The Washington herald., 1921-04-24

travelling at thirty-nve miles per
hour, and 5000 motor trucks.
travelling at ten miles per hour. per
day. These arbi-
trary figures indicate that the tech
nlcal committee believes that 10000
mixed vehicles per twenty-four-
hour day, represents the practical
limits Of trafic on one road. In
other words, should traflc heavier
than that develop between two
points, II IL wise to construct an
other parallel road on . separate
right-of-way for the additional
travel. rather than TO endeavor to
concentrate Il on the one road
through Increasing the roads width
or strength.
Specifications Determined.
The committee quickly agreed
upon a minimum right-of-way Of
100 feet. The majority Of Ameri-
can roads have q sixty-foot right
of-way-far too narrow. according
to the minimum standard set by
these practical men-nor did they
stop at 100 feet. A resolution was
passed at the fnal meeting. after
a careful consideration OF all deci-
sions, providing that a subcommit-
tee be appointed to carefully study
the final design and determine II
the right-of-way reduirements had
been adequately taken care OF.
One hundred and ten, or 112, or
even f25 feet OF right-of-way, may
ultimately be determined upon as
necessary. but 100 feet Is the mini
mum.
What width and thickness of paw
ing will adequately serve the traffic
volume determined upon and how
should 1t be laid? II was only after
long discussion that the committee
finally agreed on forty feet of con-
crete paving with reinforcing steel
EMBEDDED, ten inches thick and laid
in one continuous slab without CEN
trai subdivision. While the commit
tee as q whole agreed that this form
of construction made for safety and
for greater speed and convenience,
1t felt this design lacked fiexibility
and did not make for the most eco
nomical and fullest use Of the paw
ing provided. Forty feet Of paving
width permits four lanes of travel,
a lane for slow-moving trucks and
lane for rapidly-moving passenger
vehicles in each direction.
In planning thickness. and design
the committee did not assume much
greater weight on four wheels than
Is allowed by the several States at
the present time. Twenty-eight
thousand pounds on four wheels was
considered the practical road limit.
Safety and Beauty.
OF course. a forty-foot paved road
would be safe to begin with. 1t al
lows plenty of room between vehi-
cles, even at peak hours of traffic
congestion. But the committee de-
creed, with surprisingly quick
unanimity, that the dangerous open
ditch. at present found along the
greater proportion of our country
roads, should 60. The ideal section
will be drained by catch basins and
submerged tile under the earth
shoulders.
The committee provided that :he
ideal road should have no curves of
a radius of less than 1000 feet and
that such curves as were necessary
should be super elevated" which
means tipped up at the outer edge.
to allow for a speed of thirty five
miles per hour. In other words. so
built that you can round them at
that speed with safety. 1t provided
for the lighting Of the route. which
would permit Of the use Of DINNERS
in the open country. and il added a
foot path for pedestrians. The COM
mittee agreed upon the necessity of
aesthetic considerations and. IN al
lowing twenty-five feet of right of
way at the outer edge for deyelop-
ment by a landscape architect, pro-
cided also in it's recommendations
for frequent park and camp sites.