The Kennewick courier. [volume] (Kennewick, Wash.) 1905-1914, 1908-12-11

strated that on the dry and ash! |
soils of eastern Washington. where |
therc is practically no rainfall from |
April until October, macadam roads |
cannot be kept in perfect condition
without daily sprinkling. unless an
oil or tar binder is used. This has
peen demonstrated both at Pullmard
and at Walla Walla Some years
ago section of macaddm rOao was
built extend ng from the city OF Wal
la Walla towards College Place.
During the dry season this is sprink-
led daily beginning at about O'Clock
in the afternoon and ending late In
the evening This section of road
which was built under the supervis-
ion of a government expert, is IL
good condition. A section of one
mile in length, built under state ST.
pervision during the past summer,
remained in good cond ton so long
as the same was in the hands of
the contractor as he pursued the pol
icy of daily sprinAling until the road
was accepted. Since the completion
and acceptance, the road has not
been sl'rinkled and the result as re-
ported by the clerk of the board
of county commissioners is that the
road is raveling in places. The road
at Pullman appeared all right when
finished, but as soon as the contract
or's sprinkiing wagons were with
drawn. it Immediately went to pieces.
It has not vet been accepted and will
be finished during the winter
he n
Spokane county some five years ago
were located on ground where the
great problem was to secure suifi
cient drainage; hence moisture is al
ways present to keep them in good
condition. The roads constructed
during the present season in Spokane
county are differently situated, and
t is extremely doubtful If they will
stand up without the application of
water. l will not 60 into the de-
tails of the destructive action OF au-
tomobiles running at high speed, as
that matter will be treated by others,
but I will say that something must
be done in the way of legislat on to
enable county officials to protect i'm
proved highways. At Walla Walla
noticed that farmers, owners of
fast horses and automobiles had used
their best efforts to destroy a good
road In two instances I found where
automobiles, running at high rate
of speed, had turned out in such
q manner that one pair of wheels
ran outside of the shoulder, the 9th
er pair on the shoulder, blowing
furrow that could hardly be equaled
by a regular plOw team. To those
OF you who are acquainted with TIE
ashy nature Of the soil of eastern
Washington the effect can be realiz-
ed. 1t would seem from the evil
dences which l saw on this piece
of road at Walla Walla that sixteen
feet Of macadam is not wide enough
for the average traveller. In driv-
ing over this road we met an elder
ly farmer driving a fast horse to a
sulky, and turned out to give him.
sufficient room to pass. His desire
seemed TO be to give us some dust
regardless of the effect on the road,
SO he dropped out with one wheel
IN the ditch, the other on the shout
der and Immediately became invis-
ible to us, raising a cloud of dust
that was impenetrable. The effect
on the shoulder was somewhat start
ling II it is necessary to fence these
roads to force people to take rea-
sonable care Of them it is time to
quit trying to give them a decent
highway. Conditions west of the
Cascades hire different. Usually
there is sufficient moisture to hold
water bound macadam in place, but
the reckless automobile driver seems
to care little how he treats an I'M.
proved road This is evident on
State AID Road No. in king coun-
ty. 1t matters not which way the
machine is travelling. they hug the
bank in rounding all curves, run
ming the machine out on the shout
der and even into the ditch and ma
terially damaging the road. These
are matters which will have to be
regulated in some manner.
In a general way it may be sa1i
that the state road laws as they ex-
list at the present time are working
in a highly satisfactory manner, and
is. a more complete knowledge q
these laws is disseminated, the re-
suits will be still more satisfactory.
There are a few items to suggest in
the way of additions or changes in
these laws. 1t is necessary that we.
secure q cheaper supply of material
for macadam roads, and 1t appears
that the only way that this can De
accomplished is by establishing quar-
ries at convenient points throughout
the state and operating the same
with convict labor, at the same mo
securing from the railway companies
reasonable rate for the transpcr-
tation of this material. AT the
present time the state holds a lease
on a very extensive quarry at De-
ception Pass OH Fidalgo island in
Skasit county Other locations |
should be secured, notably in the
Yakima valley, in Spokane county |
and in southeastern Washington. AS
the situation develops. other loca- !
lions may be secured. AS this is /
a matter of great Importance, l ask
this association to take it up at the |