Western Carolina Democrat and French Broad hustler. [volume] (Hendersonville, N.C.) 1913-1915, 1915-11-11
R ROAD WORK
Suggestions for the Construction and
Maintenance of Roads.

Suggestions for the CONSTRUCTION aIIu
Maintenance of Roads.
That full value may be. received for
the money appropriated for road pur-
poses and that the best results obtain
able may be secured it is essential that
the right man skaube placed in charge
| of road work. He should be selected
rot only because he actually knows
about good roads than any other per-
/ SOC in the community, but also be-
/ cause he can get the best results from
THE money furnished. It is not suh4
cient, however, to let the matter. rest
with the appointment of a road over
seer. He should receive rne whole
hearted support Of the community in
the work. 1t should be e e to that
under the conditions and with the
moneX furnished the community is
getting what it has a right to expect
liz the way of road improvement. Il
is well to remember that if for any
reason an incompetent man is placed
IN charge of the work the responsible
ity for failure rests upon the .commun-
ity. There should be no other con-
~sideration, therefore, in selecting a
read overseer than that of securing a
mar with the ability to perform the
duties required. 1t should be realized
that good roads have much to do with
the prosperity of a community and
that united action in the right diree-
ton is the surest and quickest way to
secure them.
Department Will Assist.
Where road o%verseer has had but
little experience in road work, or where
some new and difficult problem is pre-
scented to the experienced manE the
Office of Public Roads and Rural Ell
cheering of the department, when re
qrested, will offer advice and sugges-
tons for carrying on the work and
how best to overcome tie ~dlfhcultles.
To secure a satisfactory read OF any
type, it is absolutely necessary to re-
member: First, drainage: second.
dI einage; and third drainage. The
earth road properly cared for, Will
answer satisfactorily for the traffic OF
many rural sections that an not afford
the better types of roads; but the earth
road must be we'll drained. After this
is well understood two other re-
quirements may be taken up-the 10
cation of the road and the reduction
of grades to a general average OF D
per cent.
With, the exception Of sandy roads,
are easiest for travelling when
damp, all roads must have proper side
to carry away the SURFACE wa
ter. In ordersto lead this surface Wa
ter to the ditch, the road surface must
have a CROWN or rounded roof. high
est in the center and sloping toward
the side bitches. A very easy and
satisfactory way to keep earth clay
and gravel roads crowned, by the use
Of the. spht-Iog drag, is explained in
Farmers Bulletin 597, copies of which
be obtained upon application to
department
After the road has been crowned and
The, crown is kept in condition by the
wise. use of the road drag, it should
De seen to that bitches are kept free
rom weeds, ETC., and that they are
feen enough to carry off the water
runs into them. In most cases.
) VIDE shallow ditch is best. Deep
fftehes are dangerous to traffic. At
of every few hundred feet
along the roadway a culvert of some
lind should be placed to carry away
he water which has gathered 1n@the
A road properly. built generally will
lot have an average grade or morel
5 per cent. By sper cent OF
yradeo is. meant the number OF feet
he road rises or climbs for every
100 feet of its length. On a road of
e cent grade the horses need pun
he load up a rise Of only 1 foot Tor
very 100 feet they travel. 1t has eel
'cund that where a horse can pull a.
ouI load. on level ground; he is abe
pull only one-half that o on d
per cent grade and only one-fourth :
hat load on a 10 per cent grade. More
rips must be made to and from mar
get on a road with just one bad hill IN
rder to haul the same mount tina
,au be handled at one trip on a
road.
Bulletin 220 of the Department OF
Agriculture contains pictures OF small
rodels of good roads, some OF Whle
night be very helpful in understand
the construction of a road. One
model Illustrates the uses of b DIFF
.erent kinds of bitches, culyerts. etc
knother model shows the ~relocation
If a road. Asleep hill on the old road
been avoided by relocating tho
cot of the hill, saving the horses a
! hardpulL Relocating the road me-.