Republican news item. [volume] (Laport, Pa.) 1896-19??, 1909-05-20


but there was the every day feature
of ruts, pools ind poor roadbed gen
orally.
The college board of regents named
Albert Dickens to take charge Of ex-
pefimental road work in Kansas. Mr..
Dickens selected one-fourth of mile
Jf road west of the reformatory at
ment. He reported upon the test as
follows:
The soil was a fair sample OF the sandy
loan of the Arkansas valley. At the date
of it's selection no rain had fallen for ton
days The sand was several inches deg,
Loads consisting of Fifty bushels OF gr~ ~
made an exceedingly heavy load for a
strong draft team. A good carriage team
required much urging to pull the carriage
faster than walk.
After the grading was completed ane
the roadbed was well formed where nils
were required the entire road, one-foartE
mile in length and thirty feet wide, was
plowed to a depth of about four and one
half inches and thoroughly pulvertEe1
with a harrow and disk. disk, set
straight, was run before the oil sprln-
king tank to open small burrows. and a
harrow followed the oil sprinkling tank to
thoroughly mix the soil and oil.
The oiing was done the first days OF
October. The oil was not heated The
tank of 500 gallons would cover about
$500 square yards once. The harrow fol-
lowed each application. When one gallon
to each square yard had been applied
the soil seemed nearly saturated to the
depth OF the plowing. four and one1har
inches. After narrowing the last time q
heavy float was used to smooth the sur
face. In week the road was sufficiently
firm to allow rolling. A twelve ton roller
was used, going over the road several
times until it seemed to be thoroughly
firm. After a week the road was used by
all kinds Of traffic. 1t was firn but not
hard. a sharp shod horse left the calk
marks plainly outlined, but did not tear
up the soil even when driven at a quick
trot.
One reason for building the road in tho
fan was to note the effect Of freezing
weather. The road was not seriously at
fected II seemed that the coating Of
oiled soil lteja the underlying soil suff1-
ciently dry to prevent serious heaving by
frost.
Mr.. Dickens ended the report by
saying that the road Is in good condi-
ton. Under his direction roads also
lege in black loan; at Maple Hill, In
the Mill creek valley, in soil known as
"gumbo;" ut Garden City in ''as bad
a stretch of road as can be found any
where" being of sand, which absorbed
the oil in places to depth OF sixteen
inches, and the race track at Man
haitian, which was said to have been
improved so much that widely
known trainer of horses, G. B. Mi
chacl, terms it first class training
track
The cost Of the roads varied from
$525 to 81, 300 mile, Mr.. Dickens re-
ported The average cost of road
eighteen feet wide, three miles from
the railroad delivering the oil, Is
placed by Mr.. Dickens at $500.
The oil used for roadmaking pur
poses embodies a quantity Of asphalt.
The California oil is best for the pur-
pose. Texas oil ranks next, with Kan
sas third The eastern oils have a
base largely paraffin. They must be
treated and asphalt added to make
them useful in roadmaking.
With proper construction and tho
use of oil as a binder for dirt and mac
adam roads the farmers virtually may
have asphalt roads past their homes,
declare advocates of this method of
road construction.-Kansas City Star,