The Oskaloosa herald., 1915-09-23
OILING COUNTRY ROADS
The State Engineer of Kansas Tells
of Their Way.

years. Mahaska county has done
considerable. Most people imagine
that all that is required is to. damp
the oil on the road Those who be.
lieve that. there ought to be certain
ways of doing the work have. worked
out methods of their own, some OF
/ which may and may not prove salts
factory. W. S. Gearhart,, state en-
giueer of Kansas, gives the following
information as to the manner of get
ting good results from oiled roads ..
With but few exceptions and
those due to the use of a light oil
oiled earth roads have proved salts
factory in the twelve Kansas coun-
ties in which they were constructed.
Where light Oil was used 1t was
found to act only as a dust prevent
i've and not to form what is known
as an oiled earth road. The follow
ing method of construction, says Mr..
Gearhart, has given the best results:
Getting tn Soil Ready.
A shoulder furrow is piowed on
each side of the roadway, making the
width to be treated from sixteen to
eighteen feet and the loose earth is
graded outside of this width, Where
the crown of the road is too steep the
center is plowed and the material
thrown out to the sides. BY plow-
ing only the shoulders it has been
easy to shape the subgrade to a crown
of about one inch to the foot. Prac-
tically the same care Is exercised in
caring for the subgrade, for oiled
earth road work as for macadan.
H., h. In 10 Nov
oughly rolled to compat the earth as
well as to take the spring out Of the
ground. The use of the shoulder is
to prevent the oil from spreading and
to facilitate the mixing and tamping
process.
Sandy soils were found to be best
adapted to the oil treatment, but sat
isfactory results are being obtained
on clay and heavy gumbo soils where
the earth is thoroughly pulverized.
Grade of Oil Used Important.
The grade of oil to be used is much
more important than the kind of soil.
Light oils and those having paraffin
base have been found to be little bet
ter than so much water. The soil
should be one having an asphalt base
of at least IS per cent. 1t should be
free from paraffin and all lighter oil,
and applied to the roads at tenn
perature of not less than 250 degrees
Fahrenheit An oil containing IS per
cent of asphalt will have to be heated
before it can be taken from the tank
cars which have special steam coils
for this purpose. 1t is necessary to
heat the oil to a temperature of $40
degrees Fahrenheit in the car in or
der that it may be delivered on the
ground at a temperature of 250 de-
grees Fahrenheit This will require
steam pressure of 100 pounds per
square inch. The amount of oil us d
is from two to three gallons per
square yard, and should be placed in
two courses.
How the Oil is Applied.
After applying IL to Z gallons of
oil on the rolled subgrade, sufficient
earth is graded on top of the oil to
absolb it. For treatment of II gal
Ons to the square yard about four
inches of loose, fine earth is graded
in on top of the oil, and then thor
Oughly soaked with water distributed
from a sprinkling wagon, and the
tamping process begun. A disc har'
row, with blades set at an agile, and a
drag are employed to stir and mix the
oil with the earth. The harrow and
drag precede the tamping roller. AS
soon as the first course is thoroughly
mixed and rolled another application
of ~ gallons of hot oil per square
yard is applied and about four inches
of fine earth graded in upon it, and
the oil and earth thoroughly mixed
and rolled as before. The amount OF
earth used should be Just enough to
absorb all of the oil When the lamp
ingaroller rises to the top and the sur
face has been thoroughly compacted
Water-tighI wearing surface OF from
| five to six inches thick will have been
| formed. The rolling is done from the
sides to the center, the same as In
macadam construction, in order tt
maintain the crown.
Equipment Needed. ~.
The greater part of the work Of
preparing the road for treatment car
be done with a traction engine and 9
road-grader The earth can be
thrown back either with road grad
er or road leveler, the latter beinl
much omre rapid and leaving the
road in almost a perfect crossed
ton. The oil should be hauled in q
distributing wagon built for that pur
pose, which holds about 60O to S0(
gallons. 1t will require two teams Il
haul such a wagon. One or twt
teams will be required on the dis
harrow and two teams on the lamp
ing roller. The work of grading thu
earth on the OIL is followed closet!
by the placing of the OIL, to proven
1t cooling and to assist in the mixing
There Is very little danger of usini
too much water. The wetter the ma
terials the more thoroughly the OF
and earth can be mixed. Oiled cart
roads cannot be constructed success
fully without thoroughly. pulverizini
the earth. Treating the surface witt
oil is not satisfactory, says Mr.. Geat
hart, except for laying the dust an,
this Is only effective for a short time
Oiled earth surfaces are not satisfat
tory for city streets on account of tn
oil dust In Kansas the actual cos
OF the materials and the constructio
1 Of oiled earth roads as recommends
above is from 10 to, 20 cents pc
square yard, averaging about 1
cents