CHAPTER XIII. 

 ROAD DRAINAGE. 



At this time good drainage is recognized among 

 road-builders as a necessary part of the construction of 

 roads, be they common earth roads or those improved 

 by a metal covering. Much valuable information relat- 

 ing to the construction and maintenance of public roads 

 has been collected and disseminated by the Office of 

 Road Inquiry of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 

 and the bulletins issued from that office form a valuable 

 compendium of road practice in this country. From 

 these it is not difficult to learn that underdrainage either 

 natural or artificial, as well as surface drainage, is held 

 in high esteem by all who have experience in construct- 

 ing roads over good agricultural soils. Drainage has 

 to do with the durability and maintenance of a road 

 after it is once constructed. A road may be constructed 

 without proper attention to foundation and drainage, 

 and, like a building erected under similar conditions, 

 may appear well at first, but will soon show weakness, 

 with threatening dissolution. 



The economical and successful maintenance of a 

 road involves the following principles : 



I. The travelled surface should be so shaped and 

 of such hardness that all storm water will flow off 

 readily. Could the earth road be made so that this 



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