Northern Wisconsin advertiser. [volume] (Wabeno, Wis.) 1898-1925, 1907-01-31
THE ESSENTIALS OF GOOD HIGH
WAYS CLEARLY NOTED.
IMPORTANCE OF IGRADES
Location on Section Lines Not Always
AdvisabIe-Many Factors to Be
Considered in Laying out-Rcad
Is Only as Good as Its Poorest
Part.


literature of good roads Mr.. William
Otis Hotchkiss of the university lays
down three fundamental propositions
as the basis of all operation looking
to the attainment Of good roads, as
follows:
LIST. Proper location.
I'd. Proper construction.
Sd. intelligent maintenance.
The first requirement is complied
with when the road is laid so that the
distance between the points con
nected is the shortest possible con-
sistent with the facts and conditions
and so well balanced as to grade that
a minimum of effort will be required
to go from one end to the other. The
statement is so easily made that it
may be thought that the performance
is equally so. This is a mistake. how
ever, and one that has been the cause
of more failures in road making than
any other for 1t must be remembered
that in the work of roadnaking there
ton that will affect the plans of the
makers. Upon this phase of the
question Mr. Hotchlziss says:
The problem of the primary loca-
ton of roads is not an important one
in this state, as roads are to a large
extent already located. Only in the
unsettled northern portions of the
state are new roads being laid out to
any extent. For this reason the sub
ject of location becomes rather one of
relocation. When permanent inn
provement of a road is contemplated
the profitableness of relocation must
be considered. Roads at present are
to large extent located on land
division lines, chiefly section lines. In
case a main travelled road goes about
two sides of a level square section of
land it may be economical to relocate
the road so that it passes in dag
cnal direction through the section.
A fourrod road on two sides of a
section of land occupies sixteen acres.
while road four rods wide in a
diagonal direction through the section
occupies approximately eleven acres
Of land The diagonal road, there
fore, will result in saving of about
five acres. The length of the diagonal
road is only about one and four-tenths
miles as compared with the two miles
of road on two sides of the section"
The saving of land and distance is
the economic question involved in
this proposition. If the cost of con-
struction is $4,000 per mile and the
land is worth $50 per acre, then the
saving by the diagonal road would be
81 200 in cost Of construction and
$3.50 in cost of land. But of course
this is only illustrative of the econ
omics of the question for the final
will be the vadue to the community
of the convenience of having the
shorter distance and must depend
always upon the amount Of traffic
which is to go over the road
In building in any but fat country
the problem of locating road be-
comes more complicated. In a billy
country the length Of the road must
be adjusted to four principal consider
ations: length, cost of construction,
location of suitable bridges and the
securing OF proper grades and drain
age.
In planning road" says Mr.
Hutchins, "the amount of earth work
required in cutting down the hills and
filling the depressions should be made
to cost sum proportional to the cost
Of constructing the greater length
which would be required to go around
hills and depressions in order to
avoid the necessity of cuts. In many
towns in the state expensive cuts and
fills have been made to secure suit
able grades along section lines where
a new right of way not many rods
distant could be bought and a good
round sum paid for dirt, and then q
practically level road constructed at
a total cost less than the sum paid for
the present cuts and fills.
In case 1t is necessary to cross
streams suitable bridge sites will Of
ten determine the proper location of
the road, as the location Of bridge
few hundred feet up or down stream
from any point in a valley may ef-
feet a saving Of considerable per
centage in the cost OF bridge. II
the cost Of the bridge cannot be cut
down by such a change II might often
occur that site far more suitable
could be obtained in which the secur-
ity Of the bridge from wsshouts
would be much greater. n possible
the stream course should be straight
above the bridge. A bridge should
not be located on bend in a stream
II II is possible to avoid doing so.
The grade Of a road is commonly
expressed in t5c number Of feet OF
rise in 100 rect Of horizontal distance
A road with one foot Of rise in 100
feet is said 20 hase a grade Of one