348 



Plank Roads. 



Vol. XII. 



advantage of these roads, " that they have 

 gone more extensively into the use of them 

 than any kingdom or republic on the globe." 

 These roads are chiefly m Canada West — 

 the aggregate length of the different lines 

 already constructed, being between 400 and 

 500 miles. We are not aware of the entire 

 number of miles of plank road actually fin- 

 ished in the State of New York, but this re- 

 port informs us that the various lines for the 

 construction of which companies have been 

 organised in this State, amount in the whole 

 to a distance of 500 miles. 



As to the width of the track, or the length 

 of the plank used, the report states that it 

 has been shown " most conclusively, that for 

 a single track, eight feet is preferable to a 

 greater width," and that where a double 

 track is wanted, it is best to make them 

 separately of that width. The planks are 

 laid across the bed at right angles. In re- 

 gard to the necessity of more than one track, 

 the report quotes the remarks of Mr. Ged- 

 des, in relation to the Salina road. Mr. G. 

 observes "great speculative objection was 

 made in the start to but one track ; but we 

 have now the entire community with us in 

 deciding that, on all ordinary roads, one track 

 is fully sufficient. The reason is this : the 

 travel in wet weather is entirely on the 

 plank, except the turning out of the light 

 teams; but they seek the plank again as 

 soon as they can get around the team met or 

 overtaken, so that the turn-out track is not 

 cut with any continuous lengthwise ruts, and 

 perhaps the wheels of not one team in a 

 hundred turn-outs will strike the exact curve 

 of another; consequently, in our experience, 

 our turn-out track being well graded, pass- 

 ing the water easily and rapidly from its 

 surface, remains perfectly hard and smooth." 

 Sleepers or Stringers. — In one or two in- 

 stances, roads have been made without sleep- 

 ers — the plank being laid immediately on the 

 graded earth. The planks have kept their 

 places quite well ; but it appears to be the 

 conclusion that it is best to use sleepers or 

 sills. 



" The sills," says the report, " should be 

 well bedded in the earth, their top surface 

 barely in sight, and the earth in which they 

 are embedded should be broken and pulver- 

 ized, so as to leave no stones or other hard 

 substances to obstruct their settling evenly, 

 and thus permitting the earth to sink down 

 firmly on the earth as its main support. Two 

 stringers only are used on the Salina road, 

 4 by 4 inches in size and none less than 13 

 feet in length ; they should be so laid as to 

 break joints, as in laying brick, or putting on 

 siding, that is, the ends of the stringers on 



one side should not be laid opposite the ends 

 of those on the other side. About 6 feet 8 

 inches is the proper width between the two 

 lines of stringers, for an 8 feet single track 

 road, which will bring them under the wheels 

 of most road vehicles, and thus give a con- 

 tinuous bearing on them. One set of sleep- 

 ers of good timber and well bedded, will last 

 as long as two or three plankings." 



Grading. — It is directed that the road 

 should be graded twenty-one feet wide, 

 " measuring from the inside top Imes of the 

 ditches on each side." Great care should 

 be used that the road be kept dry by means 

 of side ditches and cross culverts. They 

 should be made fine, firm and smooth. 



In regard to lengthwise grading, it is ob- 

 served that short rises are sometimes made 

 of one foot in ten, though they are generally 

 from one foot in twenty to one foot in thirty. 

 Mr. Alvord's remarks on this subject are 

 quoted. " It is easier to go over the same 

 elevation on a plank road, than on a common 

 dirt one; for on plank there is no cutting 

 into the substance passed over, nor encoun- 

 tering of stones by the wheels ; and if, as it 

 ought to be, the plank way is covered with 

 a slight coating of earth, the only danger 

 suggested, the slipping of the animal, is 

 avoided. It would be a prettier sight for 

 the eye, were we to grade our plank roads 

 more level; but while their practical utility 

 is not lessened in any perceptible degree by 

 their unevenness, economy forbids the ex- 

 pense of levelling them for ornament.'''' 



The kind of timber used for planks is oak, 

 hemlock or pine. Oak lasts as well as any 

 wood, but is slippery in wet weather. The 

 wear by abrasion is calculated at one-fourth 

 of an inch in two years; "and as planking 

 will not break through till one and a half or 

 two inches of the surface is worn away, it 

 follows that the duration of the plank, [if of 

 pine or other soft timber,] would be eight 

 years." Oak would generally last, it is 

 thought, fitly per cent, longer. 



The cost of plank roads is estimated at 

 from $1,500 to $2000 per mile. 



Plank Roads preferred by farmers. — The 

 opinion is advanced in the report, that " rail- 

 roads can never be made to take the place 

 of teams for the transportation of grain, &c., 

 within one day's drive of a market, because 

 the farmer can carry the cheapest for that 

 distance." 



" There are seasons when work is slack 

 with almost every farmer; yet his teams are 

 daily consuming as much food at such time 

 as when fully employed. Availing himself 

 of these seasons, he can haul his produce 

 to market with a very few shillings' expense, 



