Milford chronicle., 1908-01-24
The Maintenance OfEarth Roads.

VIII supply tAilb paper Will pioStASoi
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 practical ques-
ton which they desire answered re-
lating to road construction and main
tenance. Questions and answers will
be published by this paper at suita-
BILE intervals
We may recognize the value OF
hard and durable roads in all parts
of the country, but still the fact re-
mains that for a 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 only
road at present available. Hence,
these communities should set them
selves seriously to work to learn the
best methods of maintaining earth
roads and of getting the maximum
service from them. Prosperity comes
to the country to a great extent
through the prosperity of the farm
ers. 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
the sun and air as freely as possible,
as comparison between the shaded
and sunny portions of such a road
will easily indicate. This should be
accomplished by clearing a sufficient
amount of trees and undergrOwth
away from the road. 1t must be re-
membered, however, that sandy and
gravelly roads require moisture, and
in these cases some shade should be
retained. Furthermore, trees are
beneficial along river banks and on
steep grades subject to washing.
Drainage is one of the most i'm
portant points to consider in connec-
ton with an earth road. The ma
jority of earth roads in all mountain
Gus and hilly districts have too much |
drainage. Occasionally a road will |
be found with five bitches, three in
the middle made by the horses hoofs
and by wheels of the vehicles, and /
two on the sides. All well-cOn-
structed earth roads are supposed to
have no more than two bitches, one
on each side of the travelled roadway.
Keep the water out of the middle of
the road by giving it a crown or ele-
walton in the center of q inches
above the top of the inner slope of
the ditch for a 20-foot road, and
where the hills are a little steep make
the crown 10 inches. With a crown
of about l inch to the foot from the
center to the sides, the bitches 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 bitches,
tile or concrete drains should, if pos
sible, 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 in
creased in proportion to the fall or
grade for instance, II inch pipe
laid on a one per cent grade will
carry l 800 gallons per minute, while
the same pipe laid on a 2 per cent
grade will carry $500 gallons per
minute. Furthermore, a culvert laid
fat will soon fill up, whileOne having
a good incline will keep itself clear.
In the maintenance of an earth
road, avoid the mistake of changing
he natural order Of things. Natur-
ally the soil is found on top and the
,lay on the bottom. If this order is
in constructing a road, the
'esult will be less satisfactory than
f the soil be left at the top Of the
'oad, for soil makes a better surface
o a road than clay. If the road bed
s largely clay to start with, it will
1e well to place sandy soil or clean
and on top A covering Of 6 to 10
inches of sand upon clay that persists
n breaking up into deep manholes
will usually be satisfactory, and if
and enough be added, this clay will
ease to make mud. If the rOadbed
S composed of sand it can be i'm
proved by an application of clay.
The rule for a serviceable earth
Dad, then, is as follows make
litches on each side and keep them
,pen haul sand and gravel upon