ROAD CONSTRUCTION IO3 



these breaks are of use in supporting heavily laden wagons while the 

 teams are resting. 



The practice of chaining a wheel in descending a steep hill with a 

 loaded wagon, which method provides an inexpensive substitute for a 

 brake, rapidly wears deep ruts in hill roads and in the ' breakers ' built 

 across them. This practice is far more destructive than the use of narrow 

 tires and should be prohibited by law as soon as possible. On hill roads 

 where the ascent is not too steep to permit the maximum load to be 

 drawn continuously so that it is not necessary for the team to stop and 

 rest, a very satisfactory substitute for ' breakers ' is found in a wooden 

 box drain or sluice placed across the road at a slight angle with the per- 

 pendicular, the top consisting of oak slats about 3 in. x 4 in. with a 

 space of about 2 in. between them. These transverse gratings intercept 

 and carry off the water flowing lengthwise of the road, which if allowed 

 to go far would gain in volume and erosive power until serious damage 

 would be done. 



A part of the work of the Massachusetts Highway Commission has 

 been to eliminate steep grades from the roads built at state expense. In 

 many cases a change of location has been found necessary to accomplish 

 this end. 



A serious cause of wear on roads is the filling of the gutters with snow 

 and ice which often accumulates to such a height as to make the center 

 of the road the principal line of drainage. When this occurs on earth 

 roads, in early spring a large volume of snow-water follows this channel, 

 seriously damaging the road and necessitating much expense in its repair. 

 Ev?n the best type of Macadam or Telford road would eventually be 

 damaged in this way. I am informed by the Massachusetts Highway 

 Commission that it has been found necessary in that State to have the 

 snow removed from the gutters in order to prevent damage of this 

 character. When the gutters are open it is not a difficult matter to 

 remove the snow and ice if sufficient money is provided for the purpose. 

 It is however, the custom in our rural districts to have gutter bridges and 

 box or stone drains at the junction of private roads or minor cross roads 

 with the main highways. When these become clogged with ice as they 

 invariably do, it is impossible to clear them without taking them apart 

 and this is rarely practicable. 



In Massachusetts these gutter bridges are prohibited on the new roads, 

 the lateral roads being made to meet the main roads at a very gentle 

 slope, leaving an open gutter which may be driven over without discom- 

 fort. With an earth road it would be difficult to maintain such an open 



