Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1914-07-28
REPAIR OF ROADS
MOST IMPORTANT
U. s. Department of Agricul-
ture Emphasizes Need
Of Drainage.

l6fu more important IMAM tIldL OIL Ildlu-
.tenance. The general impression that
there are certain types of roads that
are permanent is erroneous. No per-
manent road has ever been constructed
or ever will be, according to the road
specialists of the United States depart
ment of agriculture. The only things
about a road that may be considered
permanent are the grading, culverts,
and bridges. Roads constructed by
the most skillful highway engineers
will soon be destroyed by the traffic,
frost, rain and wind, unless they are
property maintained. But the life of
these roads may be prolonged by sys-
tematic maintenance. A poor road will
not only be improved by proper main
tenance but may become better in time
than a good road without it.
The first and last commandment in
earth road maintenance is to keep the
surface well drained. To insure good
drainage the bitches should be kept
open, all Instructions removed and a
smooth crown maintained. Except for
very stony soil the road machine or
scraper may be used very effectively
for this work. The machine should be
y
should be done when the soil is damp
so that it will pack and bake into
hard crust. Wide and shallow side
bitches should be maintained with suf-
ficient fall and capacity to dispose of
surface water. These bitches can in
most places be constructed and re-
paired with a road machine.
All vegetable matter such as sods
and weeds should be kept out of the
road as they make a spongy surface
which returns moisture. Clods are
also Objectionable for they soon turn
to dust or mud and for that reason
roads should never be worked when
dry or hard. Boulders or loose stones
are equally Objectionable if a smooth
surface is to be secured.
A split log drag or some similar de-
vice is very useful in maintaining the
surface after suitable bitches and cross
section have once been secured. This
drag can also be used to advantage on
gravel road as well as on an earth
road. The principle involved in DRAG
ging is that clays and most heavy soils
will puddle when wet and set very hard
when dry. The little attention that
the earth road needs must be given
promptly and at the proper time if the
best results are to be obtained.
In dragging roads only a small
amount of earth is moved, just enough
to fill the ruts and depressions with
thin layer of plastic clay or earth
which packs very hard so that the next
rain instead of finding ruts, depres-
sions and clods in which to collect
40 in ha Snrfo hIIf
affected.
The drag should be light and should
be drawn over the road at an angle of
about 40 degrees. The driver should
ride on the drag and should not drive
faster than a walk. One round trip,
each trip straddling wheel track, is
usually sufficient to fill the ruts and
smooth the surface. If necessary the
road should be dragged after every
bad spell of weather, when the soil Is
in proper condition to puddle well and
still not adhere to the drag. If the road
is very bad it may be dragged when
very wet and again when it begins to
dry out. A few trips over the road
will give the operator an idea as to
the best time to drag. Drag at all sea-
sons but do not drag dry road.
The slope or crown of an earth road
should be about one inch to the foot.
If the crown becomes too high it may
be reduced by dragging toward the
ditch instead of from it. If the drag
cuts too much, shorten the hitch and
change your position on the drag. If it
is necessary to protect the face of the
drag with strip of iron. it should be
placed flush with the edge Of the drag
and not projecting. A cutting edge
should be avoided as the main object
in dragging is to smear the damp soil
into position.