The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1912-11-27
SAND CLAY ROADS
4 description OF the Sand Clay Road
and How They are Built

S,oun, road engineer for Forsyth
COUNTY, \. c., published i'll the South
ern Good Roads magazine makes In
tel testing rcaalnS:
The sand clay roads has been in
Use from time immemorlal, and yet
the stuuy OF II has been very recent.
So lar Il 81 know the study was never
scientifically carried u prior TO 1900.
II was built i'll many places through
out South Can Dim II there are
many discussions as to who the In
ventor was. And yet, the actual con-
struction OF the sand clay road IN the
United States is OF recent origin.
The sand clay road is a cheap class
OF ROAD. 1T appeals TO the farmers ana
TO the average country road builder,
anu Is d great relief, and its success
Is certainly we'll established in rural
history. Inc bituminous road and
higher classes OF road certainly do
nH.,r their missions near the heavily
Travelled districts, like Charlotte,
Asneyllle, and other places, but the
%niacaQalI roads las was done III tnls
county, to reach all the sections, has
proved a very cumbersome produc-
ton, because of the ShortneSS OF its
road. Now the sand clay road, or the
soil road, which is only a type, has
shown a substantial durability and a
cheapneSS in maintaining cost or Sec
ond cost; consequently 1t is the best
road Tor country districts; wherever
conditions will permit. One OF the
best things about it is this: 1t is the
most capable OF withstanding auto
mobile traffic and the lateral or pull
OF the wheel seems to do but little or
10 harm. Then again it is the most
delightful road tor the stock OF the
farmer and the man who delights in
driving. The ~elacticity of the roads
removeS that disagreeable feature OF
the macadam road.
HOW would you build this sand clay
roaa! The nrst problem is to make a
thorough investigation OF natural
cunulllous. Sand Is the primary and
the fundamental thing i'll the build
ing OF a sand clay road. 1t IS the all
OF a sand clay road. The clay merely
furnishes or forms a binder. The
durability will depend largely upon
the texture or the clay. II the clay Is
oLen anu poruS 1t Will sponge up and
lose its grip on the sand, n you
have a slush or a muddy road, but il
you have a water-resistlng clay and
apply Sane to the depth OIL III inches,
you have a road thai is easily kept
n repair; more so than any class OF
macadam road, and at a cost that is
very small IN comparison.
How can you discover whether or
not you can build sand clay roads out
Oh the material you have? Study the
natural conditions OF the roadway
along the line OF travel. l know in
some districts, where the clays are
very poruS III their nature, it is next
to impossible to get a balance be-
tween the sand and the clay and get
a resisting road. In the dry weather
the sand will get loose, dust forms
out OF the clay, and the roads become
very troublesome, and in the wei
weather it becomes a slush. You take
some OF the clay in many counties anu
the clay seems to absorb it and hold
it firmly.
The soil road comes in next for con-
sideration. That has been discussed
and in many cases has been though,
to be a distinct type OF road. That Is
not true. line o road depends upon
It's efficiency, or its efficiency de-
penus upon the fact that it is d COM
position of waLer-reslsting and d
mass OF perfectly mixed sand, which
has been accomplished by the Guilt
latlon OF the land.
The soil is turned over by blowing
process in the cultivation, brought to
the surface, the rain removes the cas-
lIy absorbed parts OF the clay, ano
leaves only that part which most
firmly reSlsts the action OF rain;
therefore when you put it in the road,
you get a cohesive mass that builds
together like cement almost. Now
really the trouble with the soil road
is, if the material is not right, you put
it down too thin. You plow up 8 in
ches OF soil and you say at once you
have a foot OF soil. 1t expands OF
opens up to almost double its vol
ume. If you want a soil of 10 inches,
on must put down IA inches OF loose
material, so that when it is firmly
welded together you have \ u inch
road. If you build that strong enough,
you will succeed, nine times out OF
the ten. Continue that, and with the
application of a machine, aud n q
few years time you have a very sat
isfactory road, and at half the cost OF
the macadam.
Just a few little conditions of sand
clay roads proper. Where you have
the creek sand, not quick sand, but
river sand or creek sand, you may
take sand out OF a stream and put on
a bed of clay, firmly compacted or roll
ed, and say the first layer is 4 inches,
then put in a thin layer of clay, then
so much sand on top Of that, and you
get a sandwich road, as a friend OF
mine in Asheville termed it In other
words, you get a bed Of sand on that
clay. It likewise catches the clay |
which fails on the road by the rain
fall goes down and the two lock and
you have a firm sand clay road. Green
sand may be built after that into a
firSt-class road.
Another method: Take a very mud
dy road, no matter how muddy. Go to
the same creek, as l did this winter,
take the sand out of the bed of the
creek with a common drag and put it
on the bank and haul it to this mud.
I remember on one Or two occasions
last winter in attempting that process
l stepped right down on the road and
got on top, then went a little further,
until l built for Judge Jones the finest
piece of road in the country. He said
if l could do that he would think the
road a success. 1t is a success, and