Connecticut western news., 1908-04-23
AUTOMOBILES AND COUNTRY ROADS
RUBBER TIRES REMOVE SURFACE
Experiments Being Made by Depart ment of Agriculture to Save the
 Roads-Not Conforming the Autos.
Special correspondence of The News


 Roads-Not Condemning the Autos.
 Special correspondence of The News
 The Office of Public Roads of the United States Department of Agr1cul- ture has recently been conducting a series of very interesting experiments to learn the amount of damage done to the rock surface thoroughfares by automo- biles 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 thoroughfare, especially in England, where many broad and smooth roads have been con- structed, the retrogression Is not less than 40 per cent and it has been forced upon the Director of the Office of Public Roads and upon many highway engi- neers that if some plan is not speedily devised for overcoming the bad effects of mems latest and most sensational mode of land transportation, the none tary loss will be stupendous and the good work of many years will go for naught Macadam, of macadam road fame, wisely figured that slowly moving iron tired wagons would crush dust particles from the stones of the roads surface, that those particles would be constantly sifted between the interstices of the large stones. that every passing wagon would crush them frmer into all ruts and inequalities; that rains would aid and the ult1mate result would be smooth surface, water shedding high way. ..|...
 Then arose a condition Ethey had never figured on, i. G., a fast moving vehicle running on broad soft tires. The roads began to suffer at once for the following reasons: The rubber tire, being soft. creates no rock dust itself as does the iron tire of wagon, and the very life of these roads demands a con- stant supply of that material. It IS the surface binder that keeps the road smooth, cracks filled in; that maintains the evenness and binds the rubble stones into one imperVious mass. Every iron tired wheel does its own small quota of good by acting as rock dust'maker and a miniature road roller. The auto whirring along at dizzy speed simply fattened it's tires against the ground as it sped and the tractive force so exerted hurled the precious rock dust into the air and from where 1t was, swept it to the adjacent farms and lawns in blind ing clouds. So pronounced was the mere dust nuisance created in many portions of the country that real estate decreased in value to an appreciable ex- tent and farmers complained that the ever-increasing dust on their fields, vines and trees made it impossible for them to sell their harvests at as good prices as formerly.
 The Director of the Office of Public Roads set on foot numerous investiga- tlons and ordered many experiments; the results of which it is believed will ultimately prove the automobile to be 8 great benefactor, for in the struggle to overcome the conditions created. high way engineers must do one of two things; find road surfacing material which makes no dust and needs no dust to maintain it's integrity, or discover method of controlling the dust on the roads already laid.
 To the time of present writing no dust-proof road surface material cheap enough for use in country districts has been found, and the, experiments now proceeding are therefore along the second line, the controlling of the dust by various methods of spraying and by the use of binder materials. In some sections, especially through the great fruit belts of California, splendid suc- cess in dust suppression has been at tained by spraying the dirt roads with oils possessing asphaltic bases. In other portions of the country the wise administering of coal tar preparations has aided to great extent, and drench- ing with calcium chloride has shown that the dust can be kept at minimum. Those methods however, are not perfect solutions of the vast problem of road maintenance and dust suppression. They are merely palliatives.
 United States Office of Public Roads
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