DRIVES, AVENUES, AND SERVICE ROADS. 



FIG. 89. 



FIG. 90. 



The curved drive, running through natural or park-like scenery which is most success- 

 ful, will be that which is so designed as to fall naturally and fittingly into its place as 



a part of the general landscape, and which has the appearance 

 of being planned on the only possible lines. This means 

 that, in its design, the two factors of directness and ease 

 have been kept equally in mind by its designer and balanced 

 one against the other. In the term " ease " must be included 

 a careful consideration of the contours of the country through 



which the drive runs and making its curves and gradients emphasize its undulations. 

 Any curve which opposes them will strike the user at once as being in the very worst 

 taste as well as being constructionally bad. 



In most instances, the effort to bring the course of the drive into conformity with 

 the requirements of the contours will result, at the first attempt, in a series of short and 

 somewhat irritating curves, and it is in the combination of a number of these into one 

 long, graceful sweep, as in the accompanying sketch (111. No. 89), that the designer's 

 artistic capabilities will receive their fullest test. In this important work, it should 

 always be borne in mind that both curves and gradients look 

 much natter on paper than on the ground, owing to the fore- 

 shortening effect of perspective, and this is again one of the 

 reasons why practical work on the ground must go hand-in-hand 

 with designing on paper, if the best result is to be obtained. 



The junctions of curved drives with service roads require very 

 careful adjustment in the gradients of each at the point of 

 connection. All road makers know the difficulty of joining the 

 varying gradients together satisfactorily, and only very careful 

 attention to these as the work proceeds can prevent an awkward 



appearance ; and in the case of the planning of the connection, equal care is necessary. 

 The two roads must meet in a natural and easy manner, or, to put it technically, their 

 centre lines must be tangent to one another at the point of junction. 



Where possible, entirely separate 

 service roads should be constructed 

 for the use of tradesmen and for the 

 necessary carting to the residence 

 and stables. Where this cannot be 

 provided and the main drive serves 

 all purposes for a portion of its 

 length, care should be taken in the 

 design of the connection with the 

 service road that visitors cannot 

 mistake it for the main drive. This 

 may be accomplished by making the 

 service road narrower than the main 

 drive, by keeping the junction as far 

 from the residence as possible, by 

 making the junction by a sharp 

 curve at a point where the drive is 

 fairly straight, and by planting the 

 space at either side of the junction 

 as shown in the sketch (No 90). 

 Curved drives offend more often than any other form in being so designed as to 

 minimize or even destroy all privacy in the pleasure grounds. In one instance in the 



FIG. 91. 



Effect of 

 curves. 



Junctions. 



Service 

 roads. 



Preserva- 

 tion of 

 privacy. 



77 



