THE SCIENCE OF ROAD MAKING. 265 



strength and feed. They would not be greatly moved by the 

 statement that then- roads to " town " might be made, within a 

 reasonable cost, so that they could haul three times as much as 

 they now do at each load, and make the trip in one-half the 

 time. They are rery conservative, and greatly averse to having 

 their fields cut up again, especially in any other way than 

 " square across." 



And it must be admitted that it is a serious matter to take 

 the travel from the doors of citizens, even though the public 

 are obliged to provide an outlet, or to change the road so as to 

 seriously impair the frontage of their buildings. And, on the 

 score of public expense, we would not advise this, except it 

 should be justified by the wants of travel. 



But whether old roads are to be altered or new ones to be 

 laid, the principles of location and construction are substantially 

 the same. We will consider the whole subject under the heads 

 of Location, Grades, Road-Bed, Drainage, Bridges and Cul- 

 verts, Repairs, and Superintendence. 



The science and art of road making have been carried to 

 great perfection in England and France, and we have many 

 books and statistics on the subject from these sources, as those 

 of Tredgold, Wood, Parnell, Morin, McAdam, Telfor(^, Ran- 

 kine, and a host of others ; while in this country, such manuals 

 as those of Gillespie and Mahan, giving a digest of foreign ex- 

 perience adapted to American wants, are eminently simple, 

 practical and suggestive ; so that there seems to be nothing 

 lacking except to notice the more important points as bearing 

 upon the necessities of our own State. It is believed that skil- 

 ful men to do the work will make up all the deficiencies of the 

 books, and without them the books will be of little use. 



Location. 

 When a road is to be located, there are termini that are 

 fixed, and generally one or more points between. As a matter 

 of economy, there should be no deviation from a straight line 

 between fixed points without sufficient reason. But it should 

 be borne in mind that road distance is measured on the surface, 

 and not horizontally, as in land surveying ; and the old illus- 

 tration is to the point, that " a kettle bail is no longer when 

 lying upon the rim than when erect." 



34* 



