The Breckenridge news. (Cloverport, Ky.) 1876-1955, 1908-09-16
'.SURFACING OF ROADS
An Excellent Foundation Is a
Prime Necessity.
MUST BE FREE FROM WATER
Provision Should Be Made For Thor
ough Drainage-How to Roll the
Observation-Disclosures to Use For
Surfacing Rural Highways.

material is applied to road all the
preliminary work should be complet-
ed. The road should have been grad
ed, drains provided and the road made
safe by proper guard rails. With all
this done, the dirt road is a founda
ton for the different materials that
may be put upon it.
For country roads there need be
considered only pavemeRts that are
put on in small fragments. The ma
terials most commonly used are gravel
and broken stone. Oyster shells and
Stag from iron furnaces are oftentimes
employed in localities where these ma
terials are at hand. while under GER
tain conditions, when no other ma
terials could be obtained, burnt clay
has proved serviceable. The object of
a pavement is to furnish a wearing
surface for the road and a protection
for the foundation from water and con-
sequent softening. 1t is in reality a
roof.
When dry, all but the very sandy
soils are firm enough to support the
weight of wagons Of all kinds. but
when wet little support is furnished.
1t is well known that sand when con-
fined will stand any pressure that can
be put upon it. Thus If sandy road
bed is covered with a surfacing ma
terial which will hold the sand in place
an excellent foundation is obtained.
While q surfacing material is designed
to take the wear. it Is the foundation
that must resist the pressure, and any
road which is constructed without CIV
ing due attention to the foundation is
wrong from the start and never will
be a good road until the defect is rem
edied. To prepare natural roadbed
for surfacng material 1t is necessary
to bring 1t to proper grade and to
conform its cross section with that Of
the finished surface-that is, no sur
facing should be put upon a roadbed
which is fat or, as Is oftentimes the
case, lower in the middle than at the
sides. In such instances the proper
shape should be given to the roadbed
by filling in with such material as is
necessary and then rolling the whole
until it becomes firm and unyielding.
During the course of construction of
r. roadbed. If there are places that
have a wet, springy subsoil, they must
be drained and everysprecaution taken
to make the foundation of the road
dry. The pavement will keep water
eyom going through from the top, but
Itwill not keep water from percolating
into the foundation from springs at
the sides or underneath. Therefore
where there is danger of water get
ting to the foundation from the sides
or from below 1t must be cut off either
by side drains or by drains directly I'M
derneath the road itself Where the
soil is too light. gravelly or sandy earth
should be carted in to take its place.
With the roadbed brought up to
grade and provision made for thor
ough drainage 1t is then compacted by
rolling either by horse or steam power.
In the rolling of the foundation per-
haps quite as good results can be OBJ
tanned with a horse roller as with
steam roller, and in some loose soils
much less difficulty will be experienced,
although more rolling will be required
to compact the earth as firmly as by
the heavier steam roller. This is a
part of the work that is too often
sighted and is the cause of depres-
sions subsequently appearing in the
finished road. The rolling of the foun-
dalton will bring out the weaker
places, where there will be a settling.
The depressions should be filed and
brought to an even surface with grav-
ell If it is at hand. 1t is cheaper to
even up depressions by rolling the
foundation than by attempting to
Sfnooth the finished surface with addi-
tional broken stone. When the founda-
ton has been rolled and all unevenness
has disappeared ii is then ready to re-
ceive the surfacing.
1t oftentimes happens when grading
a particular piece of road preparatory
to surfacing it with broken stone that
1t is necessary to do considerable
ucdNN III SUN lloNlhNCo IL may
be advisable to delay the laying Of
macadam for some time in order TO
give the entertainments time to settle,
for it is impossible to construct an EN-
bankment of earth more than a few
feet in height without having subse-
quent settlement. If this settling took
place evenly all along the embankment,
no particular harm would be done to
the surfacing laid upon it. but owing
to the difference in the soils composing
embankments and also the way the
earth is dumped there is always tend
ency for some parts to settle more than
others.
II there arise circumstances making
It impracticable to wait for the en-
bankment to season." every preeau-
ton should be taken In its formation
to guard against uneven settling This
can be done by spreading the earth in
successive layers of about a foot In
thickness, which are rolled or tamped