The Dermott news., 1916-11-30
GOOD ROADS
VALUE OF CONCRETE ROAD
Engineer Compares It With Other Types Of highways and Shows It's
 Many Advantages.

"A concrete road Will tend to pun any community out of the mud and stay out" according to X. N. Johnson, highway engineer, who for number of years was connected with the office of public roads, United States depart ment of agriculture
 In speaking on the subject of con crete roadS. their construction and value te community. he said:
 Clean. hard. well graded sand and pebbles er crushed steae. mixed with cement and water to form a mass of auaNy CT jelHIke consistency, eSen- tadly hardeus into stone. When such a mixture k laid so that slabs i6 feet Hidr hy from 3O to 5o feet long are formed. you have pavement with Il durable, non-Skid surface making pos sible higher trullic speed with large loads drawn by fewer horses or ieSS trartjvc poucr-a road open to traffic .iG5 days in the year-huety, con- erefN road.
 "SuCcesSfuI concrete road conStruc- tiou requires first proper preparation oI d foundation or SubEradc. SliS meaus eeMaactIug the soil where the concrete k to be Iaid and providing drainage So that water will not remain under the concrete ~tahs. lyon the properly prepared foundation concrete Is placed in one ar two layers or courses. This means that some con crete roads are built after what is known as the ouc-courSe construction.
 "Thc first consists of relatively rich cau,rrte mixture throughout; the sec oHd of Il somewhat leaHer mixture for base. Wiah richer top or wearing course applied before the concrete in the base has commenced tp harden. JsuallY where the slabs forming Il con crete road are greater than ,l6 feet wide, or where the rosdS must cross low. frequently wet and hence poorly drained spots, re-cnforcing In the form Of mesh fabric is embedded in the con crete while placing. This assists to prevent lhe slabs from cracking. either aS The result of settlement of the foun- dalton CT from the heaviug due to frost aettoy
 High wearing qualty of the con crete road results from using prop erly graIed clean hard sand and crushed raek or pebbles. These must he combined WIth cement and water in proper proportions. Cement makes Il hrm binder l. holds the sand or brok- .u stone so tightly together that mod cru tradic produces but little wear on the ~urtage and cannot dt>lodse the particles.
 "CoHerete roads cost in the neigh harhood ot Siloo0 per mile to build. When tUlt tlte cost of keeping them n r,,a.r.= owing to the pcr'uaucace ef concrete, k an average of only S1o Der m..e.. Ite euprtaous annual savluS n the uaaateuaace ef concrete road compared a.th other types k shown ny -tatSiIss gatl,rgd from Massachu- Ssft>. Connecticut Rhode Island, New Jersey .ua New York for eight years. These couhiuel statistics show total average east frr mlie ef S6pN for main feuance of reads built with material other than concrete, while concrete f9ad ca>ts ealy an average of Sao per Inlie pcr year.
 "Kcduesa to an average basis and distributed over a period of 2e years under a St5gU.uuo bond issue. the ay- craze ee-f# of concrete Toad to a farmer AYmg on land valued ut S3063 per acre k N&4 cents per acre Der year. This estimate k based upon proposed concrete read construction in Nermtlion county Illinois. and NerHlliea county has just accepted bids for l il e.iirs of concrete highway histrlbutc4 over a period of years and eaualized among 1ae farmers and taxpayer, who are thus enabled to reach their market tewn 3Ga days in the year and mere quickly than ever heforc-with larger loads drawn by fewer horses, the cost of q concrete road k ucSl sible. Se a concrete ruad K relatively cheap be-
 lf