Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1919-03-15
MUCH GOOD ROAD
WORK BEING DONE
IN THIS COUNTY
Commissioners Take Public
Into Their Confidence and.
Show How Highways Are.
Being Put in Condition,


Following their recently adopted
policy of keeping the public Informed
as to what work is being done on the
roads, the county commissioners yes
terday took a party over some of the
highways which have been workeS,
or on which work is now in progress.
The commissioners are of the opinion
that the taxpayers have right to
know what is going on, particularly
on the roads and plan to make an
inspection trip about once a month.
Everybody who is at all interested in
good roads and desires to keep check
on what is being done in the county
is invited to join future excursions.
Headed by DR.. NJ. *. Wylder, chair
man of the board, the first place Wis
tied by the party yesterday was the
gravel pit a short distance east of
Menaul school, where a gravel screen
er, recently purchased by the county
at cost of S1,910 t. o. b. Albuquer-
que, is being made ready for opera
ton. An endless chain of buckets
feed the machine. The gravel is ele-
waited TO the top of the machine,
where it passes through a long cylin-
drical revolving sieve, which sorts the
gravel into four sizes, ranging from
sand to large stones.
1t was found in the past that with
the facilities ut hand it was impossi-
Bile properly to classify the gravel for
road work. without sitting it by hand
several times, which was laborious
and expensive. Consequently the run
of the pit was used. which included
everything from minute grains of sand
to stones as large as a mans head
Material of this kind was found to be
unfit to fill chuck holes in roads or
for surfacinG. BY using tho gravel
screener the sand and large stone may
be thrown aside, the sand to be sold
for commercial purposes and the
large stones to be run through a
crusher and pulverized at some future
date and used on the roads if they
are needed, leaving tho two medium
sizes for highway Improvement
The screener is run by six horse
power gasoline engine. There are
four pockets on each side of the
screener into which the gravel drops
after being properly graded and from
these pockets the gravel fit for road
work will be dumped into the trucks.
The rejected gravel and sand will be
thrown to one side in separate piles
for disposition later on
The party then drove out the East
Central avenue road a distance of
about five miles from the end of the
street car line. Recently the road
gang under the direction of Supern-
tendent A. f.. St. Norris graded about
four and one-half miles of this road
and 1t is in very good condition at
present--smoother than some of the
city streets. One can without diff
Guilty see whore The grading work
stopped, as the road beyond where it
has been worked is rough and full of
chuck holes.
The last place visited was the rock
crusher, near Los Padillas on the
Isleta road. The crnsher is located at
the base of the Isleta mesa What
resembles volcanic rock, almost as
hard as flint, is being crushed and
used fer road surfacing. Several
miles of this surfacing will be applied
after which, as the work progresses
toward Albuquerque. it will be nee
essary to use gravel from more con-
venient location. The screener can
he used to get out this material as it
can be mounted on wheels for the
purpose of transporting it from one
place to another. -Four or five miles
of this road north from lsleta have
been surfaced with gravel and crush
ed rock is being used northward from
the point where the gravel stops 1t
is the intention to surface the road
either with gravel or rock, from Isleta
to the Barelas bridge. This road is
traversed by hundreds of vehicles
monthly and must be kept in, first
class condition.
I'VE are going to surface all of our
main Travelled roads with gravel or
crushed rock" said DR. Wylder yes
terday. '"Th7 cost of maintaining dirt
roads is too expensive. 1T is the pol
icy of the present board of county
commissioners to build more durable
roads and thus reduce the mainte-
nance cost"
The county has ordered a road drag
of new design. 1t is intended pri-
marily for use after rains. but can be
i....l L. Il. 4 i. 4 1.