Judith Gap journal. [volume] (Judith Gap, Mont.) 1908-19??, 1912-05-10

make satisfactory culverts. The f,r,t
win soon decay. and the latter 10 liable
to break unless 1t il very carefully laid
Stone or concrete culverts are the best
ana cheapest in the long run. The
main things to bear in mind In build.
ing culverts are that they should have
sufficient capacity to quickly dispose
Of the maximum flow Of ralnwater
and that they are given sufacient fall
to keep themselves clean. Increased
fall also increases the capacity, but II
much fall Is given the spillway should
be paved and the outlet and intake pro-
tected with suitable wing walls.
All material subject to decay, such
AZ sod. grass or weeds and vegetable
mold, must be carefully excluded. The
aim must always be to build a road.
way 40 solid and impervious to mo,s.
ture as possible. Water from eyery
source, surface or underground. must
be got rid Of. Except In sandy or very
arid regions, water is the great enemy
Of earth roads.
The earth road can best be crown.
ed and ditched with a reversible road
machine or scraper and not with picks
and shovels. scoops and plows. One
road scraper with suitable power and
operator will do the work OF many men
with picks and shovels and do it bet.
ter. The road scraper should be used
when the soil is damp, 50 that the soil
Will pack and bake. II it IL worked
dry it takes more power to operate the
machine, and, furthermore. dry earth
and dust retain moisture and quickly
rut after rains.
Shoulders are often formed on both
aides Of the road by constant travel in
ono place, which prevents storm water
from flowing into side bitches. retain
ing it in the ruts and softening the
roadway. These ruts and shoulders
can usually be entirely eliminated by
q judicious use Of the split log drag.
The price Of good roads is eternal
vigilance in maintenance. This Is per-
haps even more true Of earth roads
than any other. The rains and melt
ing snow soften the surface more or
less, and passing traffic forms ruts
and depressions. These, IL allowed to
remain. will retain more water at the
next rain, aud more mud and deeper
ruts and larger depressions will be
formed. 1t Is self evident, therefore,
that tho main thing In maintaining
heavy soil roads must be to keep the
drainage good. For this purpose there
- nothing which equals the split log
drag or other similar devices.
The principle Of the action Of the
drag is simply this: The clays ana
most heavy soils will puddle and SGT
very hard II worked when wet. The
drag Is essentially a pudding machine
After each rain and while the earth Is
sttu plastic, but not sticky enough to
adhere to the drag. one or two trips
up and down the road are made With
the drag. Only small amount Of
earth b moved. Just enough to all the
ruts and depressions and smooth over
the surface with thin layer Of plastic
clay, which packs very hard, 20 that the
next rain, instead Of finding ruts and
depressions In which to collect. runs
Oh. leaving the surface but little at.
-
fected.
Tho time and labor involved in keep
ing an earth road properly dragged are
small. Five dollars per mile per year
seems to be about the average cost IN
the middle states. The Essential req.
uistte 10 that the work shall be done
at the time It u needed. This 10 the
point which seems hardest to impress
on the average man. The little atten.
ton the earth road needs must be
given promptly and at the proper time
II the best results ara to b obtained.
We have become 90 accustomed to
the old habit Of doing our road work
at our convenience that We can hardly
force ourselves to realize that any.
thing else should be even suggested.
Ono thing IL absolutely certain, ana
that IL that we will never have any.
thing like improved earth roads until