The News-Herald. [volume] (Hillsboro, Highland Co., Ohio) 1886-1973, 1913-06-26
The Repair and Maintenance of
Earth Roads.

puddleS along the wheel rutS anu Sone-
times larger pools. This water stays
on the road surface because 1t cannot
drain away into the side bitches. LII
you look closely you will see bitches
which have grown up with bushes and
weeds in many cases, and which are so
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 center and should slope
gently into broad shallow bitches. 1t
is then said to have crown. LII 1T 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 To-
inch crown. The rain that falls on
road properly crowned will run quickly
to the side and not soak into the sur
face or form pools. The side bitches
for surface water should run parallel
to the right of way, and should be epen
at every low point so that the water
can run out of them into neighboring
brooks or streams. If sthe bitches
merely collect the water from the road
surface and 1t can not run away, large
pools will be formed along the road
side, which will gradually soak into
the soil beneath the rold and make 1t
so soft that the wheels Of wagons will
cut through the road surface and soou
destroy it.
Sometimes water runs from land
along the road into the road and forms
little stream down the wheel tracks
or in the middle where the horses
travel. When driveways into farm
yards 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 away.
If the driveways that stop the ditch
water were rebuilt so that no pipes
were necessary and the ditch could be
left open, much trouble from surface
water would be stopped.
Sometimes a road runs across low
ground or through swamp where the
road can not be drained by side bitches
alone. If the roads we're built higher
like a railroad embankment across
such low land and made with a crown,
1T would be dry and 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
go over hill without being too steep.
The water which always flows quietly
under the ground on hill sides is known
as ground water. In road cuts such
water sometimes 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 alonp under the side drain and
about feet and foot and half wide.
In this trench pipe is laid near the
OOUOOLu dlu CONOlOu WlUIl lOOoO oOOhOo
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 crowned
the best method is to drag it with
road drag. A road drag is made easily
with two halves Of log which has
been split. The log should be about 6
or inches in thickness and about 6 or
8 feet long. The two halves of the log
are set 3 feet apart with the smooth
faces forward and upright They are
then fastened together 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 1t
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 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
smeared by the round side of the log
smoothly over the road. The smear
ing of the earth by the drag is called
pudding" and 1t tends to make the
surface of the road smooth and water.
tight after the sun comes out. The
road is always dragged after it has
rained and not when it is dry. A good,