Sharp County record., 1912-04-26
,vT ROAD WORK
county Judge Allen Gay Writes Interestingly TO
The Road Oversees

ao road overseers of the county
rrpsented their reports to the couh-
~ conrt in person, while some 9TH
orc sent their reports in by mall.
\ Co # seems a hard matter to get all
tbo overseers together at the same
fine have, therefore, decided on
\ this method of talking to them
Now we want some better WORK
\ done on the public roads than we
/ have been having. We want to try
| a different plan Of working. Here
/ tofore we have been trying to cover
foo much territory and doing very
4 little, if any, substantial work This
4 wear we want to do what work we
| do 50 It won't wash out next ram.
/ I expect to visit all the overSeers a as
soon as | have time, but | am writ
IND this to let them know what
expect of them should they 40 any
n work before come
I want the overseers to go to the
N verv worst place you know OF IN
N YOUR township and fix it good be-
Y fore you quit. Build the road-bed
about 1S inches higher than the
eround on the sides of the road, ana
where stone is handy, which is very
ant to be the case in this county,
underlay the bed of the road with
barge stone so as to give it under
drainage. Then finish your work
with small stone and gravel Keep
lin mind all the while to leave the
|road-bed higher in the center so as
to shed the water to your side
bitches, instead of following the
read. Make the main road-bed
about 5 feet wide, sloping from CEN
ter to bottom of bitches SO that
when wagons meet each one can
bull to the right and still keep part
of the wagon on the road-bed, You
can readily see by making the road
bed rounding that wagons can pass
Dn less ground than if the road
were fiat, because when your left
hand wheels are all on high ground
hnd the right wheels on the slope it
throws the top of the wheels of each
wagon further apart,
But am drifting too far away
rom the main point AS ! said,
ix your very worst places first,
hen 90 to the next worst place and
10 likewise, and when you fix a
piece of road make it so it won't be
10 fix again soon. In cutting ditch
es on hillsides make them deep en-
bugh to carry all the water that will
tome in them, and right here |
Want to call your attention to one
hing ] notice in different parts of
he county where bitches have been
but on a hillside and run to a sag
hat many of our overseers have
ust stopped here and let the water
20 its own way; or worse still, have
made dump on the hillside and
orced the water to cross the road,
Without putting in culvert. Now
khat we want is to put in culverts
pt these places, for as long as we
allow water to cut across our road
ped without the road-bed being pro-
|ected by a culvert just that long
Ne are wasting time and money on
bur roads, We want to use culverts
Wherever water wants to cross the
load,
There Is another matter want to
BALL the attention of overseers to
here has been some grumbling In
|ome parts of the county as to the
mounts that overseers expend for
Puymg and repairing tools and for
naterials on the roads. To stop
his grumbling | have decided to
eQuire each overseer hereafter to
lle with his report q receipt as a
'oucher for all moneys expended
or the use of the public highways
before allowing his claim, For In