Amador ledger., 1908-01-24
The Maintenance
of Earth Roads.

From the u. s. Bureau of Roads.
We may recognize the value of hard
and durable roads in all parts of the
country, but still the fact remains
that for a long time to come the
majority of the roads will be com
posed of earth. Furthermore. in about
nine months out of the year, the
earth road, if properly cared for, is
reasonably satisfactory. For many
agricultural districts, it is the only
road at present available. Hence,
these communities should set them
selves seriously to work to learn the
best methods of maintaining earth
roads and of getting the maximum
service from them. Prosperity comes
to the country to great extent
through the prosperity of the farmers.
This fact strongly suggests the i'm
portance of giving the earth road
every possible care and attention in
it's location, drainage, construction
and maintenance.
An earth road composed of water
holding soil should be exposed to the
sun and air as freely as possible, as
comparison between the shaded and
sunny portions of such road will
easily indicate. This should be
accomplished by clearing sufficient
amount of trees and underground
away from the road. 1t must be
remembered, however, that sandy and
gravelly roads require moisture, and
in these cases some shade should be
retained. Furthermore, trees are
beneficial along river banks and on
steep grades subject to washing.
Drainage is one of the most import
ant points to consider in connection
with an earth road. The majority of
earth roads in all mountainous and
hilly districts have too much drain
age. Occasionally a road will be
found with five bitches, three in the
M Iddle made by the horses boofs and
by wheels of the vehicles, and two
on the sides. All we'll Reconstructed
earth roads are supposed to have no
more than two bitches, one on each
side of the travelled roadway. Keep
the water out of the middle of the
road by giving it crown or eleva-
tion in the center of ~ inches above
the top of the inner slope of the
ditch for a 20-foot road. and where
the hills are little steep make the
crown 10 inches. With a crown OF
about l inch to the foot from the
center to the sides, the bitches which
are often built across the road on
steep grades to defect the water will
not be needed. Instead of carrying
water across the road in open bitches,
tile or concrete drains should, II poss-
ible, he provided. They should have
sufficient capacity and fall to carry
the maxium amount of water that is
expected to flow through them at any
one time. The capacity is increased
in proportion to the fall or grade /;
for instance, 12-inch pipe laid on a
one per cent grade will carry 1880
gallons per minute, while the same
pipe laid on per cent grade will
carry $500 gallons per minute.
Furthermore, culvert laid fat will
soon ill up, while one having a good
incline will keep itself clear. In the
maintenance of an earth road, avoid
the mistake of changing the natural
order Of things. Naturally the soil
is found on top and the clay on the
bottom. If this order Is reversed in
constructing road, the result will
be less satisfactory than if the soil be
left at the top of the road, for soil
makes better surface to a road than
clay. If the roadbed is largely clay
to start with, it will be we'll to place
sandy soil or clean sand on top.
A covering OF 6 to 10 inches of sand
upon clay that persists in breaking
: be satisfactory, and if sand enough
be added, this clay will cease tc
) make mud. If the roadbed is com
posed of sand it can be improved by
an application of clay.
t The rule for serviceable eartt
road, then, is as follows: Make
bitches on each side, keep them open
haul sand and gravel upon sections
nee ding this treatment; use a roaC