PARK AND CEMETERY 
185 
the road to deliver this storm water 
Although roads and paths are needed 
in every park, they should not be more 
conspicuous than the need for them re- 
quires. Their curves, both horizontal 
and vertical, should be graceful ■ that 
they may be pleasing from whatever 
point viewed. And they should be well 
constructed in order to last a long time 
without repairs and that they may not 
become unsightly by washing away, nor 
expensive to maintain. The thorough 
drainage of the road foundation is the 
most essential factor in road construc- 
tion. This, with a surface compacted 
sufficiently to carry the heaviest load 
without being cut up by it, and smooth 
enough to carry all the surface drainage 
quickly to the side drains, will ensure 
a good road. 
Edward P. Adams. 
Gutters. 
A well-constructed macadam road, 
properly provided at intervals of from 
150 to 200 feet- with catch-basins will 
not need gutters for low gradients. 
Drivers dislike to drive into the stone 
gutters, so that the afctually usable part 
of the road is the space between gut- 
ters. Hence, if the road is at all nar- 
row, it is often advisable (where gutters 
are necessary) to add them outside of 
the width adopted for drives where gut- 
ters are not necessary. Where circum- 
stances' admit of it, it is a very good 
plan to form a broad, shallow gutter in 
the turf adjoining the main drive along 
the uphill side. In a great majority 
of cases storm water from the side 
slopes in parks is allowed to flow upon 
the drive, and it is this great accumula- 
tion of storm water which has to be 
taken care of in wide and deep paved 
gutters by cutting off all this storm 
water from the uphill side of the drive ; 
the drive will be but little washed in 
storms provided the grade is not ex- 
cessive. The storm water can be safely 
carried in such turf gutters at any ordi- 
nary grade for considerable distances 
once the turf is thoroughly established. 
It is well to provide an inlet wherever 
a catch-basin is placed so as to take 
this storm water underground, but 
where the expense of catch-basins and 
long storm water drains cannot be af- 
forded, a pipe culvert can be run across 
on the surface on the downhill side. 
Such provision for taking care of storm 
water is particularly essential in all 
earth roads. Such turf gutters are often 
economical in the long run, even though 
they may involve a large amount of 
additional grading in the first instance. 
John C. Olmsted. 
Material. 
For ordinary park use a road of six 
inches in thickness of road metal when 
rolled is ample, provided the sub-bed 
is properly made. Our experience con- 
vinces us that neither clay nor loam 
need be excavated from the sub-bed to 
a depth lower than four inches, as a 
sand layer of this thickness will prevent 
the clay or loam bottom moving. Hav- 
ing drained and graded the sub-bed to 
a point six inches below finished grade, 
the top four inches of the sub-bed be- 
ing sand or fine gravel, the operation of 
making a road is very simple. First, 
lay sufficient good broken stone of 2- 
inch to 3-inch cubes to make four inches 
when rolled ; add enough stone screen- 
ings or coarse bank sand to fill all 
voids ; water and roll well, first with a 
light roller; care must be taken that 
the stone is spread over the sand bed, 
not through it by the churning of the 
wagon wheels. Over a clay bottom 
everything depends on the integrity of 
the layer of sand. For the surface, a 
good wearing stone should be selected ; 
a tough textured trap-rock is the best ; 
granites are too hard and brittle, they 
grind under travel and require unusually 
good binding material ; of limestones, 
some are good. The question o { the 
surface stone, however, must be de- 
cided by what may be available in the 
locality. Two inches of stone of 1 14 - 
inch cubes, when rolled, is sufficient for 
a surface course. This course should 
be bonded with clean, sharp stone 
screenings. Again water and roll with 
heavy roller, adding ij4-inch cube stone 
to fill up any depressions that may oc- 
cur, until the road is firm and true to 
section ; a sprinkling of stone of 14 - 
inch cubes may then be spread and 
rolled in, and the road is ready, after 
drying out, for travel. It may again 
be emphasized that only enough of 
screenings should be used to fill inter- 
stices and bond the road, leaving no 
surplus on top. 
J. A. Pettigrew 
Essential Conditions. 
There are two essential conditions to 
be observed in road construction — good 
subsoil and surface drainage, and good 
road metal for surfacing. Local con- 
ditions and the cost of materials must 
necessarily, to some extent, determine 
the character of stone or gravel enter- 
ing into the road or walk construction. 
It certainly does not pay to construct 
cheap roads or walks, where the annual 
cost of resurfacing and maintenance 
will, in five or more years, pay for a 
good substantial road or walk. The 
subject of maintenance is almost as im- 
portant as the primary one of con- 
struction. A continuous, and not inter- 
mittent maintenance is what is required 
to give satisfaction to the public and to 
preserve the integrity of road and walk 
surfaces. 
William S. Egerton. 
Maintenance. 
The first necessity in the maintenance 
of a road is proper sprinkling. It 
should always be damp enough to pre- 
vent dust, but never wet enough for 
mud. It is as essential for the preserva- 
tion of a road as it is for the comfort 
of those who use it. I know of no 
more difficult thing to do in the main- 
tenance of parks than to obtain satis- 
factory work in sprinkling the drives. 
It is so much a matter of judgment on 
the part of the drivers of sprinkling 
wagons that they should be not only 
much more intelligent than the ordinary 
laborer, but should also have consider- 
able experience, and above all, be men 
who are willing to do whatever work 
is necessary to bring about the desired 
result. 
The park road to be at all satisfac- 
tory must have three qualifications : It 
must be in good repair ; it must be 
clean ; it must be properly sprinkled. 
Those conditions are to be attained only 
by constant attention and efficient man- 
agement with the expenditure of money. 
J. F. Foster. 
