The Democratic advocate., 1909-02-05

side. Az Waterloo about half mile
Of sand road was improved. This
work was Dose by cutting down hill
in the vicinity OF the stretch that vas
being improved and carrying soil
which contained portion Of clay 10
the sand road. Here II Was thorough.
ly mixed with the sand. thus combin-
ing the good effects Of both and eIiml-
mating. 40 far Nv possible, The bad
qualities OF both.
w. L. Spoon OF the good roads de-
paFtment OF Washington was In
charge OF the work. lie vas also up.
on the program. and In his address
be spoke OF the sand road "a being
the only one which runs uphill both
ways Sand heads the IIst Of bad
roads Wherever a thoroughly good
dirt road IL examined Il will BE- found
to contain a, least a portion Of aand
snd a portion OF clay No matter
how closely the sand may be- packed.
there are spaces between the grains
tha, cannot BE- tiiied. The proper sub.
stance With which 10 nil these yoids
II clay. II ihs two elements are not
naturally mixed the only thing TO DO
IL to bring them together and mix
them mechanically by plowing and
narrowing. This should be- done
while the sand and clay arc weL In
fact. they can hardly b. too We, 10
be thoroughly worked i8Ecther. "
the road Is sandy the clay should be
drawn on. n 4, Ia clay the SAND
should be mixed with the mud Fol.
lowing Up the building OF such good
road with persistent dragging will
mako almost an ideal highway
Between Council Bluffs and Omaha
there Is stretch of road three miles
long. over this 10 wagons on the
average paes every day. Each car.
ries . load of five tons or more. This
IS dirt road spi Is kept In flne con-
diiion az thoroughly economical
figure It's builder. Colonel w. n.
Baker Of Council Blufis, spoke upon
the building and maintenance of n
dirt road. lie would advocate this
In place Of macadam. because the dirt
road can be built for grea, deal Iosa
than macadnm. and II can be main
tained al from ] 10 ~ per cent. Of
the expense necessary for maintain.
ina a mncadam road. by the use of
the road drag Mr.. Baker showed that
u would be possible 10 reduce the
road tax at least so per cent. within
six years.
The building and improvement Of
hill roads we're discussed by Mr.. Dye.
He showed how by the use. OF the
plow and spit, log drag the processes
OF nature might be used 10 Improve
the hill road. His idea was to plow
a furrow at each side OF the hill and
carry the soil toward the middle OF
the road. He would not have a crown
on a hill road. but ne would simply
have II 80 drained that the water
would not wash in the middle. Each
rain would have a tendency 10 cut
down the surface OF the road, carry
Ing the soil from the top OF the hill
TO the bottom. BY distributing this
by the use Of the drag II Is possible
to materially reduce the grade In the
billy country each year. As an ew-
dence OF the practical work In Mr.
Dyes system he maintained thirty
six miles OF road In hilIy section
OF the state with an appropriation of
$3.50 year. II was necessary to ask
for a little donated labor, but that
was a decidedly minor matter,
Curtis Hill, the state highway en-
gineer of Missouri. spoke upon the
building OF stone roads. He said that
II was necessary to consider the hard
ness, the toughness and the cement
Ing value Of stone In selecting II for
the purpose OF road building. The
gravel which is commonly dug from
the gravel bank contains enough lime
to provide the cementing qualities.
II a roller cannot be Afforded it Is ad-
visable TO spread this gravel IS even
" as possible and let the trafic pack
Il He would not recommend dump
Ing the gravel load al time. be-
cause in so doing certain spots of the
road become packed and the surface
Of the road has a wavy contour.