Burlington weekly free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1866-1928, 1908-04-23
MOTOR CARS MENACE ROADS
No Vehicle So Damaging to
Macadam.
Unless Some Plan Can lie Devised TO
overcome the had EHcct the Mon
ctnry Loss VIII lie Enormous
France Calls Congress.


| washington Cor. Boston Transcript
The office of public roads Of the United
states department of agriculture has re-
Gently been conducting series of very
interesting experiments to learn the
amount of damage done to the rock sur
| face thoroughfares by automobiles. Tho
| results prove that the modern fast NOV
| ing motor car Is the greatest menace to
| macadam roads that has ever made It's
appearance.
| on some stretches Of thorouChfaros.
| especially I'm New England where many
broad and smooth roads have been con-
| structed the rctrogrcsson Is not less
| than forty per cent. and it has been
| forced upon the director of the office
| of public roads and upon many highway
engineers that If some plan Is not speed
| lily devised for overcoming the bad eff
fccts of mems latest and most sensn-
! tional mode of land transportation, the
| monetary loss will he stupendous and
The good work of many years will go
I for naught.
It Is not only in America that this
condition prevails. The men of England.
| France. Germany. Holland. Belgium and
other countries of the old world where
| hard-surfaced highways are appreciated
| have also learned that the big, soft rub
| hcr tires of the automobile are doing an
| almost incredible amount of harm.
| France has officially taken cognizance o.
| the condition and has called an intcrna-
| tional congress to meet at Paris on oct
! II to discuss plans for saving the roads.
| while in no way interfering with the de-
| velopment Of the automobile. for no SCI
enlist will condemn one worthy civilHing
| influence because It tcmpora rily conflicts
with another. He will merely admit that
new condition has arisen. and then set
on foot an investigation with the idea
of mastering It.
To many it may seem beyond belief
| that n pneumatic rubber tire can work
| any injury to a road composed of bits
OF crushed flint rock. but It becomes
plain when the theory Of such roads IS
explained The macadam road, named
after John Louden Macadam Of AYR,
| Scotland. who was for years highway
surveyor of Bristol was first laid down
by the eminent French road engineer
| TresauCee Of Limoges. who wisely fig
ured that slowly moving, iron tired var-
ons would crush dust particles from the
!
particles would be constantly siftod be-
| tween the intcrstices Of the large stones:
that every passing wagon would crush
ther frmer into all ruts and inoquali-
TICS that rains would aid and the ulti-
mate result would be n smooth surface,
water shedding highway.
Tresauget planned wisely: Macada m
came two decades later and made
y;,.l,k aI,, L.,
foundation and gave to such thorough
fares his name. For n century and a
quarter the wisdom OF the road engi-
neers OF Limoges and Ayr was justified.
Then arose condition they had never
figured on: n fast moving vehicle run
ming on broad. soft tires. The roads be-
gan to suffer Mt once, for the following
reasons: Tho rubber tire being soft. Gre
ates no rock dust itself as does the iron
tire of a wagon. and tho very life Of
these roads demands constant supply
of that material. 1t Is the surface bind
| or that keeps the road smooth: cracks
iled in: that maintains the evenncss
and binds the ruhble stones into one i'm
pervious mass. Every iron tired wheel
acting as n rock dust maker and a min
along Mt dizzy speed. simply fattcned its
tires against the ground II sped and
the tractive force so excrted hurled the
precious rock dust into the air and
from whore Il was swept To the adjacent
farms and lawns in binding clouds. So
pronounced was the mere dust nuisance
created In many portions Of the country
that real estate decreased in value to an
appreciable extent. and farmers COM
planned that the ever-increasing dust on
their fields, vines and trees made It I'm
possible for them to sell their harvcsts
at good prices as formerly.
When these conditions had been estab-
ished by scientifically gathered data the
director of the office of public roads set
on foot numerous Investigations and or
dered many experiments, the results Of
which, II Is believed. will ultimately
prove the automobile to he a great ben
efactor, for In the struggle to overcome
the conditions created highway engi-
neers must do one of two things-Nnd a
road surfacins material which makes no
dust and needs no dust to maintain Its
integrity, or discover a method OF con-
trolling the dust the roads already
laid. When that is done one of the great
est problems Of the centuries will have
been solved and humanity will have
gained one Of the greatest blessings i'm
aginable, Absolutely dust proof thor
oughfares would add UNNECESSARILY to
) the comforts of the human race: multi
ply the beauty Of vast stretches of coun-
try; add countless millions of wealth 10
suburban and country property, and dc
much to retard disease for dirt means