508 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



temporarily, the road being abandoned 

 as soon as the timber is cut. The maxi- 

 mum grade for the former road should 

 be 7 per cent, but for a logging road, 

 especially where all logs are hauled 

 down hill, the maximum grade may be 

 greater but should rarely exceed 12 per 

 cent, and then only for short distances. 

 Where roads are used for fire-lines, and 

 fire protection is more important than 

 traffic, the only work necessary is that 

 of clearing the space. 



The location of a road is more im- 

 portant than that of a trail, because 

 the former demands a gentler gradient 

 and requires a greater amount of 

 money in its construction. Since grade 

 is the determining factor in locating 

 roads a transit should be used for that 

 purpose, because of its accuracy. 

 Heavy rock work and the construction 

 of bridges should be avoided on account 

 of the great expense. Side hills are the 

 best for location since they are driest, 

 have the best drainage and the best 

 surface, and require less repairs, al- 

 though the grading at the beginning 

 will probably cost more. Routes of 

 avalanches should be avoided, also 

 routes in deep cuts, because the latter 

 will fill up with snow. Switch-backs 

 should not be used, for the sharp turns 

 are not adapted to wagon traffic. The 

 cost of location varies from $5 to $50 

 per mile. 



The factors which influence the cost 

 of roads do not vary a great deal from 

 those aff^ecting trails. They are (1) 

 grade, (2) width, (3) amount of brush- 

 ing out, (4) amount of grading, (5) 

 drainage, (6) rock work, (7) distance 

 for hauling supplies, (8) cost of labor, 

 and (9) supervision. The steeper the 

 grade the greater the length of the road. 

 As the maximum grade for most roads 

 is from G to 7 per cent, a steep grade 

 will greatly increase the length of the 

 road. The width of the roads varies 

 from 8 to 12 feet for single track roads 

 a-d IG to 20 feet for double track. The 

 V .th of the road naturally afifects the 

 a lount of brushing out. In heavily 

 tnnbered localities the clearing is a very 

 expensive item as it is difficult to re- 

 move the stumps and to roll the logs 

 out of the way. Tiie amount of grad- 

 ing is a factor which influences the cost, 



depending on the steepness of the hill- 

 side and the number of stumps to be 

 removed. A road should be so built 

 that it is well drained ; side ditches 

 should be put in which have cross 

 drains every 100 to 200 feet. In cheap 

 roads the drains will not be covered, 

 while in well-built roads, culverts or 

 rocks or wood should be put in. Rock 

 work cannot be avoided as readily in 

 road as in trail construction and hence 

 adds much to the expense. The sup- 

 plies will be hauled by wagon, which 

 costs only about one-third as much as 

 by pack horses, hence the distance is 

 not as important as in trail work. The 

 cost of labor will aff"ect road building 

 the same as trail work. Supervision 

 again is the most important factor of 

 all. 



In construction of roads, stumps and 

 rocks should be removed by using 

 powder or dynamite as it is much 

 cheaper than by manual labor, because 

 much time would be unnecessarily 

 wasted in grubbing out stumps. All 

 work possible should be done by teams, 

 since hand grading in construction of 

 roads is very expensive on account of 

 the large amount of material to be re- 

 moved. In building single-track roads, 

 turn-outs should be built about 50 feet 

 in length so that vehicles can pass each 

 other. The length of the intervals be- 

 tween turn-outs would depend entirely 

 upon the amount of travel expected on 

 the road. In grading there should be 

 more fills than cuts, because fills will 

 drain better. In rock work the walls 

 should slant away from the road so 

 that debris will not be continually drop- 

 ping down. 



Drainage is an important item in road 

 building. On level ground both sides 

 should be ditched to a depth of about 



1 foot and a width at the top from 



2 to 3 feet. On hillsides the road should 

 slope toward the hill with a ditch on 

 the inner side. In swampy places a 

 ditch 2 feet deep and 2 feet wide should 

 be ])Ut on each side and a fairly high 

 crown left in the center if possible. 



A comparison of roads in general 

 cannot be made because of the few 

 examples and also because of the great 

 variations in the use and construction 

 of roads under diff:'erent conditions. 



