The weekly register. [volume] (Point Pleasant, Va. [W. Va.]) 1862-1909, 1908-09-09
An Excellent Foundation Is a
Prime Necessity.
MUST BE FREE FROM WATER
Provision Should Be Made For Thor
oush Dralnase-How TO Roll the
Observation-Disclosures to Use For
surfaolns Rural HighwayS.


surfaoins Rural Highways.
Before finishing surface of any
material is applied to road all the
preliminary work should be complet'
cd. The road should have been grad.
cd, drains provided and the road made
safe by proper guard rails. With all
this dono. the dirt road is a founda-
ton for tho different materials thnt
may be put upon 1t.
For country roads there need bo
considered only payements 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 serylceable. The object Of
n pavement Is to furnish wearing
surface for the road and protection
for the foundation from water md con-
sequent softening. 1t is in reality
roof.
When dry, all but the very sandy
soils are Erm enough to support the
weight of wagons Of oil kinds, but
when wet little support Is furnished.
1t is well known that sand when con-
fined will stand any pressure that Gun
be put upon It, Thus II sandy road
bed Is covered with surfaclng ma
tcrial which will hold the sand In place
an excellent foundation Is obtained.
While surfacing material Is designed
| to take the wear. 1t Is the foundation
| that must resist the pressure. aud any
| road which Is constructed without glY.'
| 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 surfacIng material It Ia necessary
| to bring 1t to proper grade and to
conform Its cross section with TINT OF
the finished surfacc-that Is, no sur
facing should be put Upon roadbed
which Is fiat or, as Is oftentlmes tho
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 1t becomes flrm and unylelding.
During the course OF construction of
roadbed. II there are places that
have wet. sprlngy subsoil, they must
be drained and every prccaution taken
to make the foundation of the rond
dry. The pavement Will keep water
from going through from the top. but
1t will 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 or either
by sIde drains or by drains directly un'
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 II Is then compncted by
rolling either by horse or steam power.
In the rolling of tho foundation per
haps quite as good results can be OBJ.
talned with a horse roller as with
steam roller, and In some loose soils
much less difficulty will BIO experienced.
although more rolling will be required
to compact the earth as firmly as by
the heavier steam roller. This is
part OF the work that Is too often
sighted and is tho cause OF depres.
sions subsequently appearing in the
finished road. The rolling Of the foun-
dation will bring out tho weaker
places, where there will be settling.
The depresslons should be filled and
brought to an oven surface with grav-
el If 1t is At hand. 1t Is cheaper to
even up depressions by rolling the
foundation than by attempting to
smooth the finished surface with addi-
tional broken stone. When the founda'
tion has been rolled and all unevenness
has disappeared 1t is then ready to re.
ceIve the surfaclng.
1t oftentlmes happens when grading
n particular piece of road preparatory
to surfaclng 1t with broken stone that
1t Is necessary to do considerable
heavy filling. In such instances 1t may
be advisable to delay the lnylng OF
macadam for some time In order to
give the embankments time to settle.
for 1t is impossible to construct an en-
bnnkment OF earth more than few
feet in height without having subse-
quent settlement. II this settling took
place evenly all along the embankment,
no particular harm would be done to
the surfaclng laid upon It, but owing
to tho difference in the soils composing
embankments and also the way tho
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 precau-
tion should be taken in Its formation
to guard against uneven settling. This
can be done by spreading the earth In
successive layers OF about foot In
thickness, which are rolled or tamped
as solid as possible. Another advan-
tage In delaying the surfacing of N
newly graded road Is that chance Is
given to observe the action under frost
of certain sections and 30 provide nd
ditionnl underdrain. which II omitted
might have caused failure In that
portion OF the macadam.
Economical Woman.
or small economies the following
will be difficult to beat for smallness:
A laborlng man who hands over bis