Warren sheaf. [volume] (Warren, Marshall County, Minn.) 1880-current, 1908-01-23
maintenance Of
DIRT ROADS
Valuable Suggestions by the u.
s. Agricultural Department
at Washington.

(Ine u. >. Omce OF PUBIC Roads i
will supply this paper with practical |
articles On various features of road |
building and maintenance. which
will be published from time to time. |
Our subscribers are urged to give
this matter careful consideration, |
and are requested to forward to this
Office for transmission toH
the Office of Public Roads any prac-
tical question which they desire
answered relating to road cons1ruc-
tion and maintenance. Questions
and ANSWERS will be published by
this paper at suitable intervaIs.)
We may recognize the value of
hard and durable roads in all parts of
the country, but still the = fact re-
mains that for a long time to come
the majority Of the roads will be
composed 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
themselves seriously to work to learn
the best methods of maintaining
earth roads and of getting the
maximum service from them. Pros
perity comes to the country to a
great extent through the prosperity
of the farmers. This fact strongly
suggests the Importance of giving
the earth road every possible care
and attention in it's location, DRAIN
age. 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 .ac-
compIisfled by clearing a 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 i'm
portant points to consider in counec-
tion with an earth road. The
majority of earth roads in all noun
famous and hilly districts have too
much drainage. Occasionally road
will be found with five bitches. three
in the middle made by the horses
hoofs and by wheels of the vehicles.
and two on the sides. ALI well-con-
structed 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 OF
elevation in the center of ~ inches
above the top of the inner slope of
the ditch for a 2O-foot road. and
where the hills are little steep
make the CROWN 10 inches. With a
CROWN of about 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. In
stead of carrying wafer across the
road in open bitches. tile or concrete
drains should. tt possible. be provid-
ed. They should have sufficient
cauacity and fall to carry the
maximum amount of water that is
expected to flow through them at
auy one time. The cauacity is in
creased i'm proportion to the fall OF
grade: for instance. l2-inch pipe laic
{ ON a one per cent grade will carry
800 gallons per minute. while the
same pine laid on per cents grade
will carry 2.5oO gallons per minute.
Furthermore. culvert laid fat viii
SOON ffIl up. while one having guoC
decline will keep itself clear.
I'm the maintenance of an eartE
road, avoid the mistake OF changing
the natural order Of Things. Nattlr
ally the soil is found on too and the
clay ON the bottom If this order il
reversed In constructing road. the
RESULT viii be less satisfactory thar
if the soil be left at the top OFT thu
road. for soil makes . better surfac'
tn road than CLAW. 1f the road bee
is largely clay to start with, 1t vii
be well to place sandy soil or clear
sand on top. a covering OF 6 to 4
inches Of sand upon clay that persist
IL breaking no onto deep mudhole
viii usually be satisfactory, and i
Sand enough be- added, this clay vii
eease TO make mud If the ruadbet
= composed Of sand tt can be i'm
proved h5 n sppltcattOn OF clay