30 
Rural Roads . 
road maintenance he was undoubtedly a great reformer, but 
he was by no means a scientific road engineer like Telford. 
Macadam’s views as to the uselessness of a foundation of large 
stones in all cases, cannot be upheld ; though such a foundation 
is not required if there is a dry free draining and incom- 
pressible road-bed such as is afforded by gravel or sand. He 
appears to have confounded plasticity with elasticity and to 
have overlooked the fact that the bending of a road necessarily 
involves increased draught and internal wear of the road 
crust. 
The enormous influence of Telford and Macadam and, to a 
minor extent, of Rennie, in the improvement of roads, appears 
to me to be due to their strong personal character and to their 
attention to the one main idea — uniformity , which, though not 
exactly expressed in any of their writings, was the important 
factor which differentiated their work from that of the earlier 
roadmakers, and also from that of many roadmakers of the 
present day. There was little difference in reality between the 
practice of Telford and Macadam in regard to the maintenance 
of roads, and Macadam’s great success was due to the unselfish 
zeal and persistence with which he urged his views. 
What is required for a good road, which should be clean, 
hard, and even at all seasons of the year, is a free draining or 
hard impervious foundation and practical uniformity in shape, 
in gradient between moderate limits, in drainage, in strength 
of coat, and in quality and size of materials. If those who 
have charge of our roads would keep before them the watch- 
word, “ Uniformity,” with, perhaps, in addition, the ruling 
motto, “ the maximum of beauty,” which guided a very 
successful French roadmaker, M. Dumas, Engineer-in-Chief 
of the Ponts et Chaussees in 1843, we might, in a few years, 
obtain on most of our roads a vastly improved surface. Yet, 
too frequently, we find in the present day great stretches of 
road, the subsoil of which has never been properly drained 
and the shape of which varies greatly and is at few points 
right, repaired with carelessly selected materials, carelessly 
applied, and carelessly dealt with after application. The most 
fatal errors in connection with road making are the use of 
stones of uneven sizes, and the application of mud. to patches. 
What is wanted on all macadam roads, whether the steam 
roller is used or not, is that the stones should as quickly as 
possible become consolidated into a kind of mosaic of uniform 
strength with the least possible proportion of soft materials. With 
or without steam rolling, stones with dimensions of more than 
two and a half inches soon present knobby projections above 
the average level, and are starting points of destructive wear 
and waste which increase in a compound interest way. 
