The Washington times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1902-1939, 1922-01-28
DRlVEENTRANCE
OFT PR0CLA|MS
PR|VATEEsTkTE

TUlvhiLLJIHlL
Well Kept Highways Considered
Barometer - Bituminous-
Bound Macadam Favored.
II the apparel oft prociaims the
man. then the entrance drive pro-
claims the private estate. writes
John Stanley 8. Crandell in Country
Life There Is a grass grown drive
way leading into one Of our largest
universities that gives the place such
An unkempt air that the visitor IL
surprised at the loneliness of the
campus when finally he, arrives. The
beauty Of the grounds fades when he
leaves over the same grassy road,
and often you mayN hear some one
say. why don't they clean UP tina.
entrance?"
They do clean 1t up. but the grass
crows again. and again, and again.
Traffic Ia not heavy enough to keep
II from growing in the waterbound
macadafn. This Ia true Of many
country estates also, and II often re-
quires the services OF several men y
number of times a year to make the
roads look. trim and well kept.
There Ia another disadvantage
ABOUT waterbound macadam and tilst
~ the dust nuisance. For no matter
how well the. road has been built,
/. there always will be dust from 1t un.
less II IL treated in some way. I re-
member In Newport the Highway
department used to sprinkle Bellevue
avenue and the Ocean drive with
sea water to keep the dust down. II
old the work well, in the old days.
ana the salt In the water took up
enough moisture from the atmos-
phere to keep the macadam dustless
with motor cars 1t would not be salts
factory even II the macadam did not
wear out 80 rapidly under traffic.
Calcium chloride has the same
property as salt from sea water, only
In more marked degree. and II helps
20 destroy weeds ana grass, too. The
state OF Connecticut uses considerable
OF this material on macadam, and gets
good results.
Macadam Out Of Date.
There Is no doubt in any landscape
architects mind but that the best!
looking road for an estate Is the ma
cadam. The only thing that bothers
him Is the keeping of 1t in perfect con-
dition with the least labor. Plain ma
cadam today 10 out Of date in most To-
cations, and II It is likely to have mo-
tor traffic It should be treated with
some bitumfnous Material to maintain
II properly. By careful construction
and proper selection of the covering
material, or top dressing. a bitumi-
nous-bound or surface-treated road
can be made to duplicate the appear
ance offa plain niAcadam.
) II the drive Is yet to be built, there
Is no better method of construction
than a bituminous-bound macadam.
First, the loose stone 10 placed. the tar
is sprayed over the stone, which il
then rolled, and after a second or seal
coat OF bitumen the covering material
ID spread. Such q drive on a private
estate requires almost no attention.
and there is no chance of weeds or
grass growing in 1t, while 1t Is always
dustless.
The objection may be raised that
a drive built in this manner will
soon become so smooth as to resem-
bic city pavement. However, II
a minimum Of bituminous binder Is
used in its construction. and II plenty
OF cover is applied, the drive will
Will always have a loose surface
whish may be raked. II too much
binder Is used It will work its way up
through the cover, and then the APP
pearance will be that Of a smooth
pavement. This is also true of surface
treatment over plain macadam. II the
treatment Ia too heavy there will be
an excess Of bitumen that will grad
ue1ly coat the cover and the result
lwin be a smoothly finished road.
\When too much binder Is used there
In also q chance that the road may
become objectionably sticky.
Question Cover.
The question Of cover is one that
viii repay much study. In fact. the
appearance Of the drive depends en-
tirely upon the selection Of the right
material A stone or a gravel whose
color will blend harmoniously with the
house and other landscape features
should be sought. A granite chip, like
the Barre granite, sometimes makes a
very attractive drive. Again, q washed
pea gravel, such as Is obtained at
Cow Bay, l.. l., may be preferable.
Hudson river bluestone chips give a
pleasing tint to the drive, A white
limestone IL sometimes too glazing
under the summer sun. although a
gray limestone may produce q charm
ing effect. And when the matter is
being considered, the abundance Of
the material in question should be
looked into. remember an estate
where this was overlooked, with the
result that part of the roads was COW
cred with gravel while the remainder
was covered with stone chips. The
builders had failed to make sure of an
adequate supply of gravel and It hap
Apened that the supply gave out when
Tfhe roads were not half finished. I
weedy. dusty paths are quite as
much a nuisance as roads Of like
character. Paths do not need to be
as substantially built as roads, hut
there should be sufficient drainage TO
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