Saint Mary's beacon. [volume] (Leonard Town, Md.) 1867-1983, 1909-06-24

1uoaoay evening. Inc IOllOWln&
excerpts from il vii. however. be
found interesting and instructive;
As you know, ID Is q great deal
easier TO fiud fault with any pro-
fond plan. than II 10 10 suggest a
better ono, but relying upon my pre-
sent knowledge Of the public roads
Of ST. Mary's County gained by ac-
tual travel over more than one half
Of the county roads. ia almost ali
directions. from Mechanicsville to
st. Jerom =. and from the Potomac
10 the Paiuxent. during the last six
years. suDplPmented bv a critical
study Of the soil map OF ST.. Mary's
County. and by more than thirty
years reading, Gloss observation and
experience. | will endeavor to for
mulate plan, which. II carried out
as proposed, will result in giving
good roads tn every resident OF this
county, and that also within the
short period OF three years from
this writing Providence has hles-
sed this county with the best natur-
al conditions for g I'd roads, Of any
section that have ever seen. The
nature nf the surface soil Is such
over az least ninety par cent OF this
county that ID Is merely necessary
to keep water out OF the center of
the road TO have good road all the
year round | venture TO assert
that when our roads were newly
laid out, and before the surface soil
was washed away by she rains, that
such q thing as bad roads ia this
county was almost uuheard OF. ok
cept In those limited areas overlain
by the Windsor sand, which would
necessarily make the roads heavy In
those places. Now. as to my pro
posed plan. Let Engineer Crosby
select q thoroughly competent man,
II possible, who already resides In
each OF the Decentralization districts
OF this county, and see that be Is
provided with the best make OF four
horse road graders, with four good
horses to each grader, aud good
driver, and If he himself is compe,
tent 10 handle the machine. that is
all the outfit needed 10 thoroughly
crown and drain the ninety per cent.
OF our roads which are not very
sandy, except that the person in
charge In each district should have
the authority to employ q man with
team and pillow to aid in this work
wherever needed. and also 70 pur-
chase material and cut and place
culverts TO CARRY water across
and under the roads wherever ne
cessary. Ny opinion Is, that the
total cost Of this preparatory part Of
the work Of good road making for
the ninety per cent. OF roads which
are not sandy TO excess, would not
exceed forty dollars per mile,
or for the Eve hundred and forty
miles Of road to be thus graded a
total cost OF $21, 100. And to guard
against the possible contingency OF
portions OF the road becoming inn
passable by reason of this rading,
provision should be made for 40 i'm
mediate application OF gravel TO those
portions where BY reason OF the
greater depth of soil thrownsup, and
the cIayay texture Of the soil, such
result might be expected \
Now, as to the graveling We
have enough fairly good gravel Ia
this county, il reasonable proximity
10 ell our roads to last the county
fer thousand years. Employ the
residents 10 each district, during
the Winter season to haul gravel on
their roads ct so much per cubic
yard. From experience In Ohio, |
estimate thecost at not over 40 cents
per yard. the average haul not prob
ably exceeding one and half miles.
Each cubic yard Of gravel should
be placed In the centre of the road.
Spread 8 feet wide 3 feet long. 2
inches deep In centre and 8 inches
deep at the edges will require about
800 cubic yards per mile, making
$40 per mile at 40 cents per cubic
yard. l think there are not more
than $50 miles of roads in st. Mary 81
that need graveIing. Ibelieve there
are ct least 300 miles Of roads that
with proper grading and drainage
will be perfectly satisfactory for
travelling without being graveled.
In excessively sandy portions OF
roads, the grades should be run In
q reverse direction and the sand. to
depth Of inches. be shoveled 10
the sides Of the road for a width Of
8 or 10 feet, and filled IN from the
nearest deposit OF silt or clay 10 q
depth OF 8 inches and then covered
with binchesOf sand from the sides.
With en- ordinary rainfall, six months
travel will make this practically q
cement or concrete rOadbed. The
cost Of this road should not exceed
$3.50 per mile.
Now what constitutes o permanent
road Is road 10 be considered
permanent that costs ct first ten or
twelve thousand dollars, as built
near some Of our large cities, and
then costs from one TO two thousand
dollars q year to maintain In my
opinion q road can be just as perma-
nent II IL only costs $50 per mile TO
improve and % . year to maintain.
/ personally know short stretches
OF road, In the Second district. be-
tween my residence on the ST. Ma
RVS river and Leonardt0wn, that
probably did not cost 5000 per mile
10 grade and gravel. and for the last
Eve years has been good enough for
any citizen OF st. Mary's 10 travel.
Winter, Spring. Summer and Fall,
and has not cost cent to maintain.
Now, as 70 maintenance after build
Ia. nnnlh nonda Thara IL lmn.