Connecticut western news., 1908-01-23
HOW ID BUILD
 COUNTRY ROADS ,paN NEWS" HAS ROAD DEPARTMENT"
Uncle Sam to Provide Us With Practi- cal Articles Subscribers Are Asked to Forward to "The News" Their Questions on Road Construction.
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS WASHINGTON, D. o.

UNITED STATES
 DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
 OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS
 WASHINGTON. D. o.
 The U. s. Office of Public Roads will supply this paper with prac- tical 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 to the office of Public Roads any ques- tion which they desire answered relating to road construction and maintenance. Questions and answers will be published by this paper at suitable intervals.
 THE MAINTENANCE OF EARTH ROADS
 We may recognize the value of hard and durable roads in all parts of the country, but still the fact remains for 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 3nly road at present available. Hence, these communities should set themselves seriously to work to learn the best meth ods of maintaining earth roads and of Prosperity 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 its location, drainage, construction and maintenance.
 An earth road composed of water holding soil should be exposed to tre sun and air as freely as possible, as com parison between the shaded and sunny portions of such road will easily indi- cate. This should be accomplished by clearing a sufficient amount of trees and undergrowth away from the road. Il must be remembered, however, that sandy and gravelly roads require moist - ure, and in these cases some shac e should be retained. Furthermore, trt es are beneficial along river banks and on steep grades subject to washing.
 Drainage is one of the most important points to consider in connection with an earth road. The majority of earth roads in all mountainous and hilly dis tricts have too much drainage. Occa- sionally road will be found with five ditches, three in the middle made by the horses hoofs and by wheels of the vehicles, and two on the sides. All well-constructed earth roads are SUD- 1 posed to have no more than two ditches, one on each side of the travelled road way. Keep the water out of the middle of the road by giving it crown or ele- vation in the center of 711a inches above the top of the inner slope of the ditch for 20 foot road, and where the hills are little steep make the crown 10 inches. With a crown of about 1 inch to the foot from the center to the sides, the ditches 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 ditches, tile or concrete drains should, if possible, be provided. They should have sufficient capacity and fall to carry the maximum 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 in stance, 12 inch pipe laid on a one per cent grade will carry 1,8O0 gallons per minute, while the same pipe laid on a 3 per cent grade will carry 2,50O gallons per minute. Furthermore, a culvert laid flat will soon fill 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 rever sed in con structing road, the result will be less satisfactory than if the soil be left at the top of the road, for soil makes a better surface to a road than clay. If the road bed is largely clay to start with, it will be well to place sandy soil or clean sand on top. A covering of 6 to 10 inches of sand upon clay that persists in breaking up into deep mud holes will usually be satisfactory, and if sand enough be added, this clay will cease to make mud. If the roadbed is composed of sand it can be improved by an application of clay.
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