The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1909-05-12
: 2 R;S ;;::i;::

The Highway and the Automobile
A serious problem which grows IN
Importance every year is that OF the
relation of the automobile to the pubs
lie highways, says Scientific Amer.
can. That the automobile Is d most
active Of all agents in the breaking
down of m~acadamized roads Is a act
that has been long recognized by our
State engineers, and of late years IL
has become so evident, that o even
the most enthusiastic automob1llst
can deny that great damage is done.
When a new stretch of macadamlzea
roadway is thrown open to the public,
it offers such strong attraction to au-
tomobile owners that, even IN cases
where its use involves a considerable
detour as compared with shorter
routes over roads Of inferior quaiityt
it Is certain to become so popular
with the rubber-tired vehicles tnat
they will frequently constitute tne
majority of the traffic. The initial
breaking down of the carefully-pre.
pared surface Is almost Immediate,
The so-called Suction" of the swiftly.
revolving rubber tires picks up
fnely-crushed binding material OF the
surface. and throws it to the real, iex.
posing the broken edges ofSthe TOP
course Of macadam. These In the
turn are broken down, ground into
dust, picked up by the passing
wheels, and carried by the wind ing
the adjoining fields. or sifted lyon
the lawns and buildings Of ad1acent
property. The process of disintegra.
ton goes on at a speed proportidnate
to the density of the traffic, until M
ally the heavy underlying foundation
rock of the macadam Is exposed
When this condition has been reached
there is nothing for it but to practtt
cally rebuild the roadway, or at least
the upper half Of It. The destructive
action of automobile traffic has been
greatly intensified in recent years by
the introduction of chains and other
non-skidding devices, which are un.
doubtedly active agents in breaking
down and pulverizing the surface
dressing and the upper, broken-stone
LAYERS of a macadamized road.
There are but two courses open N
dealing with this perplexing n very
serious problem. Either the automo'
bile traffic must be restricted, or new
and improved methods OF road cons
struction must be used. No one who
seriously considers the matter be-
lieves, for a moment, that hnestl
heavy licenses, and restrictions as to1
speed travel, or the use Of Honssftdf
ding devices will fully meet the PROB.
lem. Legislative restrictions may
modify the evil, but theyicannot pos.
sibly eradicate it; and this Tor the
reason that, as we. have shown above
the destructive effects of the automot
bile are inherent in that very feature
of it's construction-the pneumatic
tire-which has made the automobile
a possibility. A vehicle weighing
from 1900 to 5000 pounds, running
at speeds of from twenty to thirty
miles an hour on pneumatic tires VIII
break down, and very quickly: break
down, the type of macadamized road
Of which we are building thousands
of miles throughout this countryts
This Is an indisputable fact; and no
amount of legislative control al ige,
rid Of it.
Evidently, then, the only solution
of the problem lies in constructing
our highways with a view to meeting
the exacting conditions of tramd
which have arisen within the past ten
years. We must build automobile
highways; and since the automobile
is by far the most frequent user OF
the State roads, this will be a per-
fectly logical thing to do. 1t is pretty
we'll agreed that If some binding ma
terial can be found, which will shed
the surface water of the winter and
prevent the surface dressing from
grinding up into an impalpable dust.
in the summer, a long step will have
been taken in securing a perfect road
The solution of the problem will be
found, probably, in the use of some
form Of tar; although our experience
in this country has shown that the
mere coating Of the surface with THIS
material, unless the road itself has
the proper strength and consistency
is not sufficient. In many cases the
disintegration of the road still goes
on, and because of the soiling eff
fects of the tar, the dust and mud
become even more Objectionable than.
before.
The material for the upper layers
of the macadam road should be Sc.
lected for it's strength and binding
qualities; should be carefully broken
To size and thoroughly rolled in.