The Birmingham age-herald., 1908-01-30
MAINTENANCE OF ROADS
 MOST IMPORTANT FACTOR
Massachusetts Highways Are Probably Best In the Union and Member of Commission Discusses Ex-
 pense of Road Repairing.

Robert Irion summarizes the situation as follows:
 "As we hear so much said about roads of late and as we almost mire in the mud on the west side of Shades mourn tain. we think we would like to ex- press ourselves on the subject, and state our opinion and our experience. In the first place, do not place all the blame on the Board of Revenue. Let more men obey the law and qualify themselves to vote.
 .Elect men who will go out over the roads at all seasons and see what is need ed If they fail to locate all the bad places, form a committee large enough to demonstrate general interest in the movement Then help the board all you can. We think the people are more to blame for bad roads than the board.
 Bad Business Policy.
 "What farmer would hire a man to work on his farm and then pay no more attention to what he was doing until the crop season is past and the man calls for his wages? Yet that is just what the majority is doing with the board.
 "They are public servants, hired and paid by the people, They are governed as well as protected by the law, and let the people dictate where and when and how they shall do the work. If they fail to do all in their power, hire an- other man next time.
 "In short pay your taxes, demand your rights and see that you get them Then we shall have better roads. Personally we have witnessed the expenditure or some 10000 in building hard roads, have seen three counties developed from the worst kind of mud roads into a system of fine turnpikes and the natural condi- tions were not nearly so favorable as they | are in Jefferson county today. If the i editor will allow space in future l VIII describe the methods employed, the ma | terial used, and how the board conducted | tba business. ROBERT IRION, "Irondale, R. F. D. No. l.
 | important Letter on Maintenance.
 Maintenance, that important feature of road work which has been so sadly neg lect, l in Jefferson for the past few years, is the subject of very important paper
 bv Austin B. Fletcher, special agent Of
 the government and secretary of the Massachusetts highway commission Here | is a part of it:
 "Someone has said that the mainten- | ance of a nlacadam road should begin i on the day the road is completed. In a
 sense this statement is not far from the
 truth It is usually not necessary to do
 much to the macadam surface for year I or two but the gutters, catch basins, and l culverts must be kept clean, the weeds along the rS sides cut or, preferably,
 pulled out by the roots, and the small | gullies in the shoulders and on the slopes filled before they become too large.
 "It is quite possible, particularly when
 the road is built in the fall of the year | and trap rock was used that loose stones
 will apepar on the surface the first spring l after the road Is opened to travel. These need not alarm the road official. They | should be picked up and stacked for | future use. It is astonishing how 1eW | loose stones on the surface of a macadam | road will have the appearance of great number, so that the uninformed always
 think, and frequently state, that the road is going to pieces. It is fact that often such stones will disappear into | the macadam after the first rain.
 Will Need Repairs.
 "Of course the macadam will become
 worn in time and need repair. No one l can state accurately how much the mac adam surface will wear off in a given , time. The dictum, heard so often, that 1 the mscadam will wear down one-half inch in a year is fallacy. The length of life of a properly built road depends
 especially upon the volume and kind of | traffic over it, .ne quality of the stone
 of which it is composed and its peculiar fitness to resist the wear to which 1t Is
 subjected and also upon the climatic conditions of the locality.
 "A certain Massachusetts road built of an excellent quality of trap rock in the best manner needed resurfacillg within two l years after it was completed. The road was a portion of a main thorougnfare | just outside of one of the largest cities Tn
 the state. In addition to the usual heavy traffic to which such road must be sun-
 iected it was used constantly by drays
 loaded with the products of several mills. 1 There are many niles oI stdle ioouS III l Massachusetts built of broken field stones
 and in use for 10 or 12 years on which little or no surface repairs have been 1 needed.- in the first case mentioned it i was probably mistake to have used the l macadam type of surfacing. Vitrihed l paving brick, or possibly blocks of granite l or some other hard material, would have more nearly suited the conditions. In the latter case the field stones have served | their purpose admirably, though some 1 of the roads could and probably would have been built of gravel had that ma | terial been obtainable at reasonable l cost.
 Annual Restoration Costly. sIt was formerly held that the macadam surface should be restored annually to its l original thickness Doubtless this prac- tice was excellent, so far as the condition | of the roads was concerned. but such an- nuar restoration Is costly. The present practice is to keep the surface always smooth, to fill any small holes or incipiene