The Future of Road-making in America Part 5

In making a telford road the surface for the foundation is prepared in the same manner as for a macadam road. A layer of broken stone is then placed on the roadbed from five to eight inches in depth, depending upon the thickness to be given the finished road. As a rule this foundation should form about two-thirds of the total thickness of the material. The stone used for the first layer may vary in thickness from two to four inches and in length from eight to twelve inches. The thickness of the upper edges of the stones should not exceed four inches. They are set by hand on their broadest edges lengthwise across the road, breaking joints as much as possible. All projecting points are then broken off and the interstices or cracks filled with stone chips, and the whole structure wedged and consolidated into a solid and complete pavement. Upon this pavement layers of broken stones are spread and treated in the same way as for a macadam road.

Stone roads should be frequently sc.r.a.ped, so as to remove all dust and mud. Nothing destroys a stone road quicker than dust or mud. The hand method of sc.r.a.ping with a hoe is considered best. No matter how carefully adjusted the machinery built for this purpose may be, it is liable to ravel a road by loosening some of the stones. The gutters and surface drains should be kept open, so that all water falling upon the road or on the adjacent ground may promptly flow away. Says Spalding, a road authority:

"If the road metal be of soft material which wears easily, it will require constant supervision and small repairs whenever a rut or depression may appear. Material of this kind binds readily with new material that may be added, and may in this manner frequently be kept in good condition without great difficulty, while if not attended to at once when wear begins to show it will very rapidly increase, to the great detriment of the road. In making repairs by this method the material is commonly placed a little at a time and compacted by pa.s.sing vehicles. The material used for this purpose should be the same as that of the road surface and not fine material, which would soon reduce to powder under the loads which come upon it. By careful attention to minute repairs in this manner a surface may be kept in good condition until it wears so thin as to require renewal.

"In case the road be of harder material, that will not so readily combine when a thin coating is added, repairs may not be frequent, as the surface will not wear so rapidly, and immediate attention is not so important. It is usually more satisfactory in this case to make more extensive repairs at one time, as a larger quant.i.ty of material added at once may be more readily compacted to a uniform surface, the repairs taking the form of an additional layer upon the road.

"Where the material of the road surface is very hard and durable, a well-constructed road may wear quite evenly and require hardly any attention, beyond ordinary small repairs, until worn out. It is now usually considered the best practice to leave such a road to itself until it wears very thin, and then renew it by an entirely new layer of broken stone placed on the worn surface and without in any way disturbing that surface.

"If a thin layer only of material is to be added at one time, in order that it may unite firmly with the upper layer of the road, it is usually necessary to break the bond of the surface material before placing the new layer, either by picking it up by hand or by a steam roller with short spikes in its surface, if such a machine is at hand. Care should be taken in doing this, however, that only the surface layer be loosened and that the solidity of the body of the road be not disturbed, as might be the case if the spikes are too long."

In repairing roads the time-honored custom of waiting until the road has lost its shape or until the surface has become filled with holes or ruts should never be tolerated. Much good material is wasted by spreading a thick coat over such a road and leaving it thus for pa.s.sing vehicles to consolidate. The material necessary to replace defects in a road should be added when the necessities arise and should be of the best quality and the smallest possible quant.i.ty. If properly laid in small patches the inconvenience to traffic will be scarcely perceptible. If such repairs are made in damp weather, as they ought to be, little or no difficulty is experienced in getting a layer of stone to consolidate properly. If mud fills the rut or hole to be repaired, it should be carefully removed before the material is placed.

Wide tires should be used on all heavy vehicles which traverse stone roads. A four or five inch stone or gravel road will last longer without repair when wide tires are used than an eight or ten inch road of the same material on which narrow tires are used.

Not only should brush and weeds be removed from the roadside, but gra.s.s should be sown, trees planted, and a side path or walk be prepared for the use of pedestrians, especially women and children, going to and coming from church, school, and places of business and amus.e.m.e.nt.

Country roads can be made far more useful and attractive than they usually are, and this may be secured by the expenditure of only a small amount of labor and money. Although such improvements are not necessary, they make the surroundings attractive and inviting and add to the value of property and the pleasure of the traveler.

If trees are planted alongside the road they should be far enough back to admit the wind and sun. Most strong growing trees are apt to extend their roots under the gutters and even beneath the roadway if they are planted too close to the roadside. Even if they be planted at a safe distance those varieties should be selected which send their roots downward rather than horizontally. The most useful and beautiful tree corresponding with these requirements is the chestnut, while certain varieties of the pear, cherry, and mulberry answer the same purpose.

Where there is no danger of roots damaging the subdrainage or the substructure of the road, some other favorite varieties would be elms, rock maples, horse-chestnuts, beeches, pines, and cedars. Climate, variety of species selected, and good judgment will determine the distance between such trees. Elms should be thirty feet apart, while the less spreading varieties need not be so far. The trunks should be trimmed to a considerable height, so as to admit the sun and air. Fruit trees are planted along the roadsides in Germany and Switzerland, while mulberry trees may be seen along the roads in France, serving the twofold purpose of food for silkworms and shade. If some of our many varieties of useful, fruitful, and beautiful trees were planted along the roads in this country, and if some means could be devised for protecting the product, enough revenue could be derived therefrom to pay for the maintenance of the road along which they throw their grateful shade.

The improvement of country roads is chiefly an economical question, relating princ.i.p.ally to the waste of effort in hauling over bad roads, the saving in money, time, and energy in hauling over good ones, the initial cost of improving roads, and the difference in the cost of maintaining good and bad ones. It is not necessary to enlarge on this subject in order to convince the average reader that good roads reduce the resistance to traffic, and consequently the cost of transportation of products and goods to and from farms and markets is reduced to a minimum.

The initial cost of a road depends upon the cost of materials, labor, machinery, the width and depth to which the material is to be spread on, and the method of construction. All these things vary so much in the different states that it is impossible to name the exact amount for which a mile of a certain kind of road can be built.

The introduction in recent years of improved road-building machinery has enabled the authorities in some of the states to build improved stone and gravel roads quite cheaply. First-cla.s.s single-track stone roads, nine feet wide, have been built near Canandaigua, New York, for $900 to $1,000 per mile. Many excellent gravel roads have been built in New Jersey for $1,000 to $1,300 per mile. The material of which they were constructed was placed on in two layers, each being raked and thoroughly rolled, and the whole ma.s.s consolidated to a thickness of eight inches.

In the same state macadam roads have been built, for $2,000 to $5,000 per mile, varying in width from nine to twenty feet and in thickness of material from four to twelve inches. Telford roads fourteen feet wide and ten to twelve inches thick have been built in New Jersey for $4,000 to $6,000 per mile. Macadam roads have been built at Bridgeport and Fairfield, Connecticut, eighteen to twenty feet wide, for $3,000 to $5,000 per mile. A telford road sixteen feet wide and twelve inches thick was built at Fanwood, New Jersey, for $9,500 per mile. Macadam roads have been built in Rhode Island, sixteen to twenty feet wide, for $4,000 to $5,000 per mile.

Ma.s.sachusetts roads are costing all the way from $6,000 to $25,000 per mile. A mile of broken stone road, fifteen feet wide, costs in the state of Ma.s.sachusetts about $5,700 per mile, while a mile of the same width and kind of road costs in the state of New Jersey only $4,700. This is due partly to the fact that the topography of Ma.s.sachusetts is somewhat rougher than that of New Jersey, necessitating the reduction of many steep grades and the building of expensive retaining walls and bridges, and partly to the difference in methods of construction and the difference in prices of materials, labor, etc.

Doubtless the state of New Jersey is building more roads and better roads for less money per mile than any other state in the Union. Its roads are now costing from twenty to seventy cents per square yard.

Where the telford construction is used they sometimes cost as much as seventy-three cents per square yard. The average cost of all cla.s.ses of the roads of that state during the last season was about fifty cents per square yard. The stone was, as a rule, spread on to a depth of nine inches, which, after rolling, gave a depth of about eight inches. At this rate a single-track road eight feet wide costs about $2,346 per mile, while a double-track road fourteen feet wide costs about $4,106 per mile, and one eighteen feet wide costs about $5,280 per mile. Where the material is spread on so as to consolidate to a four-inch layer the eight-foot road will cost about $1,173 per mile, the fourteen-foot road about $2,053 per mile, while the one eighteen feet wide will cost about $2,640 per mile.

[Ill.u.s.tration: EARTH AND MACADAM ROADS

[_Built by convict labor in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina_]]

The total cost of maintaining roads in good order ranges, on account of varying conditions, between as wide limits almost as the initial cost of construction. Suffice it to say that all money spent on repairing earth roads becomes each year a total loss without materially improving their condition. They are, as a rule, the most expensive roads that can be used, while on the other hand stone roads, if properly constructed of good material and kept in perfect condition, are the most satisfactory, the cheapest, and most economical roads that can be constructed.

The road that will best suit the needs of the farmer, in the first place, must not be too costly; and, in the second place, must be of the very best kind, for farmers should be able to do their heavy hauling over them when their fields are too wet to work and their teams would otherwise be idle.

The best road for the farmer, all things being considered, is a solid, well-built stone road, so narrow as to be only a single track, but having a firm earth road on one or both sides. Where the traffic is not very extensive the purposes of good roads are better served by narrow tracks than by wide ones, while many of the objectionable features of wide tracks are removed, the initial cost of construction is cut down one-half or more, and the charges for repair reduced in proportion.

FOOTNOTES:

[6] By Hon. Maurice O. Eldridge, a.s.sistant Director Office of Public Road Inquiries.

CHAPTER IV

THE SELECTION OF MATERIALS FOR MACADAM ROADS[7]

No one rock can be said to be a universally excellent road material. The climatic conditions vary so much in different localities, and the volume and character of traffic vary so much on different roads, that the properties necessary to meet all the requirements can be found in no one rock. If the best macadam road be desired, that material should be selected which best meets the conditions of the particular road for which it is intended.

The movement for better country roads which has received such an impetus from the bicycle organizations is still felt, and is gaining force from the rapid introduction of horseless vehicles. To this demand, which comes in a large measure from the urban population, is to be added that of the farmer, who is wakening to the fact that good roads greatly increase the profits from his farm produce, and thus materially better his condition; and to the farmer, indeed, we must look for any real improvement in our country roads.

In considering the comparative values of different rocks for road-building, it must be taken for granted in all cases that the road is properly laid out, constructed, and maintained. For if this is not the case, only inferior results can be expected, no matter how good the material may be.

In most cases the selection of a material for road-making is determined more by its cheapness and convenience of location than by any properties it may possess. But when we consider the number of roads all over our country which are bad from neglect and from obsolete methods of maintenance that would be much improved by the use of any rock, this regard for economy is not to be entirely deprecated. At the same time, as a careless selection leads to costly and inferior results, too much care cannot be used in selecting the proper material when good roads are desired at the lowest cost. When macadam roads are first introduced into a district they are at worst so far superior to the old earth roads that the question is rarely asked, whether, if another material had been used, better roads would not have been obtained, and this at a smaller cost. When mistakes are made they are not generally discovered until much time and money have been expended on inferior roads. Such errors can in a great measure be avoided if reasonable care is taken in the selection of a suitable material. To select a material in a haphazard way, without considering the needs of the particular road on which it is to be used, is not unlike an ill person taking the nearest medicine at hand, without reference to the nature of the malady or the properties of the drug. If a road is bad, the exact trouble must first be ascertained before the proper remedy can be applied. If the surface of a macadam road continues to be too muddy or dusty after the necessary drainage precautions have been followed, then the rock of which it is constructed lacks sufficient hardness or toughness to meet the traffic to which it is subjected. If, on the contrary, the fine binding material of the surface is carried off by wind and rain and is not replaced by the wear of the coa.r.s.er fragments, the surface stones will soon loosen and allow water to make its way freely to the foundation and bring about the destruction of the road. Such conditions are brought about by an excess of hardness or toughness of the rock for the traffic. Under all conditions a rock of high cementing value is desirable; for, other things being equal, such a rock better resists the wear of traffic and the action of wind and rain. This subject, however, will be referred to again.

Until comparatively recent years but little was known of the relative values of the different varieties of rock as road material, and good results were obtained more by chance and general observation than through any special knowledge of the subject. These conditions, however, do not obtain at present, for the subject has received a great deal of careful study, and a fairly accurate estimate can be made of the fitness of a rock for any conditions of climate and traffic.

In road-building the attempt should be made to get a perfectly smooth surface, not too hard, too slippery, or too noisy, and as free as possible from mud and dust, and these results are to be attained and maintained as cheaply as possible. Such results, however, can only be had by selecting the material and methods of construction best suited to the conditions.

In selecting a road material it is well to consider the agencies of destruction to roads that have to be met. Among the most important are the wearing action of wheels and horses' feet, frost, rain, and wind. To find materials that can best withstand these agencies under all conditions is the great problem that confronts the road-builder.

Before going further, it will be well to consider some of the physical properties of rock which are important in road-building, for the value of a road material is dependent in a large measure on the degree to which it possesses these properties. There are many such properties that affect road-building, but only three need be mentioned here. They are hardness, toughness, and cementing or binding power.

By hardness is meant the power possessed by a rock to resist the wearing action caused by the abrasion of wheels and horses' feet. Toughness, as understood by road-builders, is the adhesion between the crystal and fine particles of a rock, which gives it power to resist fracture when subjected to the blows of traffic. This important property, while distinct from hardness, is yet intimately a.s.sociated with it, and can in a measure make up for a deficiency in hardness. Hardness, for instance, would be the resistance offered by a rock to the grinding of an emery wheel; toughness, the resistance to fracture when struck with a hammer.

Cementing or binding power is the property possessed by the dust of a rock to act, after wetting, as a cement to the coa.r.s.er fragments composing the road, binding them together and forming a smooth, impervious sh.e.l.l over the surface. Such a sh.e.l.l, formed by a rock of high cementing value, protects the underlying material from wear and acts as a cushion to the blows from horses' feet, and at the same time resists the waste of material caused by wind and rain, and preserves the foundation by shedding the surface water. Binding power is thus, probably, the most important property to be sought for in a road-building rock, as its presence is always necessary for the best results. The hardness and toughness of the binder surface more than of the rock itself represents the hardness and toughness of the road, for if the weight of traffic is sufficient to destroy the bond of cementation of the surface, the stones below are soon loosened and forced out of place. When there is an absence of binding material, which often occurs when the rock is too hard for the traffic to which it is subjected, the road soon loosens or ravels.

Experience shows that a rock possessing all three of the properties mentioned in a high degree does not under all conditions make a good road material; on the contrary, under certain conditions it may be altogether unsuitable. As an ill.u.s.tration of this, if a country road or city park way, where only a light traffic prevails, were built of a very hard and tough rock with a high cementing value, neither the best, nor, if a softer rock were available, would the cheapest results be obtained. Such a rock would so effectively resist the wear of a light traffic that the amount of fine dust worn off would be carried away by wind and rain faster than it would be supplied by wear. Consequently the binder supplied by wear would be insufficient, and if not supplied from some other source the road would soon go to pieces. The first cost of such a rock would in most instances be greater than that of a softer one and the necessary repairs resulting from its use would also be very expensive.

A very good ill.u.s.tration of this point is the first road built by the Ma.s.sachusetts Highway Commission. This road is on the island of Nantucket and was subjected to a very light traffic. The commission desired to build the best possible road, and consequently ordered a very hard and tough trap rock from Salem, considered then to be the best macadam rock in the state. Delivered on the road this rock cost $3.50 per ton, the excessive price being due to the cost of transportation.

The road was in every way properly constructed, and thoroughly rolled with a steam roller; but in spite of every precaution it soon began to ravel, and repeated rolling was only of temporary benefit, for the rock was too hard and tough for the traffic. Subsequently, when the road was resurfaced with limestone, which was much softer than the trap, it became excellent. Since then all roads built on the island have been constructed of native granite bowlders with good results, and at a much lower cost.

If, however, this hard and tough rock, which gave such poor results at Nantucket, were used on a road where the traffic was sufficient to wear off an ample supply of binder, very much better results would be obtained than if a rock lacking both hardness and toughness were used; for, in the latter case, the wear would be so great that ruts would be formed which would prevent rain water draining from the surface. The water thus collecting on the surface would soon make its way to the foundation and destroy the road. The dust in dry weather would also be excessive.

Only two examples of the misuse of a road material have been given, but, as they represent extreme conditions, it is easy to see the large number of intermediate mistakes that can be made, for there are few rocks even of the same variety that possess the same physical properties in a like degree. The climatic and physical conditions to which roads are subjected are equally varied. The excellence of a road material may, therefore, be said to depend entirely on the conditions which it is intended to meet.

It may be well to mention a few other properties of rock that bear on road-building, though they will not be discussed here. There are some rocks, such as limestones, that are hygroscopic, or possess the power of absorbing moisture from the air, and in dry climates such rocks are distinctly valuable, as the cementation of rock dust is in a large measure dependent for its full development on the presence of water. The degree to which a rock absorbs water may also be important, for in cold climates this to some extent determines the liability of a rock to fracture by freezing. It is not so important, however, as the absorptive power of the road itself, for if a road holds much water the destruction wrought by frost is very great. This trouble is generally due to faulty construction rather than to the material. The density or weight of a rock is also considered of importance, as the heavier the rock the better it stays in place and the better it resists the action of wind and rain.

Only a few of the properties of rock important to road builders have been considered, but if these are borne in mind when a material is to be selected better results are sure to be obtained. In selecting a road material the conditions to which it is to be subjected should first be considered. These are princ.i.p.ally the annual rainfall, the average winter temperature, the character of prevailing winds, the grades, and the volume and character of the traffic that is to pa.s.s over the road.

The climatic conditions are readily obtained from the Weather Bureau, and a satisfactory record of the volume and character of the traffic can be made by any competent person living in view of the road.

In France the measuring of traffic has received a great deal of attention, and a census is kept for all the national highways. The traffic there is rated and reduced to units in the following manner: A horse hauling a public vehicle or cart loaded with produce or merchandise is considered as the unit of traffic. Each horse hauling an empty cart or private carriage counts as one-half unit; each horse, cow, or ox, unharnessed, and each saddle horse, one-fifth unit; each small animal (sheep, goat, or hog), one-thirtieth unit.

A record is made of the traffic every thirteenth day throughout the year, and an average taken to determine its mean amount. Some such general method of cla.s.sifying traffic in units is desirable, as it permits the traffic of a road to be expressed in one number.

Before this French method can be applied to the traffic of our country it will be necessary to modify considerably the mode of rating. This, however, is a matter which can be studied and properly adjusted by the Office of Public Road Inquiries. It is most important to obtain a record of the average number of horses and vehicles and kind of vehicles that pa.s.s over an earth road in a day before the macadam road is built. The small cost of such a record is trifling when compared with the cost of a macadam road (from $4,000 to $10,000 per mile for a fifteen-foot road), in view of the fact that an error in the selection of material may cost a much larger sum of money. After a record of the traffic is obtained, if the road is to be built of crushed rock for the first time, an allowance for an immediate increase in traffic amounting at least to ten or fifteen per cent had best be made, for the improved road generally brings traffic from adjoining roads.

To simplify the matter somewhat, the different cla.s.ses of traffic to which roads are subjected may be divided into five groups, which may be called city, urban, suburban, highway, and country road traffic, respectively. City traffic is a traffic so great that no macadam road can withstand it, and is such as exists on the business streets of large cities. For such a traffic stone and wood blocks, asphalt, brick, or some such materials are necessary. Urban traffic is such as exists on city streets which are not subjected to continuous heavy teaming, but which have to withstand very heavy wear, and need the hardest and toughest macadam rock. Suburban traffic is such as is common in the suburbs of a city and the main streets of country towns. Highway traffic is a traffic equal to that of the main country roads. Country road traffic is a traffic equal to that of the less frequented country roads.

The city traffic will not be considered here. For an urban traffic, the hardest and toughest rock, or in other words, a rock of the highest wearing quality that can be found, is best. For a suburban traffic the best rock would be one of high toughness but of less hardness than one for urban traffic. For highway traffic a rock of medium hardness and toughness is best. For country road traffic it is best to use a comparatively soft rock of medium toughness. In all cases high cementing value should be sought, and especially if the locality is very wet or windy.