The Idaho Republican. [volume] (Blackfoot, Idaho) 1904-1932, 1922-01-26
Two Kinds of Roads
on Which Our Money
Can Be Expended
Continued from last issue

Bitulithic pavement presents ne
such wearing surface as that, anG
tires run smooth as if there was nc
wear upon them. There is one ex.
ception to this, and it is in the heat
of summer when the pavement Is
warm and the surface is soft and
sticky. Then when the tire speeds
along on it, there is a seething sound
to the tire, especially If it runs at
high speed, and there Is clinging
together of the materials in the
materials in the pavement and the
tire. The clinging or suction is so
strong that the feather edges of the
tire pull off-are stripped off and
left in the pavement. The suction
also heats the tire and causes dam
age to it in that way. The new tire
with the rubber tread does not suf-
fer from the suction, but insofar
as it has the feather edge it is strip
ped of that much material.
Where a road is surfaced with pea
gravel and fine crushed rock that is
not picked up by the suction of the
wheels, where it is held down by
some natural binder, then the tires
come in contact only with smooth
surfaces and there is neither cutting
nor suction in a marked degree.
During the bond road campaign
of 1919 there was much agreement
among Bingham county men that the
best and cheapest roads in the county
are roads that we're made by nature
with fine gravel and the natural clay
and cement of the soil. A number
of such patches of roads found thru
out the county were referred to as
the perfect road bed. There is one
stretch of it at Wapello and reach
ing some distance below Wapello on
the Yellowstone highway. There is
another section of it at Thomas, ad-
joining the Novas farm and others.
Superintendent w. c. Stone, who had
charge of the road construction work
was enthusiastic for that kind of
road and declared his intention to
build such roads with material taken
from some of the gravel pits, but
for the most part he failed utterly.
He also had a theory that by placing
the heavy coarse black sand in a
thin coat upon the road that it would
destroy the suction on the rubber
tires. This theory held good so long
as the black sand remained upon the
surface, but it shifted about in the
wind and then got crushed in, in
muddy times, and if there is any
merit to the black sand theory it
will be easy to put it on again after
the roads get settled and hard. 1t
is claimed by local men who studied
road construction that II Mr.. Stone
placed much coarse gravel on the
roads that was unsuitable, and
dumped the fine crushed rock that
was the most valuable into the bar
row pits or left it at the crushers.
Some of our bond roads were built
with part gravel, but without suf-
ficient binder to hold it togther and
the roads are still soft. The More
land country had some of the best
roads in the county before they were
torn up with the pillow and the
grader and in the effort to get per-
feet grading, some very good roads
have been destroyed, for. it seems
that these perfect road materials
are of rather thin coat and no con-
siderable bodies of this material has
been discovered that can be taken
out and laid upon the roads as q
perfect imitation of natures best
roads. II we are to have any good
gravel roads built with natural ma
terials held together with the ma
tural binder. people must find the
deposits and report them to our road
builders SO they can be put into use.
Three or four years ago this paper
had q great deal to say about the use
OF Goshen gravel for surfacing roads.
Some roads have been built with
49, -f,.' ~ ~. - tt'.-.e.s'f f'ss