The Leon reporter. (Leon, Iowa) 1887-1930, 1916-06-15
subdrain the Roads.

The subdrainage of hillside roads
Is one of the most neglected parts OF
our entire road system. The water
seeping out Of the hillside or rising
from below keeps many OF the slopes
in bad condition much Of the time. I'm
der this defect the more the road is
Travelled the worse it becomes. IN
places such as these, tile should be
laid under the road to sub-drain and
carry this water off rather than have
it come to the surface. There are
many long stretches Of flat-road where
tile should also be laid. This is an
important matter and we will make
it plank number two. know you will
agree with it.
Road Beds Graded and Rounded.
am sure that all will agree our
road beds should be we'll graded and
rounded so the water which falls as
rain will not stand in the middle Of
the road in puddles to soften the road
bed and result in cuts and ruts. Every
tax payer in Iowa will agree that the
grading up of our roads so as to shed
water is desirable, so we will make
the third plank in our roads program
Road beds to be graded and round
ed"
If the water is turned to the side
of the road. am sure again that
all will agree this water should be
disposed of and not allowed to stand
in pools and ponds along the road to
soak up our grades, so the fourth
plank in our good roads program will
be to have the roads we'll drained with
bitches at the side leading into
streams or culverts and carrying the
surplus water away. ;.
These are generally recognized as
fundamental propositions, but l wish
to state them and get common con-
sent to the program as we go along.
Bridges Should Be Permanent Struc.
lures.
Another necessity that all will rec
ognize are bridges and culverts, and
practically every farmer and tax
payer of the state of Iowa will without
exception agree that these bridges
and culverts should be permanent
We may to very large extent cut out
repairs. 1t is in this item Of repairs
and maintenance of temporary bridges
that we put a large portion OF our tax
money. This is our big leak and we
should stop it. 1t is not necessary to
urge upon Iowa tax payers that we
build permanent bridges so l am 60
ing to make plank number five, that
all bridges and culverts, SO far as is
practical, SHOULD. be Of permanent con-
struction. Such structures will last
for the next hundred years with prac-
tically no repairs.
Now we come to the proposition of
whether or not we shall have any
surfacing on this road upon which we
have cut down the hills, have graded
up the road bed, have drained it in
good shape and upon which we have
erected permanent bridges. l take it
as a foregone conclusion that the tax
payers of Iowa will be glad to have
a graveled road bed if it would pay
them to have it, if it is enough to
make it a good investment, just as
they put their money into silos, trac-
tors, cream separators, etc. Millions
of dollars are spent for these articles
because they pay. take it that if the
program l have outlined with the sur
face graveled really does make bet
ter road and yet costs no more, 10
tax payer in Iowa will object to get
ting the better road for the same
money. No one here will object to
having a road such as have describ-
ed with a, graveled surface from his
farm to town if it costs him nothing
in other words-does not increase his
taxes.
Granted all this, there are but two
propositions left:
First, Is the graveled graded road
and better than our present ungravel-
ed road? and,
Second, If so, how can we get the
better road without spending any
more money or without any increase
in taxes?
Are GraveIed Roads Better Than Dirt?
While the first proposition does not
permit of argument, it being so ap-
parent that the graveled road is at
least to some extent better than the
dirt road, l wish to refer to a few
concrete facts to support this. Let
us have the whole problem in mind
and the facts all before us.
A stretch of road on the Lincoln
Highway near Nevada, Iowa, has been
improved with a reasonably hard,
graveled surface. Before improve
ment, 1t took LOG pounds average
draft to pull a load of one ton over
this road. After the road was i'm
proved, it took an average draft of Is
lbs. to pull the same load in the same
wagon over this road. In other
words only 1919 as much power.
These figures are from the United
States Department of public roads
which made dvnamometer test of