Carolina watchman. [volume] (Salisbury, N.C.) 1871-1937, 1913-07-09
GOOD ROADS TALK.
Some Valuable kdYce on the Repair and
Maintenance of Earth Roads.

Ii you look at the ordinary
c1untry rad after a shower you
will see small puddl5s along the
wheel ruts and som4times larger
pools, This water stays on the
road surface because it cannot
drain away into the side bitches
If you look closely you will see
side dltches which have grown up
with bushes and weeds in many
cases, and which are 50 far from
the travelled Part Of the road that
the rain water does MT drain into
them. That part Of the roadway
where the Wagons travel is called
the travel way. To prevent water
from standing Oh the travelled
way the road should be raised ia
the center and should slope gent.
ly into broad shallow ditchas. 1t
ls then said to have & crown. If
it IS 10 feet from the csnter of III g
road to the sido ditch, the sn- =
face st the side digch should h. at
least 10 l.ches lower than il j. at
the center WHORE &ba hoess. trace
The road then has 10-i.ch crGvr.
The rain that falls on o re- d
properly crowned will rui qnlel =
|flY to the side and nos coax mo
the surface or form pools. I'll g
side ditches for snrfacaa shc u d
run parallel to the y ht Of way
and should he open at every low
point SO that the water eau rnn
out Of them into LIE ghboring
brooks or streams. If the bitches
merely collect the water from the
road surface aud it cannot run
away, large pools will be formed
along the roadside. which will
gradually soak into the soil be.
meath the road and make it &c
soft that the wheels of WAGONS
Will cut through the road surface
ana soon destroy it.
Sometimes water runs from
land along the road into the road
and forms a little stream down
the wheel tracks or in the middle
where tha horses travel. When
drivaways into farm yards are
hniit e3rlss shs aide bitches they
frequently form channels for
water from the farm yard to run
!nto the road. The pipes under
driveways become filled with
caves Or rubbish ard the water
can 10 longer run away. If the
drlveways that stop the ditch
water were rebuilt so that no
pipes were necessary and the
ditch could be left open, much
trc cnble from surface water would
be stopped.
Sometimes a road runs across a
low land or through swamp
where the road ca1 not be drained
hy side ditchad alone. If the
road were built higher like rail
road en- ankmeut across such low
land and made with crown, it
would be dry and hard. Some-
times road passss through what
i5 called cut. This is place
where the earth has been dug out
50 thas the road can go over the
the hill without being too steep.
The water which always flows
quietly under ths ground on hill
sides is known as ground water
In road cuts such water some.
times makes the rose very muddy,
and the road then needs Whist
road builders call undardrainage
A good kind Of underdrainage is
q trench to go along under she
side drain and about 3 feet deer
aud foot and half wide. In
this trench a pipe is laid near the
bottom and covered with loose
stones no bigger than an egg
When the trench is completely
filled with loose stones the GROUND
water, instead Of soaking iatt
the roadway, will stop among th'
stones and flow down the bill
5hrough the pipe.
70 keep a load smooth AIT
crowned the best method is t.
drag it With road drag. A roas
drag is made easily with tw
halves Of d log which has beer
split. Tho log should be abou
6 or s inches in thickness ant
about 6 OF 8 feet long. The tw
halves of the log are set 8 fee
apart with the sm Goth faces for
ward and upright. They ar