The Blackfoot optimist. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1907-1918, 1913-06-19

to get a reduction in this rate.
THE REPAIR AND MAINTEN-
ANcE OF EARTH ROADS
If you look at the ordinary country
road after a shower you will see small
puddles along the wheel ruts and
sometimes larger pools. This water
stays on the road surface because i,
cannot drain away into the side ditch
es. If you look closely you will see
side bitches which have grown III,
with bushes and weeds in many cases,
and which are so far from the II
eled part of the road that the rain
water does not drain into them. Tha
part of the roadway where the wa
CONS travel is called the travelled
way. To prevent water from standing
on the Travelled way the road should
be raised in the center 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 1O-inch crown. The rain
that falls on a road properly crown
ed 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 neighboring brooks
or streams. Ii the bitches merely
collect the water from the road sur
race and 1t can not run away, larse
pools will be formed along the roa,
side, which will gradually soak into
the soil beneath the road and make it
so soft that the wheels of wagons will
cut through the road surface and soon
destroy it.
Sometimes road runs across low
ground or through swamp where
the road can not be drained by side
bitches alone. If the road were built
higher like a railroad embankment
across such low land and made with
crown, it would be dry and hard.
sometimes a road passes through
what is called cut. This is a place
where the earth has been dug out SO
that the road can go over a hill with
out being too steep. The water which
always flows quietly under the ground
on hill sides is known as ground wa
ter. In road cuts such water some
times makes the road very muddy, an
the road then needs what builders call
undertakings. A good kind of under
drainage is trench to go along I'M
der the side drain and about 3 feet
deep and foot and half wide. l.
this trench a pipe is laid near tn
bottom and covered with loose ston
no bigger than an egg. When the
trench is completely filled with loose
stones the ground water, instead of
soaking into the roadway, will stop
among the stones and flow down the
hill through the pipe
To keep 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 about 6 or inches in thickness
and about or 8 feet long. The two
halves of the log are set feet apart
with the smooth faces forward and
upright. They are then fastened t.
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 chain fastened to the
front half of the log. The road drag
should move forward SO that it slants
across the road in such a way that a
small amount of earth will 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 lit
tie 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 thehorse track
and smeared by the round side Of the
log smoothly over the road. The
Of the earth by the drag is
called pudding and 1t tends to make
the surface of the road smooth and
after the sun comes out.
The road is always dragged after it
has rained and not when it is dry 4
good, strong pair Of horses with !:
wellbuilt drag can drag about 3 or 4
best way to maintain good roads. In
miles Of road should own a drag
and drag the road when it rains, and
be would always find the road in good
condition when he goes to market
Owing to the fact that many rural
schools were closed at the time when
the prize maintenance essay was an
by Director Logan Waller
Page Of the Office of Public Roads, it
has been decided to extend the limit
for receiving the essays to October Is,
1918. In addition to the gold medal
given as first prize, two silver medals
will be given as second and third
prizes. If a child who has submitted
one essay previous to the issue of
this notice should care to try again,
20 is liberty tn do hui h< .n,,e.& |