted and Quilted the|
first winter, it may be Questioned
whether it is very much better in the|
long run than the mud-bank 1t rel
placed-that is, it will shortly revert
to a condition about as bad.
On the other hand, the weight oil
expert opinion seems at present to|
be against the attempt to build ROD
man roads in this country. Not only
is the expense excessively great, but|
such solidity is unnecessary, with or.|
binary care in draining. Thus MrII
w. P. Judson, in his book on roads
and pavements,, says that the Roman
roads were remarkable for their
strength and durability, and for It'll
tie else. If anyone were so unwise|
as to attempt to build similar roads|
now, the cost would be from four to|
eight times the present cost of curl
most expensive modern pavementsl|
which are, in every way, better for|
modern uses, and upon which the
cities of the United States are esti.|
mated to have expended half a bill
lion Of dollars"
Similarly the late Prof. Shaler del
clares that the Romans built with
an utter disregard as to the relations|
of strength and strain" He adds:
"In the construction of the Roman
road we note a crude perception of the|
solidity which stone foundations afI|
ford, and also, in the cement layer,|
a recognition of the Importance of
keeping the road dry; beyond thesc|
half-formed conceptions there is, in|
these structures, nc trace of engineer.|
ing skill. The sections Of the|
Roman roads indicate that the ccnl
%struction was often three feet or mo.e|
In thickness even in places where ex|
perience should have quickly told, as|
1t has taught moderns, that six on
eight inches of stone would have|
served the purpose. In a singslarly|
clumsy way they combined layers OIL
different substances, one placed above
another, usually with a block pave1
ment on top, in such conditions thai
no beneficial effect whatever could
have been gained from such accumulal
ton. In general these roads, meas1
ured in the cost of labor in this coun1
try, must have cost from $4,000 I'd
100000 a mile. 1t is not too much
to say that at least three-fourths of|
the expenditure was really wasted"