The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1912-04-23

give a greater uniformity to u sys-
tenn of roads.
Road committee:
II. G. Lykken,
President OF Society.
II. r. Atkinson,
State Engineer.
w. A. Baker,
Richland County Engineer.
Specifications for Maintenance.
General: Tne vitaI essential in hav-
ing good roads is proper and syste-
matte maintenance. The most perfect
grade of embankment will rut badly
after a heavy rain and remain in al
most impossible condition for a long
time. Our soil bakes very quickly and
the road surface hardens into a rough
ness that is injurious and a hindrance
to all classes of traffic. Besides this,
the crown in a short time iattens
down so that water is retained and the
roadway softened and wasted away.
One dressing of the road each year
will not suffice, as constant attention
is necessary to keep the crown up and
true so the water will drain off. 1t is
absolutely necessary that the ruts
and fiat places formed after each rain
or heavy shower is filled in as soon as
the soil can be worked. A sufficient
amount Of the road assessment should
be set aside for this work, and the
work assigned to men that will do the
work faithfully as it is needed.
LeveIing: The main object of main
tenance shall be to keep the road as
close to its original contour as pos
sible. AS soon as feasible after each
rain that shall have soaked the road
way sufficiently so that ruts develop
and while the soil is yet plastic but
will not stick to the tools, it shall be
passed over with a split log or king
drag. This drag may be made of
plank provided with a steal cutting
edge, or be made entirely of steel
having cutting edges Of angle steel and
a steel frame.
After the road has once been round-
ed into shape and become thoroughly
compacted with the traffic, it will shed
the rain and require very little atten-
ton beyond going over it at the right
time to prevent the formation Of any
ruts that will take water and permit
the roadway to soften. 1t must be re-
membered that a little work at the
right time is worth a great deal more
than several times as much spent at
longer intervals. One, and at the most
two, trips at a time will suffice after
the road is in shape and it has been
given the specified crown.
Weeds: All weeds shall be scrupu-
Iously cut away and cleaned out of the
bitches and off the berms and slopes
every fall. Where weeds are permit
| ed to grow, snow will lodge in winter
| forming drifts and deep impossible
snow when the rest of the o MAJ be
bare and firm. A road must, above
| all things. be uniform. If most of ii
will drift bare, all should be the same
Construction VS.. Maintenance.
In the early stages Of the develop
ment of any section of the country,
road building consumes the largest
share of the attention and funds avail
able for road purposes. Little or nc
funds are left for the maintenance
during the balance of the year after
construction ceases, and the necessity
of constant attention and a careful
maintenance policy is overlooked en-
tirely.
The facts are that there exists a
great danger to get into a rut in this
respect, and to go on expanding all
available funds during a few weeks in
the early summer in what might be
termed construction work, whether 1t
is needed or not, leaving nothing for
keeping the roads in shape. The as
| sessments for road work are large
enough in this state If the funds were
expended to the best advantage,
where road assessments may be work
ed out rather than paid in cash, there
always exists the temptation to work
it out in the short cas- of the year
when the farmer has best time to do
it. That much work is wasted in this
way is very evident. In all those sec
lions where the roads are built up, the
effort is all put into making the grades
higher or the bitches deeper to little
permanent good. The roads are, oil
course, generally gone over and
smoothed down. But n leveling will
not do for the entire year.
| Maintenance Is the Important Thing
After thirty years or more or road
building in the eastern half of the
state and the expenditure of several
hundred thousand dollars, it should
be fair to assume that We are well
along with road construction, which
with us only means a plain grade. We
have come to the point where at least
so per cent of the money raised
| should be expended in road mainten
ance." The time when nearer 90
per cent should be spent in mainten-
ance should not be far distant.
Now by maintenance is not meant
one levelIng each summer, but a al
fully planned system for keeping the
road level and smooth the entire open
season. This means attention after
each rain storm, the fixing of respcn-
sibility on someone to take care OF