The Oakley herald. [volume] (Oakley, Idaho) 1908-1961, 1917-07-06


ample. practically the whole problem.
aside from proper drainage, may be to
determine a reasonable balance be-
tween the desire to avoid unnecessary
damage to farming land and the pur-
pose to secure a reasonably direct
route over good ground.
One Of the most common problems In
laying out road In level country is to
decide between continuing a circuitous
route around cultivated fields or along
rectangular land lines, and establish
Ing new diagonal route across the
fields.
In mountainous regions, on the other
hand, the problem may be to fit the
road to the contour Of the country, re-
CARELESS OF land lines, cultivated fields
and all other considerations except
grade, drainage and line.
In general, the proper location and
design of road involves: (D deter
mining Its controlling points; that II.
fixing its general route with referen,E
to certain points which the road muAt
pass through, (2) surveying routs
which passes through the controlling
points and Is otherwise adapted to the
lay Of the land, (3) a study Of the
drainage situation, az preparing such
plans and drawings as are necessary
for proper construction and Z COM
plete record.
Controlling Points.
Such features Of the locality as gaps
through ridges, exposure to the sun,
narrow stream crossings and suitable
points for crossing railroads (prefern-
bly, by means OF overhead bridges or
under passes), together with the ne
cessity for connecting up with certain
centers Of population, usually will
serve to fix the location Of road with
in fairly definite limits. For impor-
tant roads these controlling points are
determined by careful inspection OF all
possible routes.
The Survey.
The care which should be exercised
in making a road survey necessarily
must depend upon the Importance Of
the road and the amount to be expend-
ed in It's improvement. An ordinary
farm road, for example, usually re-
quires no survey other than lining II
by the eye between the controlling
points. Some unimportant public roads
may require very little more than farm
roads in the way of survey, but II
any considerable amount Of grading or
other work is to be done, either at the
time the road Is located or later, the
survey should include all instrument
work necessary to insure that the work
will be done economically.
The purposes Of survey are ~ te
determine accurately the topograph,
or lay of the land so that the loca
ton may follow the route which pre-
sents the fewest obstacles, (2) to fl
the grade line to the ground surface SC
as to keep down the amount Of grading
necessary. (3) to balance cuts and fill!
so that whatever grading Is done will
be to the best possible advantage, "a,
to line up the road and provide stakes
for controlling the work, (5) to Obtain
data from which proper plans may b.
prepared and an estimate of cost made
, (6) to provide record that will pre-
vent subsequent contentious amonl
landowners regarding the original 10
cation of the road. While the impor
, lance of all these purposes is apparent
, frequently it is not realized that the
cannot be accomplished except b.
means of careful survey, and tina
= such surveys can be made only by es
, perienced men who have been traine
especially for such work. Farmer
p and business men generally are Ii
clined to underestimate the amount G
, skill required to make road surve
properly and their influence has bee
! responsible in the past for much buns
2 ling ard for uneconomical road wo-
for which they have had to pay !
. heavy taxes.
q The accompanying figure illustra Il
l. an error which is made sometimes b
O inexperienced persons In grading
). road without first having surveyed an
: planned the work. In this figure, v-hie
+ is an actual profile of an existing roa
= the shaded line shows the origin
n ground surface, the heavy full lii
q shows the grade to which the road WI
actually constructed, and the dott'
r. line shows a grade line which, If it hi
: been followed, not only would have +
l. quired no additional work, but won
J. have reduced the steep grade materis
a ly and thereby improved the road co
9. siderably.
"a In fitting the grade line to the groul
10 surface and balancing cuts ard fills
n should be borne in mind that cart
ii after being thoroughly compaeted, w
10 occupy less space in an embanLment
10 fill than in it's original position. Il
lv customary allowances for shrinka
and waste in road work are:
Per ce
" For heavy cuts and fills. 40 to
n. For average grading ...........-.....I5 to
CT | For light grading .-.....-...........-D TO
% For very light grading and consid~
NC cradle SOD ......+..s..-..s....--..... u
" Solid rock will expand from OF
le third to one-half of It's original volul
when taken from cut or excavati
and placed In an embankment. t
ut the spaces between the particles