Spirit of the age. [volume] (Woodstock, Vt.) 1845-1913, 1913-06-21
HIGHWAY
IMPROVEMENT.
COUNTRY ROADS OF CONCRETE
Lasting Materials for Construction
Available In Many Places In Form
Of Sand and Gravel.


Of Sand and Gravel.
No single factor plays such an i'm
portant part In the social and bush
ness life of community as the quail
lty of its roads. Aside from the pleas
ure and convenience of travel. pos
sible at all times over permanent
roads, there Is the financial phase
which directly concerns the cost not
only OF farm produce, but of city
products as well. Consequently ev-
erybody wants good roads, writes p.
Il. Wilson In the Iowa Homestead. In
the matter of paying for permanent
highways, a generally satisfactory
agreement seems to have been reach
ed In the proposed distribution of the
cost between the nation, the state, the
county and the users of the road In
question. As a result. within a few
years this country will take Its right
full leading position among the ma
tions Of the world in the number OF
miles of permanent roads.
In a way 1t iS fortunate that the
United States has been rather slow
In the matter OF road making. The
roads can now be built of lasting ma
terials. such as will Withstand the
wear of motor traffic which is fast
running Europe's century-old road
ways, Lasting road materials are
everywhere present In the form OF
sand and gravel from pits and stream
beds and crushed rock from stone
quarries. Combined with Portland ce
ment into concrete. they form an In
expensive and permanent road sur
face which successfully resists the
usually destructive action of automo
biles.
The first consideration in the build
ing of concrete roads is a careful
study oflocal deposits of sand gravel
and rock (called the aggregated to see
whether they are suitable for con.
crete. Sand must be clean and hard
and must grade uniformly in size OF
grain from one-fourth inch down. The
same applies to gravel and crushed
rock except that the largest particles
commonly allowable are one and one
fourth inches in diameter. If local
materials are disable, a considerable
saving will be effected, as only &C.
ment will need to be freighted.
It is much faster and cheaper 10
mix the concrete with machine than
by hand. Depending on the grading
of the aggregate. the concrete is
usually proportioned one bag of Port
land cement to two cubic feet of sand
and four cubic of screened gravel or
crushed rock, or one of cement to two
of sand and three OF gravel or rock
During the grading and draining OF
the road. the aggregate Is hauled and
piled at convenient points. The con.
crete is mixed mushy wet. is deposit
ed to the thickness Of six inches upon
the firm old road bed and is brought
to grade and shape by means of a
templet. In order to shed the water
on the side drains the surface of the
concrete Is given rise or crown in
the center of one one-hundredth TO
one seventy-fifth the width OF the
roadway. The surface is finished with
wooden float and wire broom. by
which means there is afforded per.
feet footing for horses, At intervals
OF 25 feet the road Is divided into sec.
lions by narrow contraction joints ex.
tending crosswise the road and en-.
tirely through the concrete. These
joints are formed by means of thin
metal or wooden cross form or divid
ed to which Is tied a single or double
thickness OF tar paper with the paper
face against the last laid section OF
roadway. after the surface OF this
section is finished aGd while the con
crete for the adjoining section is be.
ing placed. the cord holding the pa.
per to the cross form is cut and the
cross form 10 removed. The tar pa
per adheres to the concrete and stays
in the joint, which is reduced to the
thicAness of the paper by forcing
against 1t the freshly placed concrete
of the section under construction
When the surface of the concrete
has hardened enough to prevent pit
ting 1t is sprinkled with clean water
and is kept moist for several days
Likewise. as soon as possible. the
pavement Is covered temporarily with
two inches of sand or dirt from the
side road to give further air in cur.
ing the concrete. Traffic is confined
to the earthen side roads until the
concrete is about two weeks old. In
the meantime shoulders OF broken
stone or gravel are built along both
edges OF the pavement These are
made three feet wide and sufficiently
thick to be firm and to make II an
easy matter at all times for wagon
wheels to pass from the side road
onto the pavement