The Fallon standard. (Fallon, Nev.) 1920-1958, 1923-03-21
County Road
Building With
Limited Funds
More Gravel and Less
Engineers Prove a
Winning Plan

Building county highways without
engineers is among the problems thai
are being solved successfully IL
Churchill county. County Clerh
Howard, while not elected as sur
veyor. road supervisor or right-of'
way man, has all the griefs that &c
with this several-legged job. A triI
around the bend with him in the
morning leads In four or five direc-
tions, across lots to catch up time
and he points out the improvements
that have been made and that are
under contemplation.
The road material that is used and
proven most successful as a travel
resistant surfacing is gravel from the
Hazen pit, Which contains enough
binder, when wet and dragged, to
make real roads.
In the two years that road i'm
proyement program has been under
force over nine miles of garyeled sur
face highway, or county roads, have
been laid, and in most instances they
will compare favorably with the same
work mapped out and finished by
the highway department.
The road from Fallon to SheckleI
district, while not in a finished con
dition throughout. has been improved
to point where it is rs per cent
good going. In many places the
graded has been employed to turn
pike the road, and this is being fol
lowed by graveling where possible
Where gravel was spread during the
wet weather this spring and last
year this road Is in excellent con
dition The recently widened grade
is to be graveled and unless a storm
helps to wet down the gravel it will
be sprinkled and dragged.
Nithstands Heavy Teaming
Probably the best example of the
wearing quality and binding feature
of the Hazen gravel is shown on the
road leading south to the Island dis
trict. Gravel was spread over this
road last year, some of it late in the
fall, and despite the excessive heavy
teaming that the road has been sub
jected to IL is standing up well anc
with only slight repairs will be in ex
cellent condition throughout the
summer. The extension of the road
by the farmers further south is prac-
tically ready for travel and will even
tually be graveled. giving another
mile of this class of excellent road ia
the farmers of the Lone Tree and
Island sections.
The county road leading north is
good example of what can be done
with sand dune road beds. Gravel in
this instance was. used on moving
sand and with wetting and dragging
ii presents one of the best pieces OF
road construction in the county. The
east road leading toward the DUMP
ground is also in fair conditions and
more work is planned to make this
artery carry its proportion of travel
with this less grief to those driving
over that section.
Roads east and connecting with
the Lincoln highway are in very good
condition with further improvements
under consideration.
Favorable Comparison
A trip over the finished county
roads and over the state highway
where gravel is used results In the
opinion that the county is getting
more for it's money than the state
or the government. Practically the
same class of road Is being built
by county funds and at far less ex-
pense than state highway building
In this county none of the fund is ex-
pended on office highway expense, nc
surveyors are steadily employed and
ninety per cent of the work Is laid
out with tape and a teamsters eye
In speaking to one citizen who takes
keen interest In road work, and be-
lieves 1t to be a factor in leading to
land settlement, he stated that the
roads throughout the state as a whole
need more gravel and less engineers
or less engineers and more gravel
either way you put 1t.
The county commissioners of Chur-
chill have been giving as much
thought to roa dbuilding as any fea.
ture of county development. This is
necessary, as at least half of the
school attendants come from the rur'
al settlements, and are moved to the
schools by auto transport. All of the
farming products are moved to mar.
ket over the county roads, and al
material consumed on the farms IL
carried over the roads. With this il
mind the commissioners are giving
more time and thought to the i'm
provement OF the county roads thar
any other subject.
1t has developed after many years
of experimenting with dirt roads thai
we'll rounded dirt road graveled OF
an average of four inches with ma
terial from the Hazen pit gives the
best wearing results. Roads tha
stood up this winter and last summer
are the proof of the contention of tn,
commissioners that II is cheaper L
build with gravel than to be contin
uously repairing dirt surfaced road
that give way with any ordinar.
haulage, and become mires durin,
wet weather.
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