Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1907-08-03
WHAT is A GOOD ROAD

The attempt of certain city au-
;horlties. II such II be. to dlscredit
mscadam roads BY making tho people
sick of them. deserves the over
whelming rebuke OF the citizens sew
| eral corrohoratlons OF the theory that
| this IS what the city roadmakers are
| really trying to do have recently come
to our knowledge. Let us try 20 az
certain what constitutes good sub
urban road.
For the suburbs of Salt Lake city.
with its wide streets and sparse popu-
lation. the expensive asphaltum pave
ment viii be simply ruinous. And
the expensive pavement is not at all
necessary.
The first essential OF the macadam
variety of road is that when finished
It shall present a smooth, compact,
niosaic-like surface of great hardness
But the broken stone roads now be-
ing laid in this CITY have no such sur
face when finished. on the contrary
their surfaces are rough. uncemented
and shifting.
Baker states that "the rolling should
be continued until the stone ceases
to creep In front Of the roller and the
acadam Is firm under the foot as
one walks over II. When rolling ~
complete, one of the larger stones OF
tho course can be crushed under the
roller without indenting the surface
OF the layer"
From an inspection of those now
building. we are of the opinion that
none of our recently finished macad-
amized roads meet this fundamental
requirement on any single square yard
of the surface of the completed paw
ing.
Upon looking over other author1-
ties, we find such observations as this:
ut has been stated In a widely read
pamphlet on roads and pavoments
that neither macadum nor telford is
an economic pavement for the streets
OF village or city. The reasons cited
in support of this statement are pure
ly theoretical and based upon Insult
ficient data to warrant so sweeping
a conclusion. for not only In the city
of Rochester, but in scores of other
cities. are to be found most excellent
examples of street pavements made
by broken stone. There are, 1t is
true. many macadam pavements That
have gone to pieces under heavy traf-
fic but the same may be said OF brick
and of asphalt where Improperly con-
structed or where poor materials have
been used The telford construction
may be used TO advantage where
crusher is not available, broken stone
being imported for the surface coat
and local stone being used for the
underpinning. Gillette. Economics
of Road Construction. page 80.
1t may be recalled that macadam
roads are composed entirely of stone
finely broken, no piece being left larger
than lh inches In diameter. according
to Macadam, on 21s inches according 10
modern practice; while telford roads
have an underpinning, or foundation,
of large stone not less than inches nor
more than IL inches thick. set on edge
like a rough block pavement supporting
a layer of macadam, or broken stone.
Telford seems to be especially favored
in wet soils not easily drained, where
small broken stone would be pushed
down into the soft soil while macadam
Is preferred by most builders in all 9TH
err situations, though some prefer the
telford In any case when sufficient
macadam is laid on top of the founda-
ton. II the broken stone is added in
too thin a layer on top of the rock
foundation. however, the latter may
act as an anvil on which the broken
stone will be quickly crushed or ground
to powder under heavy traffic. Most OF
the authorities prefer macadam
throughout. for the telford foundation
must be laid by hand and Is therefore
expensive. The latter is useful where
a rock crusher can not be had, or
where the ground is very wet; but the
macadam seems TO have the strongest
following. We therefore conclude that
the macadam structure is the best one
for our average city roads here; but
that It should be a macadam and not
an indiscriminate mixture as now
shown In our city street work.