270 ROADS AND ROAD BUILDING 



be protected from washing, by flanking the sides with a wall of 

 heavy stone and gravel. If this is not done, every heavy rain 

 will wash away the soil and undermine the surface of the roadbed. 

 When stone cannot be had, piles should be driven into the ground, 

 along the sides of the embankment, and heavy planks two 

 inches thick should then be placed between the piles and the 

 embankment so that the soil cannot be washed away by the rains. 



Kinds of Roads. There are many kinds of roads in use in 

 various parts of the country, but for general purposes they 

 maybe classed as follows: (1) common dirt roads; (2) sand-clay 

 roads; (3) shell-rock roads, (4) plank roads; (5) macadam roads; 

 (6) telford roads; (7) brick-paved roads; (8) cobblestone roads; 

 (9) block-paved roads; (10) asphalt roads; (11) oiled roads. 



Common Dirt Roads. In these roads the natural surface of 

 the ground forms the roadbed. No special improvement is given 



Section of a dirt road. 



it except to provide proper drainage and grading. Whenever 

 possible the roadbed should be worked with a road grader and 

 firmed with a heavy roller. 



After each rain or thaw the roadbed should be carefully gone 

 over with a split-log drag, which will draw the dirt towards the 

 center of the road and will fill up all ruts and depressions. 



Sand-clay Roads. In many parts of Florida and the South 

 the roadbeds are made bad on account of the deep sand beds. 

 This is remedied by hauling clay and mixing it with the upper six 

 or seven inches of sand. The clay and sand are mixed while wet 

 and are thoroughly incorporated with each other by the use of 

 harrows and diskers. Then the surface is carefully rounded and 

 rolled, and the work is finished. 



Shell-rock Roads. In some parts of Florida, and especially 

 in the vicinity of St. Augustine, there are large deposits of coquina, 

 or shell rock, which when crushed can be used to good advantage 

 for surfacing roadbeds. There is a very good shell-rock road 

 extending from Jacksonville, Florida, to St. Augustine, Florida. 



