The weekly Iberian. (New Iberia, La.) 1894-1946, 1913-07-19
THE REPAIR AND
maintenance OF
EARTH ROADS.

wheel ruts and sometimes larger
pools. This water ataye on the
road surface because 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 80 far from
the travelled part Of the road
that the rain water does not drain
into them. That part of the road
way where the wagons travel is
called the travelled way. To pre-
vent water from standing on the
travelled way the road should be
raised in the center aud should
slope gently into broad shallow
bitches. Il is then said to have 4
crown If it il 10 feet from the cen
ter 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
10, SEES travel. The road then has
10 inch crown. The rain that
falls on a road properly crowned
will run quickly to the side aud
| not soak INTO he surface or form
pools. The side bitches for sur
face should run parallel to the
right Of way, and should he open
at every low point 80 that the wa
ter can run out Of them into neigh
boring brooks or streams. If the
bitches merely collect the water
from the road surface aud it can
not run away, largo pools will be
formed along the roadside, which
Will gradually soak into the soil
beneath the road and make it 80
soft that the wheels Of wagons
will cnt through the road surface
and eoon destroy it.
Sometimes water runs from
land along the road into the road
aud forms little stream down
the wheel tracks or in the middle
where the horses travel. When
drIvewsys into farm yards are
built across tie eide bitches they
Frequently form channels for wa
ter from the farm yard to run INTO
the road. The pipes under drive
ways become filed with leaves or
rubbish and the water can no
longer run away. IL the drive
ways that stop the ditch water
were rebuilt SO that no pipes were
necessary and the ditch could bs
left open, much trouble from sur
face water would be stopped.
| Sometimes q road runs across
low ground or through swamp
where the road can not be drained
by side bitches slon' = II the road
were built higher like q railroad
embank ment acIOSS such low land
and made with crown, it would
be dry aud hard. Sometimes =
road passes through what il call.
ed 4 cut. This IL q place where
the earth has been dug out 90 that
the road can 60 over hill with
out being too steep. The water
which always flows quietly under
the ground on hill sldes il known
IN ground water. In road cuts
such water sometimes makes the
road very muddy, aud the read
then needs what road builders call
undertakings. A good kind Of
undertakings IL q trench to go
along under the side drain and
about 3 feet deep aud foot and =
half wide In this trench q pipe
is LAID near the bottom and cover.
ed with loose stones no bigger
than an egg. When the trench il
completely filed with loose stones
the ground water instead Of soak
ing into the roadway. will stop
among the stones aud flow down
the hill through the pipe.
To keep a road smooth and
crown ned the best met bod IL to
drag it with road drag. A road
drag il made easily with two
! halves of y log which has been
split. The log should he about &
or 8 inches in thickness and about
6 or 8 feet long. The Two halves
of the log are set 8 feet apart with
the smooth faces forward and up
right. They are then fastened to.
gether with braces sst in holes
! Bored through The los A pair
of horses may 10 used to drag the
road and are hitchesi 10 a chain
fastened to the font half Of the
log. The road drag should move
for ward 50, that it slants across
the road 10 such way that y
/. email amount OF earth will rlido
past the smooth face Of the log to-
ward the center Of the road, thus
forming the crown. The edges If
the logs will smooth out the rnts.
The best way to drag u to begin
vt the side ditch and 60 mp Que
side of the road. aud then down
the other. In the next trip the
drag should he started Q little
nearer the center and the last trip
over the road the drag may work
close to the center itself. Small