The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1908-07-10
USE OF HARDHEADS
CONDEMNED BY
EXPERT
Engineer Mcintosh of Burling-
ton in Town
INSPECTS LOCAL HIGHWAYS
Says Village Of Bennington Should Be
Able TO Build and Maintain Good
Streets.

II. NJ. Mcintosh of Burlington, a
civil engineer and expert roadbuilder,
is In town for the purpose of assist
ing the local authorities in solving
some Of the problems with which they
are confronted in the construction
and care of the streets.
MIR. Mcintosh was for number Of
years city engineer Of Burlington,
where a large amount of permanent
highway was constructed under his
supervision and he is thoroughly
posted In the profession.
According to a recent statute en-
acted by the legislature incorporated
villages are allowed a certain sum of
money for expert supervision to be
taken from the state highway funds.
| This amount varies according 10 the
amount of permanent road built by
the different villages. The village
trustees some time ago applied to
state Highway Commissioners Gates
of Highgate for an expert and Mr.. Nc
| lntosh is In town under instruction
from the commissioner.
MIR. Mcintosh stated today that he
found existing conditions in Benning-
ton much better than he had antici-
pated, bat that he also found some pc
culiar features. The fact that the
grades had been established on the
| streets for a number of years and the
presence of local engineer, NJ. b..
| Middleton who had a thorough know
ledge of the street lines and grades,
made any contemplated work much
| easier than in large majority OF the
villages in the state.
Yesterday in company with Mr..
Middleton the grade was established
on a portion of North street and pOr
| ton of the time was consumed in an
endeavor to solve the problem Of sur
| face water which Mr.. Mcintosh said,
because of the peculiar situation of
the village in narrow valley, was
one of the worst the community has
| 10 contend with. He cited the fact
that In most instances the land along
the banks OF the streams sloped tow
ard the water but here in Benning-
ton the banks Of stream which flows
through the village are higher than
the land on either side. or in other
words the land slopes away from the
stream instead of toward II.
The soil in this vicinity, in Mr.. Nc
Intoshs opinion, constitutes an eX-
cellent natural foundation for high
ways. The hard gravel which pre-
walls throughout the village being in
itself capable OF standing consider
able wear. He is of the opinion, how
| ever, that the river hardheads are
comparatively useless for road build
ing. AS he expressed it, IL would
as soon have a lot of glass bottles
| broken in pieces and strewn over a
road surface as the same quantity OF
crushed hardheads" They are too
brittle and the expense of crushing
them must naturally be large. The
smaller boulders, those as large as a
mans fist. are really worthless and
TO crack the larger stones by hand
and then crush them is costly Job.
Mr.. Mcintosh conceded that the
quarry from which the village in ,he
past has been obtaining its crushed
stone for road purposes was not IN
the lest of shape at present fCr me
economical production of stone but
he saw no reason why an opening
could not be made at some other
point or why the present quarry could
not be put in condition so that stone
could be obtained at an advantage
The material is good as good as tina!
found in the majority OF towns, Tor
only few places in the country are
blessed with a supply of trap rock
the generally conceded best material
for roads, near at hand.
Asked If the hardheads could be
used to an advantage for road founda
ton Mr.. Mcintosh replied that pro
vided the crusher were located at the
quarry and the quarry properly open
ed he could not see where there
would be any opportunity for the hare
heads. The crusher would turn ou
three grades of crushed rock, coarse
middle and fine and these three
grades are all that would be needed
especially as the natural foundation
throughout the village is so good.
The village, too, is fortunate In ina
II has available a supply OF the bes
kind of gravel for road purposes ant
Mr.. McIntosh was of the opinion tina
Bennington was rather fortunate II
that its supplies of material were no
only better than in many comnunitie
but much easier of access.