Middletown transcript., 1909-08-14


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NEEDING mis- ags.ssn oE fos in
n sssns loI many ssEs Fl aslAs
% utterly unseienEil's ilisl ills
esaur " 6Ing called Ii iact,
aut h aa slle hi roads by pieces
20 Ton Dl1l Harry, who know as
mach about road mehaiue u i scientific
sense aa tbey do of Greek, Is nothing
more NOR less shan political graft, and
both parties 10 this State have been yearly
guilty 81 this inexcnsahls thrOwing away
of public monies.
The Highway ana the Automobile
"a serious problem which grows in i'm.
porsance every year Is that 81 Che relation
of the automobile to the public highways,
That the automobile Is the most active Of
all agents in the breaking down Of macad-
amized roads is . fact that has been long
recognized BY our State Engineers, and Of
late years it has become so evident. that
not even the most enthusiastic automo-
biIist can deny that great damage is ione
When q new stretch of macadamized
roadway is thrown open to the public, il
offers such strong attraction to automobile
owners that, even in cases where its use
involves a considerable detour as COM
pared with ehorter routes over roads of
inferior quality, it is certain to become
SO popular with the rubber-tired vehicles
that they viii frequently constitute the
majority Of the traffic. The initial break
ing down Of the carefully prepared sur
face is almost immediate. The so.called
Suction" OF the swiftly-reyolving rubber
tires picks up the fnely-crushed binding
material Of the surface, and throws il to
the rear, exposing the broken edges Of
the top course Of macadam. These in
their turn are broken down, ground into
dust, picked up by the passing wheels,
and carried by the wind into the adioin-
ing fields, OF sifted upon the lawns and
buildings Of adjacent property. The pro.
cess of disintegration goes on at speed
proporti0Date TO the density Of the traffic,
until finally the heavy underlying founda-
ton rock OF. the macadam is exposed.
When this condition has been reached,
there is nothing for it but to practically
rebuild the roadway. or at least the upper
half of it. The destructive action of
automobile traffic has been greatly inten-
sified in recent years by the introduction
ofchains and other non.skidding devices,
which are undoubtedly active agents in
breaking down and puIyerizing the sur
face dressing and the upper, broken-stone
layers Of a macadamized road.
''There are but two courses open in
dealing with this perplexing and very
serious problem. Either the automobile
traffic must be restricted, or new and i'm,
proved methods Of road construction
must be used. No one who seriously con,
siders the matter believes, for moment,
that fines, heavy licenses, and restrictions
as to speed, travel, or the use of non
skiddiDg devices viii fully meet the prob
lem. Legislative restrictions may modify
the evil, but they cannot possibly eradi
cate it; and this for tie reason that, al
we have sshown above, the destructive
effects Of the automobile are inherent ID
that very feature of its construction--the
pneumatic tire-which has made the an,
tomobile a possibility. A vehicle weigh.
ing from 1900 to 5000 pounds, running
at speeds of from 20 to 80 miles an. hour
on pneumatic tires, will break down, and
very quickly break down, the type Of
macadamized road Of which we are build.
ing thousands of miles throughout this
country. This is an indisputable fact
and no amount Of legislative control can
get rid Of il.
Evidently, then. the only solution Of
the problem lies in constructing our high
ways with a view to meeting the exact
ing conditions OF traffic which have arisen
within the past ten years. We must
build automobile highways; and since she
automobile is by far the most frequent
user Of the State roads, this will be q
perfectly logical thing to do. It Is pretty
we'll agreed that if some binding aterial
can be found, which will shed the surface
water Of the winter, and prevent the sur-
face dressing from grinding up into an
impalpable dust in summer, g long step
will have been taken in securing per-
feet road. The solution of the problem
will be found, probably, in the use of
some form Of tar; although onr experience
in this country has shown that the mere
coating Of the surface with this material,
unless the road itself has the proper
and consistency, is not sufficient.
In many cases the disintegration Of the
road still goes on, and because Of the
soiling effects Of the tar, the dust and
mud become even more Objectionable
than before.
''The material for the upper layers Of
the mscadam road shonld be selected for.
its strength and binding qualities; should
be carefully broken TO size, and thor
oughly rolled in. Too often the finished
surface is not given sufficient crown to.
insure q quick shedding Of the surface
water. This is q feature that should be.
most carefully attended to. In tarring
tbe finished road, care should be taken 10
give the tar sufficient time to get thor
oughiy set before the road 10 thrown open
10 traffic This may Be hastened by Civ
ng the taered surface d thin coating Of
sand.
Finally, ss We have frequently pointed
m IN tTlis idurnal. our whole system of