Page 6
STOKES OVERSEERSI
READ THIS VERY CAREFULLY 
Then Put It Away to Be Read 1
Again and Again—Advice From i
Expert on How to Build and ]
Maintain Dirt Roads. 
When we stop to consider the «
number of miles of road in any '
county and compare this num- 1
ber with the small number rep- '
resenting the miles of specially (
surfaced road we can readily '■
see that it will be a great many 1
years perhaps, generations !
before all, or even half, the 
public roads are surfaced with 1
macadam, or sand-clay. For
this reason it is very important I
that we should give very careful t
consideration and thought to 1
the construction and mainten- 
ance of the dirt road. 1
When properly constructed, 1
the dirt road can be kept in good i
condition throughout nearly the 
whole year, except, perhaps, i
during periods of severe freezes i
and thaws. At the present time 
we have very few earth roads but i
what can be improved, and us- i
ually the question of the im- 1
provement is not a very difficult '•
one to solve. 1
SHOULD BE BUILT UNDER SUPER- 1
VISION OF ENGINEER.
The old idea that anybody can
build a dirt road is fast losing
ground, and our people are be
ginning to realize that road con
struction, even of dirt roads,
requires the services of men
who have been trained in this
line of work. As careful
thought should be given to the
construction of dirt roads as is
given to the hard-surfaced roads:
and in those counties which
rely on just the labor tax for
the construction of their public
roads a great advance can be
made if this labor tax is utilized
under the supervision of an ex
perienced road engineer.
LOCATING THE ROAD.
The location of any public
road is the only permanent por
tion of the road; therefore, great
care should be taken that when
the road is once constructed
there should be no question
whatever regarding its reloca
tion. In locating a road it
should be done so as to permit
of an easy grade—none over
4 1-3 per cent—and should be
constructed so that it will readily
shed the rainfall. How often
do we see a road going up hill
and down the other side, when,
by building around the side of
the hill, it could have been kept
at an even grade, reaching the
identical point within the same
distance, or but a little greater.
If, in grading a road, we have
any grades over 4 1-3 per cent.,
it will be necessary to construct
across the surface of the road a
V-shaped surface ditch to turn
the water off the surface of the
road, for if this is not done the
water will, with the grade over
4 1-3 per cent., have momentum
enough to seriously gully the
surface of the road. No matter
how carefully the V-shaped
ditches across the Surface of a
road are constructed, they are
very inconvenient to travel, are
hard on the wagons, and should
be avoided wherever possible.
They can be avoided if the grade
is kept below 4 1-3 per cent.
DRAINAGE.
\
The dirt road is more suscep
tible to damage by water than,
of course, any of the specially 11
surfaced roads; therefore great,J
care should be taken to work j i
out an efficient system of drain- j 1
age for the road. Water must • 1
be kept away from the road,: i
and the rain which falls on the j
road must be permitted to run 11
off as rapidly as possible, and by |
a very easy grade. It must not I j
only be taken off the surface of : ]
the road as rapidly as possible, j 
but also out of the side ditches, j ]
Care should be taken that these ;
side ditches are not too steep, 
and that every opportunity is i
seized for turning the water out i 
of the ditches into the adjoining 
fields. '
Many of our country roads are i
bad because in their construc
tion no arrangment was made s
for taking care of the water, i
and thus they are very muddy £
and filled with ruts and holes, t
Instead of the middle of the t
road being higher than the i
edges, so that the water can f
readily run off on each side, 1
many of them are flat, or even f
concave, with the center of the i
road the lowest point. If the s
road has been constructed so i
that it is wel! crowned, with the s
slope about 1 in 20 from the 
center of the road to the side 
ditches, and these side ditches i
have been graded so as to i
rapidly take care of the water,
and yet not steep enough to
cause them to cut deep gullies
on the side of the road, and if
the water is taken from these
ditches at every available point
so as to prevent seepage of water,
under the surface of the road,
there should be little difficulty
in keeping the road in good con
dition. Very often it is neces
sary to carry the water from
one side of the road to the other;
and when this is necessary, it
should be done by means of
either concrete, metal, or terra
cotta culverts or pipes which
will carry the water under the
surface of the road. After the
system of drainage has been in
stalled, provision should be
made to keep it up, so that the
drains and the culverts will not
become stopped up.
HOLES OR RUTS MUST NOT BE
FILLED WITH STONE —DON'TS
IN REPAIRING DIRT ROADS.
The surface of a dirt road
should be kept of dirt, and J
whenever any holes or ruts have
developed in the road, they
should not be filled up with
stone, or brush, but with dirt,
and with dirt as nearly as pos
sible of the same character as
the dirt composing the surface
of the balance of the road. If,
on the other hand, holes or ruts
are filled with rock, gravel, or
brush, the wearing effect will
be uneven, and the wheels will
begin to scoop and cut out
■ holes just beyond or on the op
-1 posite side of the road from the
' hole filled up. If there are
! stumps or rocks in the road
! they should all be removed, so
" that the dirt surface can be
1 smoothed over and brought to an
5 even slope from the center to
r the ditches. After the road has
1 been well constructed and> the
1 right slope and surface obtained,
' it can be kept in this condition
1 very readily by judicious appli
* cation of the split-log or King
• drag. This simple road machine,
'f '.T '
2 if used regularly after a rain
when the roadbed is wet, will
smooth and shape up the road,
- so that as soon as it has dried
, out it will be firm and hard.
The drag will fill up the ruts
and holes and will keep the dirt
road in first-class condition, with
hard surface, throughout nearly
the whole year.
ROAD SHOULD NOT BE SHADED.
As moisture is very detrimen
tal to a dirt road, the sun should:
be permitted to strike the sur-j
face of a dirt road as much as
possible; and, therefore, care;
should be taken not to have too i
much shade along a dirt road, j
and, where necessary, the trees
should be cut away so that the'
whole surface of the road is
exposed to the sun for at least i
several hours during the day.!
Shade is good for a macadam
road, but bad for a dirt road.
In repairing a dirt road the
same thought must be given as
in the constructing of the road,
and. when cleaning out ditches,
the material should not be
thrown into the middle of the
road or on any part of the sur-1
face of the road, but it should
be ihrown into the adjoining
fields; for this material is us
ually composed largely of fine
silt and vegetable material,
which holds moisture like a
sponge and becomes very diffi
cult to dry out, and is entirely
different in character and con
sistency from the dirt surface |
of the road. How many times;
we have seen the dirt road re-1
paired by this material being,
thrown up into the center or
just beyond the edge of the
ditch, thus preventing the sur
face water from flowing into
the ditches, and, instead turn
ing it down the road !
In the maintenance of our dirt
roads they should be divided into
sections, with a foreman or over
seer in charge of each section,
whose duties should be to go
over every mile of his section
after every rain and at least
every two weeks, and wherever
he finds a portion of the road
needing repair, he should have
!it done. After each heavy rain
he should run a road drag over
the road to put it in shape and to
fill up any ruts or holes that
might have been started. We
must bear in mind that roads
will not maintain themseves, and
that repairing a road simply
once a year will not keep it in
good condition.
In repairing a dirt road:
Don't fill up the holes and ruts
in the dirt road with brush, with
rocks on top, and a little dirt
to cover the rocks; but fill up the
holes with dirt of same char
acter as the balance of the
road.
Don't throw all the refuse
from the ditches into the middle
of the road, thus softening the
surface and destroying the solid,
firm bed that you have obtained
by previous work; but throw this
material out on the opposite side
! of the ditch.
! Don't leave the center of the
I road the lowest point; but make
> it the highest and give the sur
; face of the road a slope
II of about 1 in 20 to the side ditch.
> Don't carry the water across
i the surface of the road from
i one side to the other; but carry
, 1 it by means of culverts under
i neath the road.
-! Don't have grades on your
r road over 4 1-3 per cent; for
, if you do it will be necessary to
i; build V shaped surface ditches or
I; "Thank-you-mam's" across the
, I road.
i Don't, in working out the la
. bor tax on the roads, try tc
THE DANfeURY REPORTER
make a holiday of it; but give
an honest day's work on the
road. Let us eliminate what is
often seen in those sections where
the roads are maintained by the
labor tax—ten or twelve men and
an overseer, little gray mule, a
i small plow, six dogs, three or
four guns, and a few tools which
often are not considered worth
! using at home. This road force
;is not only hard on the rab
i bits, but also hard on the
j roads.
Don't reject the split log drag
because it is a cheap road ma
i chine, but use it constantly, for
I it is the most efficient road ma
chine that we can use in maintain
ing the dirt road.
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2 Greensboro, N. C. 2
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