OUR COMMON ROADS—MURPHY. 457 
To the former, the convex-road, they are: that the water will 
stand in the middle; that carriages will keep in or near the 
middle and cause undue or excessive wear along one line in order 
to run on the level and avoid the tendency to overturn near the 
side ditches. To the latter, that if carriages will not run along 
the centre there must be, owing to the transverse inclination or 
fall from the apex or centre towards the gutter, an undue ten- 
dency for the carriages or vehicles to slide upon the road surface. 
Regularity of section and evenness of surface is of much more 
consequence than the slight difference between curves and straight 
lines. It is essential that rain should flow freely off the surface 
for the proper and economical maintenance of a road. Water 
standing in ruts or depressions must be avoided, it greatly in- 
creases wear, deepens and enlarges hollows, and weakens or 
destroys the whole crust of the road. Such a cross-section 
should therefore be given as will throw the rain-water off quickly, 
and the necessary inclination to practically effect the purpose 
must vary with the different materials of which the road is com- 
posed. We cannot have, as in Great Britain, one typical form of 
road or method of road-making, because we must adapt ourselves 
to the materials at hand or within easy distance. 
It is necessary to give a somewhat greater convexity to a new 
road than it is intended to have eventually; the middle consoli- 
dates more by the traffic, and the surface material is scattered 
towards the sides, so that however carefully it is raked or attended 
to the road will become flatter as it consolidates. 
Cross-sections, showing the form proposed for roads in Nova 
Scotia, are submitted to illustrate this paper. The volume of 
traffic to be moved, their suitability to meet the requirements of 
traffic, and the materials near at hand for construction and repairs, 
must in a large measure influence the selection. 
No. 1—Is a Telford pavement which could be made rapidly 
and with the drainage shewn would form an excellent highway ; 
it might be covered with gravel or broken stone. 
No. 2—Is a cross-section of a road coated with gravel or broken 
stones. 
