St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1914-03-07
Interesting Facts
In Regard to
Road Building
COST AND LOCATION OF EARTH
ROADS.

| WV )
roads is largely determined by the
size of the load that can be hauled
the number of trips that can be made
in a day, the wear and tear on team:
and equ pment, according to the OfTic;
OF Public Roads. Steep grades, a:
we'll as ruts and mudholes, serve tt
| decrease both the speed and the load
On the prime pie that a chan is nc
stronger than it's weakest Ink, the
maximum load that team can draw
is the load that it can draw I'D the
steepest hill or through the deepes,
| mudhCle on that road.
Wherever possible roads should be
located on straight lines between
terminal pc .nts. In h lily or noun.
famous country, however, the at.
tempts to keep roads straight be.
tween terminals often leads to the
ser GUS error of heavy grades
Straightness and grade must, there.
fore. be handled together. The best
location is one which is straight in
general direction, is free from steep
grades, 8 located on sol d ground,
aad serves the largest possible num-
Der OF people. Roads should be ;o-
Gated for the benefit of the publ 9, az
we'll rs the private landowner.
The elm nation of one or two steep
hills en- line of road will frequnlly
Enable holses to draw three or tot-
IN es as much as they could draw
OH the Gle road. 1t takes approx
mately four tines as much power
to draw loads up 10 per cent grades
(10 feet vertical IN 100 feet horizon
tail as on aoievel; but on 4 per
cent or per cent grade a horse can
usually draw (for short mel as
much as he can draw on a level.
A per cent grade s, therefore, con-
sidered the maximum on roads sub
ject to heavy hauling. Many steep
grades may be avoided by locat ng
the road around instead of over the
hill-the handle of the bucket is no
longer when held in a horizontal po-
sit.on than in a vertical. By going
around We avo d two steep lis.
II the road must pass up steep
b II or mountain sides, the steepness
OF the grade may be decreased by
Increasing the length of the road. In
other words, ell inmate steep grades
by locating the road on curved or
z-gzag lines. and not in a straight
line from the bottom to the top of
the hill. These curves should be
plotted and the straight
stretches located W tn an instrument.
This improves the looks of the road
and does not add mater ally to it's
cost.
Mean ng of a One-FOOt Grade.
In studying the relation Of grade
20 distance the following calculation
S interesting: To lift a ton foot
high requ res 1000 foot-pounds of
energy; on road the surface of
VII ch offers 100 pounds of tractive
existence per ton the same energy
would roll the ton a horizontal d S.
ance of 200 feet. To save foot Of
trade the road may therefore be
enlightened 20 feet.
Roads should never be located so
lose to stream beds as to be subject
o overflow, or on ground VIII Oh IS
onstantly damp and marshy.
The earth road should have at |
east six hours of sunshine EACH day. !
h s can be secured either by locat- |
1g the road with southern Or wes.
m exposure, or by having such brush
nd trees as impede the dry ng action |
the sun and wind removed. w tn
ravel and stone roads this IS not SC
ecessary, as certain amount of
10 sture S needed on such roads, es-
ecially in the summer time.
Relocating roads is not an en-
,neer'ng problem alone. One must
ons'der the effect Of the road on
lose who now I've upon it. Many
irmers d slike to have the road
aeed back OF Their house or out of
ght Of It. It reGu res tact and good
'dgment to secure locat on without
harsh antagonism.