The Columbia herald. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 18??-1935, 1913-06-13
MAINTENANCE AND
REPAIR OF COUNTRY
ROADS IN SUMMER
tn LACK OF PROPER DRAINAGE
THE 6ANE OF EARTHEN
HIGHWAYS.
SHOULD HAVE ten inch CROWN
The Split Log Drill Recommended
and Explained by the United States
Government,Road Building Depart.
nnent--When and How to Use II.

and Explained by the United States
Governnnent,Road Building Depart.
nnent--When and How to Use II.
II you look at the ordinary country
road after shower you will see
small puddles along the wheel ruts
and sometimes larger pools. This
water stays On the road surface be-
cause it cannot drain away into the
side bitches. II you look closely you
will see side bitches that have grown
up with bushes and weeds in many
cases, and which are so far from the
travelled road that the rain water does
not drain into them. That part Of
the roadway where the wagons travel
is called tine trsveled way. To pre-
vent water from standing on the trav-
eled way the road should be raised
in the center and should slope gently
into the road shallow bitches. 1t
is then said &c have a crown. If 1t
is ten feet from the center of the
road to the SIDE ditch, the surface at
the side ditch should be at least ten
inches lower than it is at the center
where the horses travel The road
then has ten inch crown. The rain
that falls OF road properly crown
ed will lrun quickly to the side and
not soak into the surface nor 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 If the bitches merely
collect the water from the road sur
face and it cannot run away, large
pools will be formed along the road
side, which will gradually soak into
the soil beneath the road and make
1t so soft that the wheels of wagons
will cut through the road surface and
soon destroy 1t.
OOhCtluCo d tOdu iuuo dCIOoS INV
ground or through a swamp where
the road can not be drained by side
bitches alone. II the road were built
higher like q railroad embanknent
across such low land and made with
a 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 hill with
out being too steep. The water
(which always flows quietly under the
, ground on hill sides is known as
| ground waste. In road cuts such
water sometimes makes the road
very muddy, and the road then needs
what road builders call underdrail-
age.
To keep a road smooth and crown
led the best method is to drag it with
a road drag A road drag is made
easily with two halves of log which
, has been spit. The log should be
about 6 or inches in thickness and
about 6 or feet long. The two
halves Of the log are set three feet
apart with the smooth faces forward
| and upright They are then fasten-
: ed together with braces set in holes
bored through the log. A pair of
d horses may be used to orag the road
I and are hitchcd to chain Fastened
/ to the front half of the log. The
y road drag should move forward so
T that it slants across the road in such
r a way that small amount of earth
e log toward tee center of the road
S thus forming the crown. The edges
, Of the logs will smooth out the ruts.
L The best way to drag Is to begin al
n the side ditch and so up one side OF
p the road, and then down the other
) In the next UP the drag should be
| started little nearer the center and
G the last trip over the road the drag
+ may work close to the center itself
q Small ridges Of earth will be thrown
J. In the horse track and smeared by
r the round size of the log smoothly
e over the road. The smearing of the
earth by the drag Is called "pud.
ding" and l. tends to make the sur
e face of the road smooth and water
v tight after the sun comes out. The
s. road is always dragged after it has
It rained and rot when it is dry.
t