1868. 



NEW ENGLAND FAEIVIER. 



131 



HOAD MAKiisra. 



taming 

 roads are 

 among 

 the heavy 

 b u r d ens 

 borne by tax- 

 payers in all our 

 towns, and as 

 every body uses 

 roads, we all 

 have a deep In- 

 terest in having 

 them well and 

 economically 

 constructed 

 and repaired. 

 How to have 

 good roads at 

 least cost is the great problem to be solved. 

 Any person who considers the subject will 

 perceive that it is one which involves much 

 science as well as practical experience, espe- 

 cially in a broken, uneven country like New 

 Eugland, where, within every mile are found 

 hills, valleys, rocks and swamps. Whereto 

 build a highway, and Jiow to build it, are 

 both important questions ; but we propose not 

 to attempt to consider either of these ques- 

 tions at present, but to confine ourselves to 

 what is as important, if not more so, — how to 

 repair and maintain roads already built. 



Like the minister who announced that he 

 had divided his discourse into fifty heads, but 

 for the sake of brevity, should omit all but 

 five of them, we shall content ourselves with 

 touching upon the three principal defects in 

 our common roads, and the remedy. The 

 first and great defect in our highways is 

 "Want of Drainage. 

 Wherever a road is permanently wet, either 

 at top or bottom, we have deep ruts and con- 

 sequently heavy travelling; and these wet 

 places are usually, especially in spring and au- 

 tumn, the hard places for teams. The first 

 requirement for a good road is a firm founda- 

 tion, and a wet foundation can never be a firm 

 one. It is not enough that the water should 

 be taken oflf the surface, but it must be drawn 

 out, to the depth of three or four feet, or the 

 water will work upward, and the hoofs of ani- 

 mals and the wheels will work downward, and 



I deep ruts will surely be formed. Drainage is 

 UILDING I itself an art, not very well understood, even as 

 and main- applied to common fields and meadows, and 

 a little practical experience will often sava half 

 the expense of a drainage operation. The 

 common error in repairing wet places inroads, 

 is in attempting to cover up the water, by 

 hauling on gravel, instead of removing the 

 water, — thus doctoring the symptoms instead of 

 the disease. It is comparatively an endless 

 task to fill up a road or meadow three or four 

 feet instead of draining it to that depth. We 

 have not space in which to speak of the details 

 of draining highways. We only desire to call 

 attention to it as an operation much needed 

 and much neglected and as requiring more 

 skill than ordinary surveyors and selectmen 

 can be expected to possess. The second great 

 defect of our highways, is 



Too Great Convexity. 



The common and natural first impression is, 

 that the greater the convexity, or, in other 

 words the rounder the surflice of the travelled 

 path, the drier it will be. This is one of the 

 greatest errors of inexperienced road makers. 

 There are many published treatises upon this 

 subject, both in this country and England, and 

 there is not one of them that does not speak of 

 this as the common defect. 



If a road is round, a carriage can only be 

 level when it is exactly on the centre of it. If 

 one wheel is on the centre, the other is lower, 

 the weight of the load is thrown on the lower 

 wheel, the friction upon the nut of one and 

 the shoulder of the other is greatly increased 

 and the draught is much heavier, not to men- 

 tion the danger of upsetting. But this is not 

 all. To avoid these difficulties, every travel- 

 ler keeps in the centre, except when obliged to 

 turn out for another, and thus by the wear of 

 the wheels in the same track, ruts are soon 

 worn which retain the water, and grow con- 

 stantly worse till repairs are made. 



A moment's reflection will satisfy any one 

 that no amount of convexity can empty these 

 ruts of water, even when they are but one 

 inch deep. A very slight fall in the length of 

 the road will carry the water along the ruts 

 till it finds an outlet. 



If, now, instead of being round, the roadway 

 be nearly flat, carriages may travel on any 

 part of it, passing each other without difficulty, 

 no deep ruts will be worn, and a very slight 



