The Caldwell tribune. [volume] (Caldwell, Idaho Territory [Idaho]) 1883-1928, 1914-12-18
NAMPA COMMISSIONER
LEARNS TO BUILD
CHEAP ROADS


Commissioner of Nampa Highway
District Canyon COUNTY Td,b
SoIyed the problem of erav Ueio, mas
highways at moderate &C., ing the
ihree years ago Mr.. RheinboI.
G1Isu 70 gravel the Nampa H;e J' ue-
Dlstllc[ share of the boulevassI sway
tween NamPa and CaldweII "tu pc
mile away, Indian Greek rr,r. n malt
el to this boulevard, from w JiS hparali-
an abundant supply of gravel wa ure se
fortunately the very beav,, ..,.
incident to hauling rails and -; eraIfic
the lnterurban electric line t- .iGS Tor
through the gravel mixing the ,, ~ Gut
ing SOL with superimposed grnu ueIly-
suitable proportion for cement;S eI IN
firm smooth road bed. A na-nos
OF clay or .valcanic ash sail mixed "aa :et
gravel makes hard smooth road WIN hi
nor likely to absorb rainfall Oeu
Inc result on the BouIevord l.
Oeen to secure a very serviceo ilGs
road6ed highly commended hv I Iaoni
and United States engineers ioodl
Under inspiration of the sncce..t,.,
rToadbed on the boulevard. a neigbbau
mood lying to the west, called O1cbar,I
avenue, decided to gravel on The 'i fni u
lowing plan. The farmers donate ~
use OF teams and wagons with H.
boards. The Nampa Highway Distrirt
PROVIDES gravel, usually donated hv
those who have it, pays the shovelers
ana man to help dump the loads and
also spreads and smooths the gravel
on the roadbed using for this purnose
king. drag. The freshly graveIed
roadbed should be smoothed With y
hIng drag or other implements week
~ Tor two months or until settled and
ccemented with underlying soil. -Four
lncneS OF gravel in the center Of the
roadoed with two inches on the sides
most readily mixes with underlying
SOIL IN such proportions as to Shed
ram and form smooth solid bed. For
heaVy trathc cuts through the gravel in
wei weather until enough underlying
soil has been mixed and cemented
with the gravel to shed rain and ~
create solid roadbed.
A moderate percentage of CLAW soil
mixed wit hthe gravel as applied will
pack and cement from the start The
clay gravel banks along the Reclama-
ton bitches piled by United States
reclamation dredges supply ideal ma
terlal for crawling our roads. This
mixture of clay sand, and gravel packs
from the slant and does not need un-
DERIVING soil cut in by heavy traffic.
Coarse gravel, free from clay, or soil
will need an admixture of soil from
below to secure hard smooth road
bed.
Orchard Avenue has now been
graveled two years. Its success from
the start has been such as to attract
the attention of other neighborhoods
This fall the Lone Star and Midway
districts have been graveled and other
lines will be completed within ten
days to the extent of thirteen miles of
graveled road in this neighborhood.
Cost of Work.
Under the Nampa Highway District
method introduced by Mr.. Rheinhardt,
Mr.. P. ]. Casey, supervisor, reports
following cost of his division: The
Midway District, one and one fourth
miles, four hundred rods, required 800
loads of gravel and 20 hours to apply.
Gravel was hauled from thirty TO two
hundred rods. On December 5th,
eight shovelers and fifteen teams haul
ed two hundred and seventy loads,
covering one hundred and thirty-hve
rods of road at a cost per load OF one
and one-half cents. Total cost OF one
and one-fourth miles. $207, or $165.Oo
per mile.
Cost of Lone Star Road:
Gravel hauled from three-fourthss
of mile. Length of graveled road
three miles. Number of loads l0Oo
or 900 loads per mile. Total cost
$1,000. Cost per load forty-three
cents. Cost per mile, $258.99. To this
on each division, add ten dollars per
mile for work the next two months
with team and King drag smoothing
the road bed
Discussion of Method.
First: The peighborhoods which
from amount OF travel or community
enterprise desire better roads, agree
among themselves to donate a certain
number of days of team work when
shall cover work desired. The farm
err can readily donate use OF team
from five to fifteen days. The dis
trict pays him sum which covers the
driver The team is as well OFT at
work as idle.
Second: The work is done by the
farmers with good will and a rush as
for themselves. Each driver OF team