Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1908-04-30

Congress, and is now conducting ex-
periments to save She roads while
not c0ndeming the motor ear.
l The Office of Public Roads of the United
States Department of Agriculture has re-
Gently been conducting series of very ir-
teresting experiments to learn the amount
of damage done to the rock surface thoro-
oughfares by automobiles. The results
prove that the modern fast moving motor
car is the greatest menace to macadam roads
that has ever made its appearance.
On some stretches Of thorougfare, espe-
cially in New England, where many broad
and smooth roads have been constructed,
the retrogression is not less than 40 per
cent. and it has been forced upon the Direc-
tor of the Office of Publie Roads and upon
many highway engineers that if some plan
is not speedily devised for overcoming the
bad effects OF mans latest and most sensa-
tional mode of land transportation, the
& monetary loss will be stupendons and the
good work Of many years viii 60 for
i naught.
j 1t is not only in America that this con-
dition prevails. The men of England,
France, Germany, Holland, Belgium and
other coutries OF the old world where hard
surfaced highways are appreciated have also
learned that the big soft rubber tires Of the
automobile are doing an almost incredible
lor of hars hos a{4so oil
taken cognizance Of the condition and has
called an international Congress to meet at
Paris on October 1 to discuss plans for
saving the roads, while IN no way lntsifer-
ing with the development Of The automo-
bile, for no scientist will condemn one
, worthy ciyilizing influence because it tenn
porarily conflicts with another He will
J merely admit that new condition has
arisen and then set on foot an investigation
with the idea of mastering it,
, To many it may seem beyond belief that
to road composed of bits Of crushed flint
rock, but it becomes plain when the theory
of such roads is explained. The macadam
road, named after John Louden Macadam
Of Ayr, Scotland, who was for years high
) way surveyor of Bristol, was first laid down
by the eminent French road engineer TTe-
! sauget of Limoges, who wisely figured that
slowly moving IRON tired wagons would
crush dust particles from the stones of the
, roads surface that those particles would
5 be constantly sifted between the interstiees
/ of the large stones; that every passing
wagon would crush them frmer into all
! ruts and inequalities; that rains would aid
and the ultimate result would be smooth
: surface, water-shedding highway.
Tresauget planned wisely; Maeadam
! came two decades later and made a slight
: change in the laying of the road foundation
and gave to such thoroughfafes his name.
: For century and a quarter she wisdom Of
J the road engineers of Limoges and Ayr was
i justified. Then arose condition they had
never figured on a fast moving vehicle
running on broad soft tires. The roads be-
J gan to suffer at once for the following rea-
sons: The rubber tire, being soft, creates
no rock dust itself as does the iron tire OF a
wagon, and the very life Of these roads de-
mands constant supply Of that material.
It is the surface binder that keeps the road
: smooth; cracks filed in; that maintains the
eyenness and binds the rubble stones into
one imperyious mass. Every iron tired
} wheel does its own small quote Of good by
acting as rock dust maker and a minia-
ture road roller. The auto whirling along
! at dizzy speed simply fattened its tires
against the ground as it sped and the trac-
!, tiYe force so exerted hurled the precious
rock dust into the air and from where il
was swept il to the adjacent farms and
lawns in binding clouds. So pronounced
was the mere dust nuisance created in many
portions Of the country that real estate de-
! creased in value TO an appreciable extent,
and farmers complained that she eger-in-
} oreasinq dust on their fields. vines and trees
made II impossible for them to, sell their
haryests at as good prices as formerly.
4 When these conditions had been estab-
lished by scientifically gathered data the
! Director Of the Office Of Public Roads set on
foot numerous Investigations and ordered
many experiments; the results q which il
] is believed win ultimately prove the auto
mobile TO be great benefactor, for IN the
struggle to overcome the conditions created
Z fshiohwav enrinpers nausk da one n keVo