LAYING OUT AND CONSTRUCTING ROADS. 45 



In proceeding to treat upon the subject before me, I shall 

 have but little to say in regard to the location of our roads, 

 since, bad as they are in many cases, their line was long since 

 determined, and new roads to be laid out will always bear a 

 very small proportion to the old ones. It ought to be borne in 

 mind hereafter, however, when any new road is proposed, that 

 any reasonable amount of money spent in procuring surveys by 

 the most competent engineers, will be the best investment that 

 can be made, rather than to run the location by " guess-work," 

 and perhaps eventually involve a vastly larger expense in build- 

 ing and grading than a well-considered location would have 

 cost. 



Onr roads are neither laid out properly nor constructed as 

 rof^ls ought to be. The first settlers pushed off into the forest to 

 seek new lands, and naturally built in elevated situations to 

 avoid the miasms of swamps, and for the purposes of protection 

 or greater safety. Their ways were foot-paths or bridle-paths 

 cut through the woods, till they could clear up and make pass- 

 able roads, and when a town finally grew up the roads were 

 naturally made to accommodate its individual citizens. Of course 

 it could not be expected that they would be laid out in accordance 

 with any fixed principles, or with any reference to the wants of 

 a more advanced civilization. The greatest good of the greatest 

 number was sacrificed to individual interest, or the convenience 

 or caprice of a single person. It is time now that we had some- 

 thing better. And let us not boast of our times till we have 

 better means of communication. 



It is a principle perfectly well established among engineers 

 that roads should be so substantially constructed that the cost 

 of maintenance shall be reduced to the minimum. Tlie fun- 

 damental principles of formation and construction should 1)0 

 studied and understood by every road 'ouilder, and observed in 

 all localities, though they may not admit of so complete appli- 

 cation in a thinly settled district as in the vicinity of a city 

 where the travel is greater and the means of construction more 

 abundant. 



One of these general principles is that the nearer the location 

 of the road approximates to a straight and level line the better ; 

 but a straight line which does not at the same time admit of a 



