The Future of Road-making in America Part 4

A layer, not thicker than four inches, of good gravel, such as that recommended above, should then be spread evenly over the prepared roadbed. Such material is usually carried upon a road in wheelbarrows or dump carts, and then spread in even layers with rakes, but the latest and best device for this purpose is a spreading cart.

If a roller cannot be had, the road is thrown open to traffic until it becomes fairly well consolidated; but it is impossible properly to consolidate materials by the movement of vehicles over the road, and if this means is pursued constant watchfulness is necessary to prevent unequal wear and to keep the surface smooth and free from ruts. The work may be hastened and facilitated by the use of a horse roller or light steam roller; and of course far better results can be accomplished by this means. If the gravel be too dry to consolidate easily it should be kept moist by sprinkling. It should not, however, be made too wet, as any earthy or clayey matter in the gravel is liable to be dissolved.

As soon as the first layer has been properly consolidated, a second, third, and, if necessary, fourth layer, each three or four inches in thickness, is spread on and treated in the same manner, until the road is built up to the required thickness and cross section. The thickness in most cases need not be greater than ten or twelve inches, and the fall from the center to the sides ought not to be greater than one foot in twenty feet, or less than one in twenty-five.

The last or surface layer should be rolled until the wheels of heavily loaded vehicles pa.s.sing over it make no visible impression. If the top layer is deficient in binding material and will not properly consolidate, a thin layer, not exceeding one inch in thickness, of sand or gravelly loam or clay, should be evenly spread on and slightly sprinkled if in dry weather, before the rolling is begun. Hardpan or stone screenings are much preferred for this purpose if they can be had.

The tendency of material to spread under the roller and work toward the sides can be resisted by rolling that portion nearest the gutters first.

To give the surface the required form and to secure uniform density, it is necessary at times to employ men with rakes to fill any depressions which may form.

In order to maintain a gravel road in good condition, it is well to keep piles of gravel alongside at frequent intervals, so that the person who repairs the road can get the material without going too far for it. As soon as ruts or holes appear on the surface some of this good fresh material should be added and tamped into position or kept raked smooth until properly consolidated.

If the surface needs replenishing or rounding up, as is frequently the case with new roads after considerable wear, the material should be applied in sections or patches, raked and rolled until hard and smooth.

Care must be taken that the water from higher places does not drain upon or run across the road. The side ditches, culverts, and drains should be kept open and free from debris.

In many of the Eastern and Southern States road stones do not exist; neither is it possible to secure good coa.r.s.e gravel. No such material can be secured except at such an expense for freight as to practically preclude its use for road-building. Oyster sh.e.l.ls can be secured cheaply in most of these states, and when applied directly upon sand or sandy soil, eight or ten inches in thickness, they form excellent roads for pleasure driving and light traffic. Sh.e.l.ls wear much more rapidly than broken stone or gravel of good quality, and consequently roads made of them require more constant attention to keep them in good order. In most cases they should have an entirely new surface every three or four years. When properly maintained they possess many of the qualities found in good stone or gravel roads, and so far as beauty is concerned they cannot be surpa.s.sed.

The greatest obstacles to good stone road construction in most places in the United States are the existing methods of building and systems of management, whereby millions of dollars are annually wasted in improper construction or in making trifling repairs on temporary structures.

[Ill.u.s.tration: OYSTER-Sh.e.l.l OBJECT-LESSON ROAD

[_In course of construction, near Mobile, Alabama_]]

The practice of using too soft, too brittle, or rotten material on roads cannot be too severely condemned. Some people seem to think that if a stone quarries easily, breaks easily, and packs readily, it is the very best stone for road-building. This practice, together with that of placing the material on unimproved foundations and leaving it thus for traffic to consolidate, has done a great deal to destroy the confidence of many people in stone roads. There is no reason in the world why a road should not last for ages if it is built of good material and kept in proper repair. If this is not done, the money spent is more than wasted. It is more economical, as a rule, to bring good materials a long distance by rail or water than to employ inferior ones procured close at hand.

The durability of roads depends largely upon the power of the materials of which they are composed to resist those natural and artificial forces which are constantly acting to destroy them. The fragments of which they are constructed are liable to be attacked in cold climates by frost, and in all climates by water and wind. If composed of stone or gravel, the particles are constantly grinding against each other and being exposed to the impact of the tires of vehicles and the feet of animals.

Atmospheric agencies are also at work decomposing and disintegrating the material. It is obviously necessary, therefore, that great care be exercised in selecting for the surfacing of roads those stones which are less liable to be destroyed or decomposed by these physical, dynamical, and chemical forces.

Siliceous materials, those composed of flint or quartz, although hard, are brittle and deficient in toughness. Granite is not desirable because it is composed of three materials of different natures, viz., quartz, feldspar, and mica, the first of which is brittle, the second liable to decompose rapidly, and the third laminable or of a scaly or layerlike nature. Some granites which contain hornblende instead of feldspar are desirable. The darker the variety the better. Gneiss, which is composed of quartz, feldspar, and mica, more or less distinctly slaty, is inferior to granite. Mica-slate stones are altogether useless. The argillaceous slates or clayey slates make a smooth surface, but one which is easily destroyed when wet. The sandstones are utterly useless for road-building. The tougher limestones are very good, but the softer ones, though they bind and make a smooth surface very quickly, are too weak for heavy loads; they wear, wash, and blow away very rapidly.

The materials employed for surfacing roads should be both hard and tough, and should possess by all means cementing and recementing qualities. For the Southern States, where there are no frosts to contend with, the best qualities of limestone are considered quite satisfactory so far as the cementing and recementing qualities are concerned; but in most cases roads of this cla.s.s of material do not stand the wear and tear of traffic like those built of trap rock, and when exposed to the severe northern winters such material disintegrates very rapidly. In fact, trap rock, "n.i.g.g.e.r heads," technically known as diabase, and diorites, are considered by most road engineers of long experience to be the very best stones for road-building. Trap rocks as a rule possess all the qualities most desired for road stones. They are hard and tough, and when properly broken to small sizes and rolled thoroughly, cement and consolidate into a smooth, hard crust which is impervious to water, and the broken particles are so heavy that they are not readily broken or washed away.

Unfortunately the most useful stones for road-building are the most difficult to prepare, and as trap rocks are harder to break than any other stones they usually cost more. The foundation or lower courses may be formed of some of the softer stones like gneiss or limestone, but trap rock should be used for the wearing surface, if possible, even if it has to be brought from a distance.

As to the construction of macadam roads, Mr. Potter says:

"In the construction of a macadam road in any given locality, the question of economy generally compels us to use a material found near at hand, and where a local quarry does not exist field stone and stone gathered from the beds of rivers and small streams may often be made to serve every purpose. Many of the stones and boulders thus obtained are of trap rock, and in general it may be said that all hard field and river stones, if broken to a proper size, will make fairly good and sometimes very excellent road metal. No elaborate test is required to determine the hardness of any given specimen. A steel hammer in the hands of an intelligent workman will reveal in a general way the relative degree of toughness of two or more pieces of rock. Field and river stone offer an additional advantage in that they are quickly handled, are generally of convenient size, and are more readily broken either by hand or by machine than most varieties of rock which are quarried in the usual way.

"It is a simple task to break stone for macadam roadways, and by the aid of modern inventions it can be done cheaply and quickly. Hand-broken stone is fairly out of date and is rarely used in America where any considerable amount of work is to be undertaken. Stone may be broken by hand at different points along the roadside where repairs are needed from time to time, but the extra cost of production by this method forbids its being carried on where extended work is undertaken.

Hand-broken stone is generally more uniform in size, more nearly cubical in shape, and has sharper angles than that broken by machinery, but the latter, when properly a.s.sorted or screened, has been found to meet every requirement.

"A good crusher driven by eight horsepower will turn out from forty to eighty cubic yards of two-inch stone per day of ten hours, and will cost from four hundred dollars upward, according to quality.

"Some crushers are made either stationary, semistationary, or portable, according to the needs of the purchaser, and for country-road work it is sometimes very desirable to have a portable crusher to facilitate its easy transfer from one part of the township to another. The same portable engine that is used in thrashing, sawing wood, and other operations requiring the use of steam power may be used in running a stone crusher, but it is best to remember that a crusher will do its best and most economical work when run by a machine having a horsepower somewhat in excess of the power actually required.

"As the stone comes from the breaker the pieces will be found to show a considerable variety in size, and by many practical road-makers it is regarded as best that these sizes should be a.s.sorted and separated, since each has its particular use. To do this work by hand would be troublesome and expensive, and screens are generally employed for that purpose. Screens are not absolutely necessary, and many road-makers do not use them; but they insure uniformity in size of pieces, and uniformity means in many cases superior wear, smoothness, and economy.

Most of the screens in common use today are of the rotary kind. In operating they are generally so arranged that the product of the crusher falls directly into the rotary screen, which revolves on an inclined axis and empties the separate pieces into small bins below the crusher.

A better form for many purposes includes a larger and more elaborate outfit, in which the stone is carried by an elevator to the screen and by the screen emptied into separate bins according to the respective sizes. From the bins it is easily loaded into wagons or spreading carts and hauled to any desired point along the line of the road.

"The size to which stone should be broken depends upon the quality of the stone, the amount of traffic to which the road will be subjected, and to some extent upon the manner in which the stone is put in place.

If a hard, tough stone is employed it may be broken into rough cubes or pieces of about one and a half inches in largest face dimensions, and when broken to such a size the product of the crusher may generally be used to good advantage without the trouble of screening, since dust 'tailings' and fine stuff do not acc.u.mulate in large quant.i.ties in the breaking of the tougher stone.

"If only moderate traffic is to be provided for, the harder limestones may be broken so the pieces will pa.s.s through a two-inch ring, though sizes running from two and a quarter to two and a half inches will insure a more durable roadway, and if a steam roller is used in compacting the metal it will be brought to a smooth surface without much trouble. As a rule, it may be said that to adhere closely to a size running from two and a quarter to two and a half inches in largest face dimensions, and to use care in excluding too large a proportion of small stuff as well as all pieces of excessive size, will insure a satisfactory and durable macadam road."

Macadam insisted that no large stone should ever be employed in road-making, and, indeed, most modern road builders practice his principle that "small angular fragments are the cardinal requirements."

As a general rule it has been stated that no stone larger than a walnut should be used for the surfacing of roads.

Stone roads are built in most cases according to the principles laid down by John L. Macadam, while some are built by the methods advocated by Telford. The most important difference between these two principles of construction relates to the propriety or necessity of a paved foundation beneath the crust of broken stone. Telford advocated this principle, while Macadam strongly denied its advantages.

In building roads very few iron-clad rules can be laid down for universal application; skill and judgment must be exercised in designing and building each road so that it will best meet the requirements of the place it is to occupy. The relative value of the telford and macadam systems can most always be determined by the local circ.u.mstances, conditions, and necessities under which the road is to be built. The former system seems to have the advantage in swampy, wet places, or where the soil is in strata varying in hardness, or where the foundation is liable to get soft in spots. Under most other circ.u.mstances experienced road builders prefer the macadam construction, not only because it is considered best, but also because it is much cheaper.

The macadam road consists of a ma.s.s of angular fragments of rock deposited usually in layers upon the roadbed or prepared foundation and consolidated to a smooth, hard surface produced by the pa.s.sage of vehicles or by use of a road roller. The thickness of this crust varies with the soil, the nature of the stone used, and the amount of traffic which the road is expected to have. It should be so thick that the greatest load will not affect the foundation. The weight usually comes upon a very small part of the surface, but is spread over a large area of the foundation, and the thicker the crust the more uniformly will the load be distributed over the foundation.

Macadam earnestly advocated the principle that all artificial road-building depended wholly for its success upon the making and maintaining of a solid dry foundation and the covering of this foundation with a durable waterproof coating or roof of broken stone.

The foundation must be solid and firm; if it be otherwise the crust is useless. A road builder should always remember that without a durable foundation there is no durable road. Hundreds of miles of macadam roads are built in the United States each year on unimproved or unstable foundations and almost as many miles go to pieces for this same reason.

Says Macadam:

"The stone is employed to form a secure, smooth, water-tight flooring, over which vehicles may pa.s.s with safety and expedition at all seasons of the year. Its thickness should be regulated only by the quality of the material necessary to form such a flooring and not at all by any consideration as to its own independent power of bearing weight.... The erroneous idea that the evils of an underdrained, wet, clayey soil can be remedied by a large quant.i.ty of materials has caused a large part of the costly and unsuccessful expenditures in making stone roads."

The evils from improper construction of stone roads are even greater than those resulting from the use of improper material. Macadam never intended that a heterogeneous conglomeration of stones and mud should be called a macadam road. The mistake is often made of depositing broken stone on an old road without first preparing a suitable foundation. The result, in most cases, is that the dirt and mud prevent the stone from packing and by the action of traffic ooze to the surface, while the stones sink deeper and deeper, leaving the road as bad as before.

Another great mistake is often made of spreading large and small stones over a well-graded and well-drained foundation and leaving them thus for traffic to consolidate. The surface of a road left in this manner is often kept in constant turmoil by the larger stones, which work themselves to the surface and are knocked hither and thither by the wheels of vehicles and the feet of animals. These plans of construction cannot be too severely condemned.

The roadbed should be first graded, then carefully surface-drained. The earth should then be excavated to the depth to which material is to be spread on and the foundation properly shaped and sloped each way from the center so as to discharge any water which may percolate through.

This curvature should conform to the curvature of the finished road. A shouldering of firm earth or gravel should be left or made on each side to hold the material in place, and should extend to the gutters at the same curvature as the finished road. The foundation should then be rolled until hard and smooth.

Upon this bed spread a layer of five or six inches of broken stone, which stone should be free from any earthy mixture. This layer should be thoroughly rolled until compact and firm. Stone may be hauled from the stone-crusher bins or from the stone piles in ordinary wheelbarrows or from wagons, and should be distributed broadcast over the surface with shovels, and all inequalities leveled up by the use of rakes. If this method of spreading is employed, grade stakes should be used so as to insure a uniformity of thickness. After the stakes are driven the height of the layer is marked on their sides, and if thought necessary a piece of stout cord is stretched from stake to stake, showing the exact height to which the layer should be spread. Spreading carts have been recently invented which not only place the stone where it is needed without the use of shovels, but spread it on in layers of any desired thickness and at the same time several inches wider than the carts themselves.

If the stones have been separated into two or three different sizes, the largest size should compose the bottom layer, the next size the second layer, etc. The surface of each course or layer should be thoroughly and repeatedly rolled and sprinkled until it becomes firm, compact, and smooth. The first layer, however, should not be sprinkled, as the water is liable to soften the foundation. The rolling ought to be done along the side lines first, gradually working toward the center as the job is being completed. In rolling the last course it is well to begin by rolling first the shoulderings or the side roads if such exist.

A coat of three-quarter inch stone and screenings, of sufficient thickness to make a smooth and uniform surface, should compose the last course, and, like the other layers, should be rolled until perfectly firm and smooth. As a final test of perfection, a small stone placed on the surface will be crushed before being driven into the material.

If none of the stones used be larger than will pa.s.s through a two-inch ring, they can be spread on in layers as above described without separating them by screens. Water and binding material--stone screenings or good packing gravel--can be added if found necessary for proper consolidation. Earth or clay should never be used for a binding material. Enough water should be sprinkled on to wash in and fill all voids between the broken stones with binding material and to leave such material damp enough to insure a set.

If a road is built of tough, hard stone, and if the binding material has the same characteristics, a steam roller is essential for speedy results. A horse roller may be used to good advantage if the softer varieties of stone are employed. For general purposes a roller weighing from eight to twelve tons is all that is necessary. Heavier weights are difficult to handle upon unimproved surfaces unless they be constructed like the Addison roller, the weight of which can be increased or lightened at will by filling the drum with water or drawing the water out. This roller can be made to weigh as much as eight tons and, like several other very excellent ones now on the market, is provided with anti-friction roller bearings, which lighten the draft considerably.

Every stone road, unless properly built with small stones and just enough binding material to fill the voids, presents a honeycombed appearance. In fact, a measure containing two cubic feet of broken stone will hold in addition one cubic foot of water, and a cubic yard of broken macadam will weigh just about one-half as much as a solid cubic yard of the same kind of stone. Isaac Potter says:

"To insure a solid roadway and to fill the large proportion of voids or interstices between the different pieces of broken stone, some finer material must be introduced into the structure of the roadway, and this material is usually called a binder, or by some road-makers a 'filler.'

"There used to be much contention regarding the use of binding material in the making of a macadam road, but it is now conceded by nearly all practical and experienced road-makers, both in Europe and America, that the use of a binding material is essential to the proper construction of a good macadam road. It adds to its solidity, insures tightness by closing all of the s.p.a.ces between the loose, irregular stones, and binds together the macadam crust in a way that gives it firmness, elasticity, and durability."

Binding material to produce the best results should be equal in hardness and toughness with the road stone; the best results are therefore obtained by using screenings or spalls from the broken stone used.

Coa.r.s.e sand and gravel can sometimes be used with impunity as a binder, but the wisdom of using loam or clay is very much questioned. When the latter material is used for a binder the road is apt to become very dusty in dry weather, and sticky, muddy, and rutty in wet weather.

The character of the foundation should never take the place of proper drainage. The advisability of underground or subdrainage should always be carefully considered where the road is liable to be attacked from beneath by water. In most cases good subdrains will so dry the foundation out that the macadam construction can be resorted to.

Sometimes, however, thorough drainage is difficult or doubtful, and in such cases it is desirable to adopt some heavy construction like the telford; and, furthermore, the difficulty of procuring perfectly solid and reliable roadbeds in many places is often overcome by the use of this system.