St. Johnsbury Caledonian. [volume] (St. Johnsbury, Vt.) 1867-1919, 1910-08-03
Good Roads at Less Cost.

Harper's Weekly recently publish
ed an article telling of the efforts of
J. Eichinger, of Iowa, in getting a
dragged highway across the state,
$50 miles long at an estimated cost
of building and maintenance for the
first year of three dollars a mile. 1t
is called the River to River Dragged
Road and extends from Council
Bluffs on the Missouri river through
twelve counties to Davenport on
the Mississippi. So successful was the
experiment that there is discussion
of making the same kind OF
road between Des Moines and
Burlington, a distance of 400 miles,
also from Clinton to Council Bluffs,
another 400 mile stretch
This successful road experiment
was accomplished in five months and
is the result of active personal effort.
Mr.. Eichinger, who started it, made
the township his road working unit
and then proceeded to get people in
each town interested until he had
working force along the whole line.
The article says: THE road passes
through a territory decidedly hilly in
the west, but of surprising beauty.
One sees signs of peace and happiness
on every side. If this road has done
nothing else it has demonstrated to
the farmer and his family that their
life is the ideal existence and made
them contented with it. This model
highway has made the trip to town
and market joy instead of the hor-
ror of other days. The average
length of the haul for husbandman
from his farm to market is now but
eight miles and it does not require
a day to make the round trip
1.-The principle of the dragged road
is simply to smooth the top surface of
the road, wipe out the ruts and holes
to prevent water standing on the sur
face and softening the bed of the
roadway The best time to use the
drag is soon after a rain when the
ground is soft. 1t may even be slushy
and produce better results; for the
mud, when spread out and smoothed
over the surface by the drag, is dried
by the wind and baked by the sun.
The drag throws but a small portion
of the dirt to the center at each trip.
| This kept up for a few seasons pro-
duces a nicely rounded top surface of
successfully dried and baked layers,
which become extremely hard and
almost impervious to water, unless
permitted to stand and soak for a
considerable time. The ordinary
rainfall, that strikes the surface
which has been properly smoothed,
simply rolls away to the side of the
road without doing any special dam
age"
Macadam roads cost from $4,000 a
mile up but a dragged road should
| not cost over $3.50 a year for main
| tainance so it will be seen that it is
a much cheaper road. The soil in
Vermont must be firmer and better
adapted to road use than in Iowa.
| In fact experience is proving that our
| soil roads are about as enduring as
| any kind providing the water is kept
| off from them and prevented from
washing them away. 1t would seem to
| be a very safe experiment for Vermont
| to try as the initial cost of drag is
! only a few dollars. OF course the drag
would not remedy defective drainage
but it would aid in keeping every
piece of properly constructed road
way in good condition. We suggest
| that the town officials in every town
on the line of highway from ST.
| Johnsbury down through Morrisville
and Stowe to Burlington give this
matter serious attention, get together
! and see if we cannot construct a
| piece of model highway here in Yer
mont at much less cost than what has
| been called permanent highway
| would cost.