ROADS AND BRIDGES 



345 



states as being useful in helping to pack the roadway 

 and keep the surface in a smooth, hard condition. The pub- 

 lic can well afford to exempt such wagons from taxation. 



Repairing macadam and telford roads. Here "a stitch 

 in time saves nine" is even more applicable than in the 

 maintenance of earth roads. The great advantage in 

 these roads lies in the hard, smooth surface, which should 

 become still harder and smoother as a result of the wear 

 of travel. If slight depressions are at once filled with 

 crushed rock similar to that forming the surface of the 

 road, these places will soon be worn smooth and uni- 

 form with the other por- 

 tions of the track. If, how- 

 ever, ruts are allowed to 

 remain, each passing wheel 

 drops into the rut, grind- 

 ing to powder more and 

 more of the rock, and the deeper it cuts the more forcible 

 the blow of the next wheel. Where the rut has become 

 deeper and much of the material has been ground to 

 powder, the dust should be taken out before filling with 

 crushed rock. 



The raveling or loosening of stones from the surface 

 of the stone road, to be kicked about by passing teams, 

 requires attention, and ofttimes the road roller must be 

 again applied to make the surface more firm.- Stones 



Figure 231 Roadway 



flat rockg 



Figure 232. Roadway paved with cobblesto nes laid on gravel makes a very rough, but 

 very durable, hard roadway. 



thus loosened should be removed from the surface, lest 

 wheels striking them cause them to disturb the roadbed. 

 Expensive roads should be patrolled at regular inter- 

 vals by a laborer who understands the keeping of the 

 road in repair. By having a contract with some resident 



