Book II. 



PRESERVATION AND REPAIR OF ROADS. 



M)9 



consisting of a number of plates of sheet-iron, arranged in a line, and connected to each other by small 

 bolls. On the back of each plate is bolted a piece of iron, in the shape of the letter T inverted : the stem 

 of this iron is continued to the upper end of the plate, and then bent forward in a horizontal direction to 

 a shaft (secured to the frame) parallel to the scraper, at the distance of about eighteen inches from it, 

 to which it is joined. By this arrangement, when the machine is moved forward, the shaft draws after it 

 the series of plates forming the scraper, which being attached to each other by joints, or holts acting as 

 such, each plate has sufficient freedom of action to adapt itself to the inequalities of the surface. Springs, 

 equal in number to the plates, are fixed to the shaft, by which any degree of pressure required can be 

 given to the scraper. As the machine proceeds, a portion of road, equal in width to the quadrilateral 

 figure of which the scraper forms the diagonal, is cleared ; and the mud or dirt, as fast as it collects, is 

 slid off by the oblique surface of the scraper, and finally left in a line on the off-side of the machine. This 

 process is commenced near the centre of the road; and the machine, having gone a convenient distance 

 in a straight line, is turned and brought back on the other side of the centre, removing the dirt in 

 an opposite direction. For the next course the machine is brought to the side where it first acted, and 

 removes the dirt from a like portion of ground, and with it the line formed by the preceding course. This 

 is continued until the scrapings arc brought to the side of the road. The manager is enabled to lift the 

 scraper, by turning a wooden roller fixed above it, and attached to each plate by a corresponding chain. This 

 is done in order to pass over parts of roads recently repaired ; and, when going to work or returning, the 

 plates are kept in this elevated position by a ratchet and catch at the end of the roller. A curved scraper 

 is attached to the back part of the frame at the off-corner, to be used only during the last course of the 

 machine, for the purpose of collecting the scrapings into heaps ready for removal. This machine, drawn 

 by two horses, and attended by one man, will clean five miles of road, twenty-four feet wide, in eight 

 hours. Two additional men will be required to throw the scrapings off the road, and clear the water- 

 courses. The same work would require twenty-five men per diem, with scrapers, according to the present 

 method. (Gard. Hag. vol. v.) 



3750. Sweeping, as a mode of cleaning roads, is chiefly applicable to pavements, to side 



railways, whether of stone or iron, and to footpaths. On country roads, sweeping 



might be required to keep the paved or rail-laid parts, where such existed, free from 



small stones or gravel, which the feet of cattle, &c. might scatter over it from the 



metalled part. 



*3751. The sweeping machine {Jig. 5(S8.), also the invention of Mr. Boase, has a frame similar to that of 

 the scraper, supported in front by two common wheels about four feet in diameter, and behind by two 



small iron wheels with vertical axles, one under each corner. Within the frame, and diagonal to it, is 

 the cylinder of brooms, consisting of five rows of heath, each row secured between two boards by screws, 

 and attached to an axle by radiating arms of cast-iron. This receives a rotatory motion from the carriage 

 wheels, by means of a bevelled tooth wheel fixed on their axletree, working in another half :ts size on 

 the axle of the brooms. When the machine is drawn forward, the brooms are thus made to revolve twice 

 to each revolution of the carriage wheels, and in an opposite direction to them. The brooms are regulated 

 so as to bear more or lesson the ground, according to the state of the dirt ; and, as the heath wears shorter, 

 they can readily be drawn out from the centre, in order to preserve a proper bearing, 'the dirt is removed 

 from the space over which the brooms pass to the right or off-side of the machine. Like the scraper, the 

 work is commenced near the centre of the road or sli eet, and carried on in a similar manner. When this 

 machine is wanted to proceed without sweeping, the larger bevelled tooth wheel is drawn out of gear 

 by a lever for that purpose. The brooms are covered and the frame enclosed by oil-cloth, to prevent 

 any splashing or dirt from escaping beyond the machine. This machine, with the same power and 

 attendants as the scraping machine, is capable of cleaning three miles, twenty feet wide, daily. {Gard. 

 Mag. vol. v.) 



3752. Watering, where applied to roads, is more for the sake of laying the dust than 

 of cleaning or preserving them. Some consider it injurious. 13. Farey considers that water- 

 ing the Whitechapel-road in summer, and especially before May and after August, is 

 very injurious, by separating the stones, owing to the softening of the loam, and so 

 making the road spongy and loose. In winter, however, he waters, and for the following 

 reasons : — " After the most careful sifting of the gravel, a small quantity of loamy dirt 

 ■will unavoidably still adhere to the stones; -and this loam, together with a glutinous 

 matter which accumulates in the summer from the dung and urine of the cattle (which 

 accumulation the summer watering has a tendency to increase), occasions the wheels to 

 6tick to the materials, in certain states of the road, in spring and autumn, when it 



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