The herald and news. [volume] (Newberry S.C.) 1903-1937, 1908-09-08
IMPORTANCE OF DRAINAGE.


GROUND Water Subject of Thought
full Paper Sent Out by the United
States Office of Public Roads--Will
Soon Issue Bulletin OH Concrete
Drains.
with an average of - 900 :.ns of
water falling in the fo,iu of rain Oh
each mile Of public road in the Unit
ed States annually, it is .arcely TO
be marvcllcd at that .'lr len COM
mandmcnts of the road b:ilic: can be
summed up succinctly in The word
"drainagc -
The saying has truth err basis,
as good drainage is the primary re-
quisite for all roads. Even in sand
roads this holds true, for there ''good
drainage" means such as will safely
remove the storm water without eros
ion or Outlying and still retain the
surface moisture.
10 secure good drainage one must
take into consideration both the sur
face water and the underground wat
er. The surface water must he re-
moved quickly and completely and
without subjccting the road to exces-
sive scour or erosion. For this rca-
son, the center Of the road should BE-
raised and the slope towards the 81 lc
bitches should be from one-half to
,, one inch to each foot distance, or so
that the water will run freely to the
side bitches and not flow down the
road or remain i'll puddlcS on the
roadway. The side bitches should be
OF ample size to care for the sevcrest
storms with a fall Of not less than q
inches to each 100 feet. Frequent
and ample cross drains should be con-
structcd and every opportunity taken
to get the water away from the road
as quickly rs possible. Any road along
which YOU see water standing in the
side bitches or on which puddles Of
water have collected or which has
been badly quilted and erodcd by the
rains has poor drainage and is in need
Of immediate attention. In fact earth
roads nearly always require little at
tention after each rain. The split-log
drag is essentially a tool TO maintain
good drainage on our earth roads,
and should be used after each rain On
a heavy clay or yumbo soil the drag
when properly used tends to puddle
the road surface, keep it free from
ruts, dense, smooth and hard, thus Sc
curing the best surface drainage pos
siblc.
But in many places the underground
water is too near the surface and
must be removed before Il good road
will be possible. This means that some
form of Sub-drainage must be rcsortcd
to, usually tile drains, of clay or con-
crete. Water from whatever source
must be gotten rid of effectively, for
water plus clay or gumbo invariably
equals mud when mixed in spring and
summer Water becomes ice in with
ter and as water in freezing expands
one-eight It's volume, the road hcavcs
out of shape and when the ice meltS
the road disappears beneath the rising
tide of mud constantly fed by rains
melting SHOWS and underground
springs.
In Scepy and boggy places the sub
drainage in order to be fully effective
should lower the water level to not
less than three feet below the road
surface. If tiles are used they
should be carefully laid, true to grade
Most failures in tile drainage can be
attributed to carclcssncss in laying
or too flat grade. Tile less than
inches in diameter should rarely be
used, nor should grade of less thar
6 inches to the 100 feet be used un.
less absolutely necessary. In Yer!
dense soil, it is always advisable tt
cover the tile to at least depth OF
6 to II inches with coarse sand OF
fine gravel. Care should always be
taken 10 secure free outlet for the
drains and 10 protect the outlet with
concrete bulkhead or catchbasin
which can always be kept clean and
the outlet free.
The kind Of tile TO be used depends
on local conditions. Concrete tile if
properly made are equally as good a:
clay tile. Which kind 10 use is en-
tirely local question Of dollars anG
cents. IF concrete tile can be had
use concrete: if not. use clay tile
One great advantage of the con.
crete lille IS that they can be easily
made by The local users at or ncal