Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1924-06-27
SARGENT TELLS
CANADIANS WORTH
OF GRAVEL ROADS
Especial to Kennebec JournaD


st. Andrews, n. B., June 26.-Chief
Engineer Paul D. Sargent of the Maine
State Highway Commission in discuss
ing the subject THE Best Method for
Maintaining Gravel Roads" at the 18th
annual convention of the Canadian
Good Roads Association held here to-
day, declared that on a properly con-
structed gravel road with a traffic less
than 400 vehicles per 12-hour day, of
which 80 to 95 are motor driven, main
tenance can best be done by the patrol
method.
Mr.. Sargent called attention to the
fact that provision must be made for
replacing the gravel worn from the
surface of the road. 1.-The patrolman
can do some of this work." he said,
Especially if gravel pits are located
adjacent to the road or if gravel for
this purpose has been delivered in
stock piles along the road. The most
satisfactory method of replacing gravel
surface is by the employment of extra
men and teams working under the d.
rection of the patrolman, or by using
a floating truck gang similar to bal
last crew in railroad maintenance
work"
Further details of how this main
tenance work can be best carried on
We're brought out by the speaker, who
said that the cost of maintenance as
outlined has been over a series of eight
years 800 per mile plus the patrol
mans wages. For the past few years"
he asserted, 1--WE have paid for a man,
two horses, a cart, drag and tools, Sc
a day for nine hours, or $3.50 month.
Patrolmen average to work from April
Is to November Is, or a period of
seven months. This makes the cost of
maintaining an eight and one-half
mile section $1,000, or about 1928 per
mile. These figures are based on the
employment of approximately 500 pa
trolmen each year for the last eight
years. If one horse is employed in
stead of two, the cost of the patrol out
fit will be 81 per day less.
when traffic reaches between 400
and 500 vehicles per 12-hour day.
plain gravel surfaces will corrugate or
ripple. and as traffic increases beyond
the 500 mark these corrugations be-
come so pronounced that they are ex-
tremely disagreeable to ride over.
Dragging or, better, scraping with
grader, will in a measure keep these
corrugations down, but as long as the
traffic hold up to the volume named
scraping will have to be carried on con-
tinuously. The only satisfactory meth
Cd we have developed for mainta lining
| gravel roads under volume of traffic
| exceeding 500 vehicles per 12-hour day
| Is to surface treat with bituminous ma
| tcrial. The State Highway Commission
! of Maine has been doing more or less
of this work during the past eight or %
years and We have some sections of
gravel road so treated which take
traffic of 5000 vehicles per 12-hour day
fairly satisfactorily. We have used
refined tar products and various grades
OF asphaltic4 oil, but for the last six or
eight years we have used almost eX-
clusively refined tar. falling within the
| specification TC-1-Tar for Cold Appli-
| cation-Bulletin 691 United States De-
partment of Agriculture.
I'VE have had Il good many sections
of surface treated gravel roads which
do not break up in the spring. The
! most of these sections get a retreat
ment each year. The second year the
amount of tar which we have used has
| been from three-tenths to one-third of
! a gallon per square yard. Fer the
| third and fourth years the amount has
run as light as one-quarter of a gall
Ion. and in some instances two-tenths.
| During the last four years our sur
| face treatment work, plus the cost of
patrol maintenance, for a season of
eight months has averaged to cost
| $1,000 per mile.
BASED on the figures. this would
show n maintenance cost of S1013.S7
per mile. / have said that on new
roads we use half n gallon of tar per
square yard. That will increase the
n
ready given.
where it is necessary to scarify or
break up the old bituminous surface,
we run into a considerable larger ex-
pense for preparing the surface that
| indicated above"