Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1913-06-12
THE REPAIR AND
MAINTENANCE Of
EARTH ROADS

LHiliIl lfUfUU
If you look at the ordinary coun-
| try road after a shower you will see
small puddles along the wheel ruts
and sometimes larger pools. This Wa
ter stays on the road surface be-
cause it cannot drain away into the
| side bitches. If you look closely
you will see side bitches which have
grown up with bushes and weeds in
many cases. and which are so far
from the travelled part Of the road
| that the rain water does not drain
into them. That part of the roadway
where the wagons travel is called
the travelled way. To prevent water
from standing on the travelled way
the road should be raised in the CEN
ter and should slope gently into broad
shallow bitches. 1t is then said to
have a crown If it is 10 feet from
the center of the road TO the side
ditch, the surface at the side ditch
should be at least 10 inches lower
than it is at the center where the
horses travel. The road then has
10-inch crown. The rain that falls
on road properly crowned will run
quickly to the side and not soak into
the surface or form pools. The side
bitches for surface water should run
parallel to the right of way, and
should be open at every low point
SO that the water can run out OF them
into neig ighboring brooks or streams.
If the bitches merely collect the wa
ter from the road surface and 1t can
not run away, large pools will be form
ed along the roadside, which Will grad
uaIly soak into the soil beneath the
road and make it SO soft that the
wheels of wagons will cut thru the
road surface and soon destroy 1t
Sometimes water runs from land a.
long the road into the road and forms
a. little stream down hte wheel tracks
or in the middle where the horses II
vel When driveways into farm yarG
are built across the side bitches they
frequently form channels for water
from the farm yard to run into the
road. The pipes under driveWays
become filled with leaves or rubbish
and the water can no longer run a.
way. If the driveways that stop the
ditch could be left open, much trou~
bile from. surface water would be
stopped.
Sometimes a road runs across. low
ground or through a swamp where
TIE road can net be drained by side
bitches alone. If the road were built
higher like a railroad embankment,
aero such low land and made with
a crown, it would be dry and hard.
Sometimes a road passes thru what
is called a cut. This is a place where
the earth has been dug out so that
the road can go over a hill without
being too steep. The water which
always flows quietly under the ground
on hill sides lis known as ground wa
ter In road cuts such water some
times makes the road very muddy,
and the road then needs what road
builders call underdrainage. A good
kind of underdrainage is a trench to
go along under the side drain and
about feet feep and a 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 fill
ed with loose stones the ground Wa
ter, instead of soaking into the road
way, will stop among the stones and
flow down the hill through the pipe.
To keep a road smooth and crown
ed the best method is to drag it with
a road drag A road drag is made
easily with two halves Of a log which
has been split. The log should be a.
bout or s inches in thickness and
yes of the log are set 8 feet apart
with tn esmooth faces forward and up
right They are then fastened to
gether with braces set in holes
bored through the log. A pair Of
horses may be used to drag the road
and are hitched to a chain fastened
to the front half of the log. The road
drag should move forward so that
it slants across the road in such
way that small amount Of earth vii
slide past the smooth face of the
log toward the center of the road,
thus forming the crown. The edges
of the logs will smooth out the ruts
The best way to drag is to begin
at the side ditch and go up one side
of the road, and then down the other
In the next trip the drag should be
started a little nearer the center
and the last trip over the road the
drag may work close to the center
itself. Small ridges Of earth will be
thrown in the horse track and smash
ed by the round side of the log
smoothly over the road. The smear
ing of the earth by the drag is call
eGs pudding" and it tends to make
the surface of the road smooth and
watertight otter the sun comes out.
he road is always dragged after it
has rained and not when it is dry.
good, strong pair of horses with
weIlbuilt drag can drag about
or 4 miles of road in aday, and it
is the best way to maintain good
roads. In every county some farm
er along each 4 miles of road should
own drag and drag the road when
it rains. He would always find the
road in good condition when he goes
to market.
n