The weekly times-record. (Valley City, N.D.) 1912-1922, 1916-08-10
Government Experts Give
Advice on Road Making

Washington, Aug. 4.-"Although it
will be impractical for many years to
come to improve more than a small
per cent of the roads of the country
with hard surfaces" said the United
States Office of public roads today,
roads should not be neglected, and
with a little care may in many cases
be made adequate to the needs of the
communities they serve"
Many country roads, the government
experts said, may be greatly improved
by judicious grading and systematic
maintenance. Frequently, especially
in the south, the addition of sand or
clay to the natural soil of the road is
all that is necessary to make road
sufficiently good for all practical pur-
poses"
Thousands of miles of roads that
meet the needs of many localities, as
we'll as would a more expensive type
of construction, have been built in the
south at an average cost of $3.50 a
mile," the United States road service
said.
! Earth roads should be at least 20
feet wide and preferably "a to 80 feet;
| they should be crowned with a rise of
one inch to the foot towards the cen
| ter, they should have side bitches;
through swampy land the road bed
should be raised above the general
level Of the country to secure drain
age. For grading and GROWING the
road, drag made of the two halves
of split log is in general use. The
split-log drag is made by joining the
halves in vertical position and at
! taching chains and double-trees so
| that when drawn by horses it moves
along the road at an angle of As de-
grees, the foremost end to the side of
the road, so that the earth may be d.
rected toward the center.
The drag should be light enough to
be lifted by one man. Dry, red cedar
is the best material for the drag,
though red elm and walnut are excel
lent. Soft maple, elm or willow are
superior for this purpose to oak, hick-
DRY or ash. A platform may be placed
on the drag for the driver. Dragging
is simple and inexpensive, says the
government bureau, and when used in
conjunction with a road machine,
helps much toward the construction
of good road. Dragging often costs
but so cents a mile. A mile of road
can be dragged in few hours.
In constructing the sand-clay road,
sand road is first shaped and then
covered with from four to six inches
of clay. The sand and clay are thor.
oughly mixed with tooth-harrow
first dry, then wet.
On a clay-bed the same process is
followed as with sand, except that the
clay should be we'll plowed up to in.
sure good mixture.
The final mixing should be done in
rainy weather. When the mixing has
been completed, the road is brought
to crown of one inch to the foot
with split-log and covered with a
thin layer of sand. After several
rains, another layer of sand may be
applied to the surface.
in the construction of the sand-clay
road is an even mixture of the sand
and the clay. Joint" clays should
not be used. The sand should be
coarse and sharp if possible.
In the gravel road the first layer Of
gravel, or coarser size, is laid over q
prepared road-bed of earth to depth
of about four inches at the center
and three inches at the sides. The
second course is put on two inches al
the center and about TX at the sides
The whole should be we'll rolled anG
proper bitches constructed at the
sides.
Gravels for use in road construction
should be submitted to a road exper
for examination as to their fitness
Many gravels are wholly unsuited fol
the purpose.