Jackson County journal. (Sylva, N.C.) 19??-19??, 1913-07-25
The Repair and
Maintenance Of
Earth Roads

uiAdfy cOn,-r
road after shower you
small puddles along the NJ - see
and sometimes larger nooi neel ruts
water stays on the road 80 This
cause it cannot drain AVA r'!ace be,
SIDE bitches. If you lool In INTO The
Will see side bitches nt osei! you
grown up with bushes and dnlch have
many cases. and which "eeq; in
tno4 tne travelled part of tho - lar
Ina; ;naI the ram water does nor road
lhto them. That part of tbe acaa
way where the wagons travei ne !; road
ed the travelled way. To nro,a I GALL
'er from standing on the ~ va
way the road should be raisas aa'eied
center and should slope gent,i u he
broad shallow bitches I, :: INTO
said to have a crown. If II = then
from the center of the ROAD Ieet
SIDE ditch, the surface ~ hs
ditch should be at least IA A Side
lower than it is at the centar tneAes
the horses travel The 20, "nere
bas 1O-inch crown. Tho 80: tnen
tails on road properly crowned mat mat
iIn quickly to the side and no, WI
into the surface Or form pools s ID
side bitches for surface water sh me
run parallel to the right of way "n
should be open at every low noin. "uu
mat the water can run out ~ = %
INTO neighboring brooks or stroape n
1t the bitches merely collect fbo
ter from the road surface and II GO
| not run away, large pools will !
| formed along the roadside VIII
Will gradually soak into the sol, !.
meath the road and make if 81 os.
that the wheels of wagons viii ~,
through the road surface and soon AZ -
strOy it
| sometimes water runs from ,ons
along the road into the road ans
forms a little stream down the WIZ
tracks or in the middle where ~
horses travel. When driveways int
farm yards are buitl across the s;ao
bitches they frequently form chan
nels for water from the farm yard 70
run into the road. The pipes under
crlveways become filled with leaves
or rubbish and the water no lonpor
run away. If the driveways that
stop the ditch water were rebuil,
) 50 that no pipes were necessary and
J the ditch could be left open. much
trouble from surface water would he
stopped.
Sometimes road runs across
! low ground or through a swami
! where the road can not be drained by
, side bitches alone. If the road were
! built higher like a railroad embank-
| ment across such low land and made
t With crown, it would be dry and
l hard. Sometimes road passes
+ through what is called a cut. This is
place where the earth has been dug
; out so that the road can 20 over 3
E kill without being too steep The
, water which always flows quietly un
, der the ground on hill sides is known
, as ground water. In road cuts sucl
: water sometimes makes the road yer,
: muddy, and the road then needs wha
s road builders call underdrainage. 4
t good Kind of underdrainage is
o trench to go along under the sid
: drain and about feet deep and
foot and a half wide. In this trencl
pipe is laid near the bottom AM
covered with loose stones no bigge
than an egg. When the trench
completely filled with loose stones tn
ground water, instead of soaking int
the roadway, will stop among tn
the pipe.
To keep a road smooth and crown
ed the best method is to draw it wit
road drag. A road drag is mad
easily with two halves of log whic
has been split. he log should b
about or 8 inches in thickness an
about or 8 feet long. The "
halves of the log are set feet apal
with the smooth faces forward an
upright. They are then fastened L
gether with braces set in holes bore
through the log. A pair of horse
may be used to drag the road and al
front half of the log. The road dra
should move forward so that it slam
across the road in such way that
small amount of earth will slide pa
the smooth face of the log towai
the center of the road, thus formiI
the crown The edges Of the los
will smooth out the ruts. The De
way to drag is to begin at the SIC
ditch and go up one side of the roa
and then down the other. In the ne
trip the drag should be started
tie nearer the center and the last U
over the road the drag may "ol
close to the center itself. Sms
ridges of earth will be thrown IN =
horse track and smeared by
round side of the log smoothly os
the road. The smearing OF the eai
by the drag is called pudding q,
it tends to make the surface OF !. =
I'd road smooth and water-tignt d.
the sun comes out. The road Is
tie, ways dragged after it has rainea o .,
les not when it is dry. A gooo, su A.
DIS, pair of horses with weli-ouiis -,
her can drag about or miles o. ~
lie lin a day, and it is the best We" con-
maintain good roads. In ever uas
m ty some farmer along eacn > ~ !,