Road Rolling. 
35 
putting his foot upon a loose stone. With such spreading the 
wheels take the edges and corners of the patches, and they are 
speedily consolidated at a level approximating to that of the 
old surface, without the use of any blinding material. 
Road Rolling. 
The rolling of roads by horse power was advocated by 
John Shotbolte in 1619, Robert Phillips in 1736, M. de Cessart 
in 1787, and P. H. Clay in 1817 ; and the most strenuous and 
effective advocate of this process was Sir John Burgoyne, the 
first Chairman of the Irish Board of Works, who a few years 
after it had found favour in France issued an excellent paper 
on the subject in 1843. 
The repair of roads by means of a steam roller was com- 
menced in Paris about the year 1864, and in England a few 
years later. It is best effected by sheeting a considerable 
length of roadway with stones of uniform strength and size. 
The stones should not be larger than 'those used for ordinary 
patching, and the consolidation of the sheeting, which should not 
exceed at most four inches in depth, should be secured by rolling 
in such a manner as to ensure the rapid and, as far as possible, 
full consolidation of the sharp angled pieces of stones with the 
minimum quantity of what is called “ blinding.” It is very 
important in the repair of roads with a steam roller to have 
the stones of moderate and uniform size. If they are not so, 
it is impossible to compact them to the extent required, and 
the longer they are rolled the more difficult consolidation 
often becomes, especially if the stones are, as they should be, 
of uniformly good quality. The road mender is then forced 
to throw on excessive quantities of soft material, and the result 
is a most unsatisfactory road crust, which wears unevenly and 
throws up excessive quantities of mud. 
With well applied rolling a saving of about one-third of 
the materials can be effected, less cleaning is required, the 
torture of loose stones is obviated, and a smooth and easily 
maintainable road surface is quickly secured. 
All steam rolling should be carried on under the constant 
supervision of a responsible person, who can be trusted to do 
exactly what his chief has directed. Without such supervision 
a roller gang will usually hurry over their work and produce 
most disappointing results. When the writer started steam 
rolling in 1894 in the county of Down, he put the steam rollers 
in charge of young civil engineers, who stood by them during 
all working hours, and furnished returns each day of the 
amount of stones, blinding, and water used. He insisted that 
a long straight-edge and spirit level should be carried with 
each roller, and gradually induced the men to believe that 
