Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1916-09-17
.O|L|NG DIRT ROADS
is PARTICULAR WORK
Useless to Oil n Dirt Road Which Is
Not Thoroughly Drained or
Properly Graded.
ILLINOIS TRIES EXPERIMENT
Highway Commission OF That State
Issues Pamphlet of Information.
Several States Using By-Product
OF Iron Furnaces for Highways.

There are 2,333 900 miles OF public
roads la the United States. OF which
only 262.400 miles shave any kind of
euf!acing. In other words, nearly 50
per cent of our roads arc dirt roads,
and IL viii be quarter Of century.
probably. before this percentage is re-
duccd to 70 The most important road
problem OF the United states is to
grade. drain and maintain these roads
SO as to make them OF the best prac-
tlcable use at minimum annual eX-
pcnsc. Some progress along these
lines is evident. and in some sections
very satisfactory earth roads have
been built and are maintained in good
condition. except foi fe"' weeks in
spring, by intelligent dragging.
Another method Of maintenance.
originating in California, is now being
tried with more or less success in
number o. Central States. This is oil
ing the roads. It's purpose is to sup
press dust: for In so doing. the road
surface viii remain smooth longer
than when the road is dusty. and there
Is less mud formed in wet weather.
But oilinr roads has 10 bc done in
telligently or il VIII make conditions
worse instead Of better. y q, useless
TO oil a dir; road which is not thor
oughly drained ana properly graded.
II is waste Of money 10 oil road
which does not have Il smooth, hard
surface. free from dust. II the sur
face is uneven. oil collects i'm shallow
depressions and sUfrcnS the surface, so
that after tn" nrst heavy rain the
travel tends to make mudholcs at
these places. II there IS dust on the
road. the oil combines with the dust
to form a sort OF mat, which til. travel
over IL quickly breaks IN into large
Makes or scales II tho road is in
proper condition to receive tho oil, and
the right Kind OF oil is used. the oil
percolatcs into the pores 81 the earth
for a depth Of several inches. scaling
them with AN aspha!,ic binding ma
terial which uniics the surface into -
tougher mass than the original sur
face The oil cannot make The ROAD
Jany harder for only stone or gravel
twill accomplish that. hut II VIII pre-
vent the displacement OF the earth par
ticles under ANY loads which an earth
road IS ada ptad 10 carry. II the oiled
surface is immediately covered with
thin layer OF clean, hard sand. tho
travel viii not disturb the oil. and the
travellers VIII suffer less Inconvenience.
The rirh, Kind Of oil should ~ used.
for there are some Kinds which net
as lubricants. and ruin . road instead
Of improving IT. This kind Of main
tenance o: earth roads Is pro.ing so
successful In tho Central states that
the Illinois state Highway Commission
has recently issued for free distribu-
,ior Il profusely illustrated bulletin
telling how to do u and what Things
To avoid doing.
Stag Used To Good Effect
The chief by-proGuci az the manu-
facturc OF iron in blast furnaces is
Stag An enormous quantity - pro-
duccd for every 100 tons Of iro,, made
in such furnace from forty 20 slxty
tons OF Stag arc also MADE. II accu-
mu!ntss in great piles, and its utiliza-
t!on - not only convenience 20 the
iron-!nak trs. by removing othe!'wi is.
waste material requiring STORAGE space.
but is also q desirable act az con
servstion OF our resources. /, is :;
hard. dense. tough material. which
railway companies have crushed and
used for many years in hallasting their
tracks. For . quarter Of a century
IL has also been used IN road building,
but until quite recently very little was
ever said OF this work. Roadbuildcrs
near Stag piles tried the material.
found II satisfactory and continued to
use 1t. But they said little or nothing
about their experience. and rs the
stranger driving over a road built of
crushed Stag cannot sec anything diff
fercnt about the surface from the APP
gpearance OF road built of crushed
stone. having the same general prop
an Interest in the material
Finally comprehensive road improve
ment projects were undertaken III some
States and brisk demand for good
crushed stone developed. Only a snail
proportion OF our native rocks are
really bic for road building. how
ever and thus quite wide interest de-
veloped rapidly in Stag as road ma
terial 1t has beer in service now on
A large scale for several wears in Ohio
Pennsylvania ana New York. and 10 a
smaller extent in West Virginia. Illi-
Maryland. Alabama. Georgia and Miss