No. 2. 



Plank Roads. 



53 



it to the loaded team that is going into town, 

 — and the loading is chiefly going to town, — 

 the unloaded team generally does all the 

 turning out, while the loaded team travels 

 on one side of the centre, and not in -the 

 middle of the road ; while on the sixteen 

 feet plank the traveller inclines to keep the 

 centre, and the slow movements of the load- 

 ed team in turning out, very generally drives 

 a light team oft" the ends of the plank upon 

 sidling ground. When a team upon the 

 single track is overtaken, it is much easier 

 to pass it than it is when it is moving along 

 the middle of the wide track; for the slow 

 going team is on one side of the centre, in 

 the case of the narrow road ; and there is a 

 twelve feet earth road on the other side of 

 the centre, for the fast going team to pass 

 by upon. The only way to make the wide 

 track as convenient for passing as the nar- 

 row, is to grade an earth road outside of the 

 ends of the plank; and that would add to 

 the cost, and make the road bed so wide that 

 it would be difficult to drain it well. 



It has been proposed to fasten a scantling 

 upon the middle of a sixteen feet track, 

 leaving occasional vacancies for teams to 

 cross from one side to the other, as a means 

 of causing the travel to pass upon the ends 

 of the track. This remedy for the evils of 

 a wide single track, is expensive and objec- 

 tionable from the inconvenience in crossing 

 freely at any point. 



Every view of the question results in this: 

 that roads, that are not greatly travelled re- 

 quire but a single eight feet track, save over 

 very soft ground; and that roads that require 

 more than one such tracks, should have two 

 narrow tracks in preference to one wide 

 track. It is safe to say that whenever two 

 tracks are demanded for the accommodation 

 of the travel, — unless the necessity grows 

 out of the fact, that the earth is very unsuit- 

 ed to road making, — that, that demand will 

 surely justify the investment of the money 

 the second track will cost; for it must be a 

 very great amount of travel that will not be 

 accommodated by a single eight feet track, 

 with a carefully eared for earth road to turn 

 out upon along side of it. 



Experiments have been made to test the 

 proper mode of laying the plank: "On the 

 Chanibly road the planks are twelve feei 

 long, but laid diagonally, so as to make the 

 road but eight feet wide. The weight of 

 half the vehicle and load coming suddenly 

 upon one end of the plank, and the other 

 end not being kept down at the same time, 

 the traffic constantly tends to disrupt the 

 road, and the planks are loose, and spring 

 from end to end." * * * "At Quebec part 

 of the road has been planked, the plank 



being laid lengthwise. It was considered 

 that the planks would stand better the tric- 

 tion, and when necessary, could be more 

 easily taken up, and the road repaired. One 

 strong objection to this mode of laying the 

 plank is found to be, that the horses cannot 

 keep their feet when much weighted, and 

 are much exposed to falling, in consequence. 

 Under all these circumstances most have 

 approved the manner in which the planks 

 are laid on the Toronto road." (Patent 

 office report, 1843, page 129.) 



In constructing plank roads, it is necessa- 

 ry to have the earth upon which the plank 

 are to be laid, broken up and made fine, that 

 they may touch the earth at every point. 

 This is important, for if any space be left 

 for air under the plank, or alongside the 

 sills, dry rot follows. The sills should not 

 be large: four mches square is sufficient. 

 They should be perfectly bedded into the 

 earth, and there should be broken earth un- 

 der them, care being taken that they should 

 not rest firmly upon rocks or other hard sub- 

 stances, that will not allow them to settle. 



All earth formations of this nature will 

 settle some, and the sills must be permitted 

 to go down as the rest of the structure set- 

 tles, or a space for air would be left between 

 the plank and the earth, and the sills would 

 thus support the plank; whereas the plank 

 should rest upon the earth at every point. 

 Nothing is gained by wide or deep sills, and 

 the whole support of the road is the earth 

 that is covered by the plank, and the amount 

 is in no wise increased by wide sills. The 

 chief use of sills, is to grade by, and to keep 

 the road in form until the earth has become 

 settled. 



There is in the vicinity of Toronto a short 

 plank road, that has no sills at all under it, 

 and the grade is very nearly as exact as in 

 those roads where sills are used. 



The plank having been laid, the next 

 thing is to grade a road some ten or twelve 

 feet wide on one side, and two or three on 

 the other, by taking earth from the ditches 

 on each side, and bringing it by a ditch 

 scraper jast up to, and even with the upper 

 side of the plank, so that if a wheel runs off 

 the track, it passes upon a smooth surface of 

 earth. The ends of the plank should not be 

 laid even, but a part should project from two 

 to four inches by the general line, to prevent 

 a rut being cut just along the ends of a 

 plank. If the ends of the plank are even, 

 and a small rut is made, the wheel of a 

 loaded wagon will scrape along the ends for 

 some distance before it will rise up to the 

 top of the plank, unless the wagon moves in 

 a direction nearly across the road; but if the 

 wheel cannot move two feet forward with- 



