Alma record. (Alma, Mich.) 1878-1928, 1910-02-03
HIGHWAY COMMISSIONERS NET At CITY HALL
Last Thursday State Highway Commits
sioner T. A. Ely and Deputy Frank
Rogers of Lansing Were Pres
ent-Isabella County Well
Represented.


to get the bed level and even than
10 fill in big holes where dirt had
been drawn out with good gravel He
advised measuring off a certain
amount of space and then covering
that certain SpaccI each time with
wagon load \ yard Of gravel should
cover a space Of ground nine feet
wide and twelve feet long with a
layer six inches deep. BY marking
off the ground to be covered the
work was left in better shape and
was much more convenient and econ
omical, since the builder would know
just how much gravel he would need
and just how long it would take his
teams to haul it, Mr. Rogers said
that he found that before he adopted
this method himself he could very
seldom figure anywhere near 10 the
amount of gravel he would have 10
use ON a job. He advised beginning
the road al the end nearest the pit so
that each team with its wagon would
have to pass over the newly made
road, thus helping to settle it. He
recommended the spike tooth har-
row a. the best machine 20 use for
making the road solid. it being his
idea that the road should be gone
over again and again with this as it
settled it in way in which nothing
else could do He said that It was
usually waste Of time and money 10
haul water to settle the gravel but
the builder should wait until the first
rain and then just as soon as that
wa, over, he should use a roller on
the road The second layer Of four
inches should be placed on top Of
thi, first layer in the same manner
as the first had been put on the
road bed The kind Of gravel to be
used should test sixty per cent. Thas
is, sixty per cent of it should be peb-
blcs ranging in size from one-eighth
of an inch through To- the size Of a
hens egg. TO make this test, he rec
commended getting some eight mesh
wire cloth and mailing 1t on the bot
tom OF small box the wooden bot
tom of which had been knocked out,
and with this sieve sitting samples
Of the gravel taken here and there
from a pit OF what remained in the
box the stones larger than a hens
egg, should be removed Then If
the remainder in the box made up
three 6iths of the total amount OF
gravel taken it would stand the
sixty per cent test. He advis-
ed not to hunt Tor clay gravel
in this part of the country as
ON loamy soil the ordinary gravel
even with some sand would do just
as well.
The tools required for road build
ing were comparatively lew and sim
pie the largest and highest in price
being heavy roller. a float for use
in levcling could be made on the
farm for two or three dollars. The
reward of five hundred dollars for
every mile is offered on condition
that the road passes the state in
Spector's examination. and no more
than two miles OF road built the
same year in the same township can
be entitled TO the premium. Applica-
ton blanks can be secured from the
commissioner. which enable the
builder to be entered on the states
books as trying for the reward Pro-
files of the ground over which the
road is to be built made by the coun-
ty surveyor must accompany the ap-
plication. The highway commission
will then furnish specifications and
the work can commence.
After the regular afternoon ses-
sion, w. II. Trussell, OF Mt Pleasant,
county surveyor for Isabella county,
requested the attention of those pres
ent and brought forth new plan OF
building. or rather of paying Tor
roads The scheme was TO assess the
property-holdcr for the roads built
adjacent TO their land by forties. the
forties directly attached 10 the roads
paying more than the inside land,
the proportion OF each forty decreas-
ing a it was situated further away
from the road. ranging on an average
from S4ssO for the first tier to
$44s0 Tor the center forties, when
the roads on all four sides OF the sec
tion had been completed He hgur-
cd that with the help OF the states
rewards and the township at large,
the roads could be built at less cost
TO taxpayers than they are at pres
ent. However, there is state law
against assessing townships for road
building which would seem to hinder
such an arrangement The institu-
tion closed in time for the Isabella
county commissioners to return
home on the afternoon train.