ROADS 203 



length of line adds to the cost of construction and main- 

 tenance, while cutting the grade would practically add only 

 to the cost of construction. If the grade is short, it is 

 cheaper to cut it down than to go around. 



In any case the maximum grade is that which determines 

 the load that may be hauled over any section of a road, and 

 it should always be the object to reduce the grade to a mini- 

 mum. It will not pay to go to a great expense in smoothing 

 the surface if the grades are not cut down correspondingly. 

 In comparatively level areas of prairie country the grade 

 can be limited to 5 feet in 100. Whenever practicable 

 this should be considered as the limit of grade for roads. 

 In hilly sections or where road construction is in its infancy, 

 grades as high as 10 feet in 100 are used. It should be 

 remembered that one hill may limit the size of the load 

 that can be hauled over the entire road. 



Drainage. Water is the natural enemy of roads, and 

 seldom will a place be found in which the road builder will 

 not have to combat this destructive element in some form. 

 Even in the arid regions the erosion caused by the sudden 

 downpours of rain that occasionally occur renders long 

 reaches of road impassable. Drainage is the foundation of 

 road improvement, and until the disposal of water has been 

 provided for, there is little permanent road improvement. 

 In the prairie states thorough drainage may safely be said 

 to solve one-half of the road problems. Work properly 

 spent in draining is for an improvement that will be required 

 regardless of the nature of future traffic or materials used 

 in the superstructure. In swamp or wet areas drainage 

 should be encouraged before road building, for the reason 

 that drainage means an increased income from the land, 

 which makes the road tax less of a burden to the landowner. 

 Drainage, of itself, improves the roads, and permanent 

 bridges and culverts cannot be economically constructed 

 until the drainage systems are completed. Many of the 

 rural road men are not aware of the fact that the building 



