SAMPLE COPY. Subscribe To-day and Read $5O0 More a Year in Farming."
Consolidated, 1904, with The Cotton Plant, Greenville, S. C.
PROGRESSIVE FARMER VOL. XX. NO. 44.
XHB COTTON PLANT VOL. XXII. NO. 48.
RALEIGH, N. C, DECEMBER 14, 1905.
Weekly$1 a Year.
SAHD CLAY ROADS.
A Simple and Economical Method of Building Roads
in Vast Areas of Oar Southern Sand Belt An
Authoritative Discussion by an Official of the
Bureau of Public Road Inquiries.
Messrs. Editors: Almost every community
is favored with an abundance of stone, gravel.
sand or clay, and by the proper management a
desirable road can be ; constructed with either
one of these. As there is a . wide difference in
lio orof tor r f iVio motoriala rrwiot oi tit oTi mil 1
always be exercised in selecting only the best
such as contains sufficient toughness and ce
menting qualities as will form a surface suffi
ciently hard and durable to endure the volume
of traffic, and at the same time make the road
less impervious to water, which is its worst
enemy. . .
In successful road building tod much attention
..1 1
cannot oe given to tne proper drainage, suriacing
and rolling and in doing this work the use of
the latest improved machinery is very necessary
in the construction any kind of. a road if the
best results are to be obtained. Any thing that
is worth doing is worth doing well, is an adage
that might aptly be applied . in connection with
this question! This rule is not always .adopted,
however, but it is far better to build permanent
highways so that they will need little or . no rc-
- pairs for a long time to come. - In some localities
conditions are such that a good stone road may
be built at a cost ranging, from $2,000 to $3,000
per mile, but in others $5,000 or $10,000 are ex
pended; while good sand-clay roads can be built
from $200 to $500 per mile.
There are many phases of the question of road
improvement of which much might be said, but
at present the writer wishes to direct attention
more particularly to the improvement of the com
mon roads by the sand-claw method, which is
quite inexpensive. When sand abounds in such
quantity as to render travel on the roads difficult.
an application of clay may be made to good
advantage, and where clay is equally objectionable
sand may be similarly applied and with equally as
beneficial results.
The value of good roads and the methods in
which the good road movement is sometimes given
an mmetus is shown in various ways, thereiore it
might be-said in this connection that the sand-
clay method originated in the following very sim
ple manner: A few years ago a South Carolina
farmer had occasion to dig a pit near the highway,
and wishing to get rid of the clay he spread it on
a piece of sandy road. In doing this he "builded
better than he knew," as that was the beginning
of the improvement of the roads in his county.
The accompanying' illustration demonstrates
what can be accomplished where sand and clay are
the only available materials. The section of road
shown was improved by spreading clay upon a
sand foundation, and was constructed under the
supervision of the Office of Public Dead Inquiries,
Washington, D. C. The work was directly m
charge of Mr. W. L. Spoon, a special road expert
ff the office, who has given valuable assistance
along this line in many of the Southeastern
States, including the Carolinas, Florida, Louisi
ana and Mississippi. '
Perhaps more has been accomplished in the
real permanent improvement of the country roads
with this simple admixture of sand and clay m
South Carolina than in any other State. After
constructing two and one-half miles of ordinary
macadam road, at a cost of from $2,000 to $3,000
per mile, it was decided to try the simpler and
cheaper plan of spreading sand over the clay
roads and clay over the deep sandy roads. It was
A SAND-CLAY ROAD IN RICHLAND; COUNTY, SOUTH CAROLINA.
not easy to determine the amount of sand needed
in the brie case; or of clay in the other, to produce
the best final result. Consequently, it has been
necessary to study the'rdsulting road surfaces for
several months, in some cases adding more sand
where the surface showed a tendency to give way
under the traffic in wet weather, or in other cases
adding more clay where the tendency was for the
surface to break up during the dry season. First,
the roads were cut to a grade of from 2 to 3 per
cent, then the surface was given the proper sec
tion for shedding water, this surface slope being
kept sufficiently gentle to permit, the water to run
oil slowly and not to carry the sand with it. lhe
sand or clay was then hauled in wagons usually
short distances and spread over the surface a
thickness of from two to six inches. The mixing
of the sand and clay was done by the ordinary
travel and the surface was finally packed by the
wide-tire wagons and a horse . roller. Many of
these roads which are twenty-five to thirty feet
wide, cost for grading and surfacing about $3,000,
while others under more favorable conditions cost
about $2,000, and in a few places where little grad
ing was necessary, material was near at hand, and
convict labor was used, this, work was done at a
cost not exceeding $150 per mile.
Richland County, in which Columbia, S. C,
State Capitol, is located, takes the lead in this
method of improving the public highways. The
following valuable information is taken from a
letter which the writer has received , from Road
Supervisor, Mr. S. H. Owens, who is an authority
on the construction of sand-clay roads. He says:
"The necessary quantity of sand on clay, or clay
on sand, has to be determined by experimenting.
When the road has been properly graded, and the
road-bed is of sand foundation, the clay is spread
evenly over the surface to a depth of from four to
six inches, the depth depending on the per cent of
sand in the clay. If the road-bed is of clay foun
dation, the sand is spread on a little thicker, say
from six to eight inches. lhe clay "or ssma is
simnlv snread on, not mixed, as the mixing is
rlnnp hv the travel over the road, which is not
interfered with while the road is in course of con
struction. : I find after thorough experimenting
f: tliat sand on clay does not give us as good results
as clay on sand, 'on account of the drainage. being
insufficient under the road-bed and the clay not
being as porous as the sand.
' "As to the durability of the roads treated in this
manner, I will state that those which were built
'. five years ago are in as good condition now as
when constructed, and in some instances better.
Of course the roads have to be run over occasion-
ally and repaired, which is quickly and easily done. :
Sometimes when there is much travel over the
S roads small holes will wear in them, due to a
lack of clay or : sand being not . at, that particular
point. I find this to be the case near Columbia
where travel is necessarily greater? than in the re-,
mote sections of the county. There are some
roads in the county, constructed five years ago,
.-chat have had no repairs and are now in first
class condition.
"We have about four hundred miles of public
roads built on the sand-clay method out of a total
of about six hundred and fifty miles in the county."
These roads are giving perfect satisfaction, and
have stood the tests of hard rains and constant
travel. The cost of constructing ; roads by : this
; method depends on the amount of grading to be
done and the distance the sand or clay has to be
hauled. The cost of repairs is very slight.
"In constructing roads by this method care
must .be taken not to get the cross-section grade
too heavy, as this will have a tendency to cause
the sand or clay to wash from the surface of the
road.
There are very many sections in this country,
particularly in the South, where sand and clav
are the only available materials suitable for road
building, and in sections where such conditions
prevail the people would do well to follow the
most excellent examplef Richland County, S. C
W. F. TOMLINSON, :
Bureau of Public Road Inquiries, Washington, '..
: T C' ' : ' ' v" "
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