The Daily Ardmoreite. [volume] (Ardmore, Okla.) 1893-current, 1914-07-22
, y y 8. u 8. :. Il 8; :. :. u :: :. :. {: y
INSTRUCTION FOR THE
COMPLETION & MAIN
TENANCE OF SA D
CLAY ROAD
= I. y. NJ. {. y :: :: y ;: {: /. ;: :: 8;

The clay should be covered with at
least two inches of sand until there
has been rain to soften the sur
face. When the rain comes the SAND
and clay should be Immediately cut
and mixed with disk harrow. Inc
clay should be cut from one to two
inches deep and thoroughly mixed
with the sand. In all cases the cross
section should be carefully maintain
ed to insure good surface drainage,
and all ruts, hoofmarks and depress'
ions likely to hold water should be
smoothed away, so that there will be
no standing water on the road. The
special feature of sand clay main
tenance Is the repeated smearing OF
| the surface to close it against the
penetration of moisture as far as
practicable. The NEST method Of eff
| fecting this is to use a simple drag
such as the split log drag as fire.
ouently as the surface seems to need
| it, In the first wet season follow
| ing construction the road will prob
ably require dragging after every
shower of much length. Later the
need of dragging will probably be
less, until finally about ten thorough
treatments each year will suffice to
keep the surface in satisfactory con-
dition.
The dragging should always be
done after a rain when the surface Is
plastic There are two periods fol-
| lowing rain when the soil is In Il
suitable condition for dragging. The
first period is almost Immediately
! following the rain when the road Is
very wet and soft. Then follows
period when the soil is too sticky for
dragging, and this is followed by a
third state when there is a process
| in the soil analogous to setting, and
at this time the dragging is of great
est benefit. The road surface is still
plastic, but the mud does not adhere
as badly to the drag The surface
can be smeared or plastered down,
dressed free of all ruts, hoof marks,
or minor depressions, and by careful
use of the drag such small quantities
of material as may be required can
be shifted back and forth across the
road
Dragging should be begun along the
outside edge of the travelled way, and
the first return trip should be along
the opposite edge. 1t should advance
toward the center, and the last trip
should be made directly in the center
with the drag linked up straight so
as to spread the accumulated ma
terial evenly.
A cutting edge on the drag should
be avoided and, if metal strip is
used to reduce wear, it should be
set flush with the edge and not pro,
jecting.
If at any time the road becomes
badly worn or out of shape the entire
section should be plowed, disc-har-
rowed, re-shaped with a drag or grad
ing machine and rolled. 1t is not un-
common when sandclay roads are
new to find that there Is an excess
of clay. In this case there may not
have been sufficient sand used in
construction or it may have been
lost by wash into the cutters. I'm
der such conditions more sand should
be dragged in from the roadside to
restore the proper mixture.
In case the road hardens in a
rough condition, owing to careless
dragging or to neglect, a grading ma
chine will redress it satisfactorily
Frequently by reversing the blade of
the grader the effect of an excellent
heavy drag is produced that will iron
out the hardened ruts and hoof
marks.
About four miles can be thoroughly
dragged by one team in day for
from five to six trips over the section,
Ten treatments a year would there
fore cost about $40 for miles or
SO per mile per year for dragging.