ROAD. 



itruction would be various : by being level on the furface, 

 every part of it is equally commodious for carriages, confe- 

 quently it will all be equally travelled upon, and the deep 

 ruts fo frequent in other roads, will almoft entirely be pre- 

 vented. J It will therefore be much eafier kept in repair, and, 

 if properly managed at firft, will be made at lefs expence 

 than the common roads, efpecially in a fandy foil, or where 

 fand or gravel is eaiily procured. The draft will be much 

 eafier on fuch a road. And one very important advantage 

 is, by having an under-ftratum through which the water can 

 penetrate, and the cavities among the harder materials being 

 filled with the fame porous fubftance, no water can ever 

 lodge on the furface, nor can it ever become fo dirty as other 

 roads are in wet weather ; all the water that falls on the fur- 

 face, unlefs perhaps in very heavy rains, being condufted 

 away underneath and in every part. And it may be added, 

 that from the fmall drains on each fide of the road, crofs- 

 drains mould be carried through the fences, provided the 

 level of the ground will admit of it, at the diftance of every 

 ten or fifteen yards. Thefe crofs-drains may be made of 

 wood, with about an inch bore, or of Hone, if preferred. 

 It would be of great advantage to this fort of road, as 

 well as to every other road where the ground is inclofed on 

 each fide, that the fences mould be lunk towards the fields, 

 and the water be conducted through to thefe funk fences, 

 inftead of the common method of leaving large open ditches 

 and drains on each fide of the road. It mult alfo be particu- 

 larly attended to, that on all Hoping roads on a declivity, 

 where the water is apt in heavy rains to run upon the fur- 

 face, or at the fides, that it ought never to be allowed to run 

 in the fame direction more than ten or fifteen yards, but at 

 that diftance to be conducted away to a fide into the main 

 drains. It will then do little or no harm, as it can never in- 

 creafe beyond a very weak ftream ; but if it is allowed to 

 run one hundred or two hundred yards, it will probably be 

 increafed to fuch a fize before it reaches the bottom, that 

 it will wafh away a great deal of the materials, and may be- 

 fides very much injure the road or fences on each fide of it, 

 which would be highly difadvantageous in many refpefts. 

 Befides, it is fuggefted, that a road formed on this plan 

 need not be quite fo wide as roads in general are made, for 

 the whole furface of it will be in ufe from one fide to the 

 other, and therefore from twenty to twenty-four feet wide 

 is quite fufficient, unlefs near populous towns or extenfive 

 works, where great numbers cf carts or waggons are em- 

 ployed. And in the interior parts of the country, twenty 

 feet in width will anfwer every purpofe required. He has 

 obferved in feveral places, where the roads have not been 

 above eighteen or twenty leet wide, and properly made from 

 fide to fide, that they were in much better condition than the 

 neighbouring roads, from thirty to forty or fifty feet wide. 

 On thefe wide roads, formed in the ufual way, there is fel- 

 dom more than eight or ten feet in the middle of them gene- 

 rally made ufe of ; the remainder one on each fide being oc- 

 cupied by heaps of ftones, fcrapings, and other rubbilh, 

 which, although they may partly be of ufe fometimes in re- 

 pairing the roads, ought on no pretence to be allowed at all 

 times, or at any time, to lie there ; fuch rubbifh being not 

 only difgraceful on the fides of a public highway, but even 

 dangerous, particularly in the dark, for either carriages or 

 horfti ; befides having various other difadvasitages arifing 

 from the growth of weeds, and the diffemination of their 

 feeds. 



But in refpeft to the mod proper and beft form of the 

 roadway of narrow lanes, as thofe leading from village to 

 village, in reclule fituations ; where bridle roads, or pack- 

 ways, have been fo far opened as to admit carriages ; or 



5 



though the whole width of the iane may not be more than 

 eight or ten feet, it is remarked by the author of the trea- 

 tife on " Landed Property," that on fuch a narrow fpace, a 

 whole barrel, or convex road, cannot eafily be kept up. If 

 raifed, it prefently wears into a middle track, and two 

 wheel-ruts, with foul drains on either fide of them ; and 

 becomes, in wet weather, a dirty trough, winch is unfit for 

 either carriages or horfes, and in which a foot paffenger lias 

 not where to fet his foot. But that provided fuch a lane 

 be thrown into a Shelving form, refembling half a barrelled 

 or convex road, a greater width of travellable road for car- 

 riages and horfes will be obtained ; ruts will not be fo lia- 

 ble to be formed ; the whole of the water of rains will be 

 thrown on one fide ; while the other will afford a comfortable 

 walking path at all feafons. And this, it is added, is now 

 no longer merely a probable, but a tried improvement. 

 Lanes, ten, twelve, or more feet wide, have been ftrikingly 

 improved by it. And it is further fuggefted, that when 

 water, in a wet feafon, is apt to ooze out of the banks on 

 the upper fide of the lane, a narrow channel is to be cut, to 

 prevent its overflowing the road : or, in forming the bed of 

 the road, the inclination may in fome cafes be reverfed ; fo 

 as to throw the drain on that fide of the lane from whence 

 the fpring water iffues : thus the fame drain will ferve for 

 the fpring and the rain-waters. And it is added, in regard 

 to this femi-convex form of road, that it is applicable, not 

 only to narrow lanes, but to the fides of hills ; where the 

 road, as it generally ought, is conduced fidelong, not di- 

 rectly, up the Hope. By this form of the road, the whole 

 of the water which falls upon it will be got rid of, without 

 inconveniency or expence. And the bed of the road, for 

 this purpofe, may be made narrower than for a full convex 

 road ; a circumftance which, in fome cafes, may become a 

 faring of much expence. The upper fide of a road in this 

 form being nearly level, and firm to the foot of the fteep, 

 would be chofen by afcending carriages ; while the lower 

 fide would acquire a loofenefs of furface, and be ufed by 

 laden carriages going downward ; and while a raifed foot- 

 path, on the lower margin, would be a fecure guard, and a 

 relief to the apprehenfions of timorous travellers. 



But in relation to the width of public roads where a blank 

 is given, it (hould be regulated, Mr. Mar/hall fays, by their 

 publicity, as it is compound folly to make a road wider than 

 its ufe demands. He fuppofes that there are few roads, even 

 near populous towns, that require a greater width than 

 about thirty-three feet. But every public road, under 

 common circumftances, fhould have a line which is travel- 

 able at any feafon, and of ample width to permit two car- 

 riages to pafs each other with freedom and fafety. This 

 ample width let us fet down as one ftatute pole. In deep 

 clayey diftridts, where hard materials are difficult to be pro- 

 cured, a fingle road, of half a pole in breadth, with dila- 

 tions at proper diftances, to let carriages pafs each other, 

 may, in many reclufe fituations, be advifable. This regards 

 the breadth of the winter road, for carriages and animals of 

 burden. But that the width of a public lane requires a more 

 enlarged view. On the plan offered, it is to contain, not 

 only a wet-weather road, for carriages and horfes ; but a 

 fummer road, and driftway ; as well as a foot-path, which 

 may be ufed in any feafon. He obferves, that in many parts 

 of the greateft public roads acrofs the kingdom, the lane is 

 not more than twenty feet wide. But this being filled with 

 hard materials, from hedge-bank to hedge-bank, carriages 

 alone feldom find any inconveniency in thefe narrow parts. 

 But where carriages, and large droves of cattle or flieep 

 meet in them, ftoppages are unavoidable, and great incon- 

 venience is of courfe fuitained. 



And 



