Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1921-11-18
WEAR OUT HIGHWAY
TEST CONSTRUCTION
SEVEN TYPES OF PAVING IN THE
ROAD TO BE TRIED
OUT

Some time within the next few
months new road 21a miles long is to
be broken up in what is probably the
most extensive study of road service
ever undertaken in the United States.
The road is located in Illinois, about
IL miles southwest of Springfield, and
parallels the Wabash Railroad In the
test road there are no curves. The
grades vary from zero, to four-tenths
Of per cent, with an average grade of
one-tenth of l per cent, the maximum
and minimum grades extending over
very short distances. The subgrade soil
is uniformly brown silt loan, except
for two small stretches where it-morc
nearly approaches gumbo. ...-
Built Of Common Road-Making
Materials
There are seven general types OF paw
ing in the road, the idea being to have
represented the hief materials used
in road making, SO that engineers may
study the effect of known and measured
traffic of varying degree upon each
kind Of road. The seven typesare:
Portland cement concrete.
Three and four inch lug brick con-
b
cement concrete base.
Three and four inch lug brick con-
structed semimonolithic and with a
Portland cement concrete base.
Three and four inch bituminous filed
lug and lugless brick on Portland &C.
ment concrete base.
Three and four inch bituminous filed
lug and lugless brick on macadam base.
Asphaltic concrete with and without
binder course on Portland cement con-
crete base.
Asphaltic concrete with and without
binder course on macadam base.
Built by Illinois and Federal Govern.
ment.
The road, known as the Bates expert
mental road, was constructed by the
division Of highways, Illinois depart
ment Of Public Works and Buildings,
in cooperation with the Bureau
of Public Roads, United States
work was begun on the road
finished some time ago. Since it's com
pletion the State and Federal Govern
ment engineers, by numerous daily OBJ
servatiens, have been measuring the
effect-of heat, cold, moisture and other
elements upon it's surface and on the
subgrade. These observations have
been taken on So sections, and much
information has been obtained which
will be valuable in building roads in
the future.
1t is planned to subject the highway
to a Hgidly controlled truck traffic.
The trucks are to be weighed, and the
weights will be gradually increased
from q light load to one so per cent
greater than that allowed by Illinois
law. The number and weight Of loads
required to produce failure in the var
ious sections will index the behavior
Of the various types Of pavements
when subjected to different kinds Of
traffic.
This information is of the utmost
value. Knowing the conditions Of traf-
fic which are to be met, it will afford a
means by which proper paving can be
selected to meet those conditions. It
may lead to the saving of millions Of
dollars each year by preventing the
construction Of pavements that are
found to1be incapable of resisting mod
ern traffic
Why some types Of pavement fail
and others hold up will be largely de-
termi1ed by the test. Why roadway
cracks also is being studied. At diff
ferent times each section is observed
and all cracks noted. In addition, a
considerable number of cracks have
been measured by a micrometer.
Auto Tracks viii Make Thousands of
Trips
The traffic test Of the road will be