Jasper County Democrat, Volume 18, Number 70, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 1 December 1915 — BUILDING CONCRETE ROADS. [ARTICLE]

BUILDING CONCRETE ROADS.

Permanent Highways Bring the Farm .Much Near Town. A permanent road, costing slightly more than a first-cless, waterbound macadam highway, and with a yearly upkeep and repair expense rarely exceeding S3O a mile, is a Pleasant reality. Such a road does not get muddy or dusty, is passable at all times of the year, and is smooth and free from bumps and holes. Enter the concrete road. Concrete roads built in the United States during 1914 cost on the average $11,921 a mile of 16-foot width. One hundred and forty-four concrete roads built during the twenty years previous to 1914 cost $12,766 a mile of 16-foot width. Most concrete roads are 16 feet wide.

Local differences in the cost of concrete roads is due to the expense of getting sand and gravel. Concrete narrower than 16 feet, where the materials are near and abundant, have been built recently for s7,"i ■> a mile in Minnesota, lowa, Mississippi and Maryland. Upkeep and repair charges have been less than $25 a year for a fOnciete road built in Bellefontaine. 0., more than twenty years ago. The yearly maintenance of the 51 miles of concrete roads in Wayne county, Mich., costs $28.43 a mile. It costs $13.92 a year to keep tip a concrete road at Spencer, Mass. Eleven recently built 1 k-foo; macadam roads cost $9,212 a mile: sixteen bituminous macadam roads cost

8 l 1,0 0 o a;,mile:/ hinety-se yen' asphalt I roads cost $1 7,084 a mile; two hundred and seventy-seven brick roads I cost $1 8,305 a mile; and sixty-.-, ven wood block roads cost - $26,28 5 a | mile. Concrete is thus becoming one of the cheapest of permanent roads. ■ - .. _. _ The maintenance cost of the improved roads, other than concrete,! in Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode j Island, New Jersey and New York for eight years. ] 905 to 191 2, aver;;ged } ?008 a mile. The upkeep and re-j pairs of the improved roads of France, before the present European} war started, was $217 a year; those ot England, $415. Concrete is the cheapest of all in upkeep. These are the kinds of concrete roads: One-course, two-course, one and two course reinforced, and grouted pavement. The full depth of a one-course concrete road is of the same mixture. The two-course road has a base of a mixture without much cement, and a wearing surface of a rich mixture. One and two course reinforced roads are built where the road is more than twenty feet wide. The bottom course has a crown t 6 contorm with the crown of the wearing surface of the second course. A grouted pavement road consists 6f j broken stone covered with oemen' j mortar, composed of one part of eement and two parts sand, poured on the stone until all of the spaces are J filled, and the mortar flushes to the! surface. The whole is then rolled, 1 Finer stone is placed on the top of j the first course, grouted, and rolled. Low first cost, durability, and low maintenance are requirements of an ideal road, and it slv/mld remain the! same in all weather, be non-absor-bent and easily cleaned. Users of concrete roads are pleasf.l with them, and near-by farmers almost always ask for an extension of the improvement. The majori y of the automobiles are bought by farmers. Improved and permanent roads are needbd more and more in the country. Many farmers market their products in motor cars. Wayne county, Michigan, has the most remarkable system of concrete roads in the United States. This system was begun seven years ago. The value of the abutting farm land has been doubled in some instances, and all land has increased in value because of concrete roads. Farmers who formerly needed four horses for hauling use one now. Trips to town which formerly took a day are now made in a few hours. Concrete roads are not affected by the weather, traffic, or mud or trash tracked upon them, as is the case with some improved roads. Freezing and thawing have no effect on them if properly constructed. Heat does not soften them, nor cold make them brittle. Concrete increases in strength with age. The smooth concrete road makes hauling easy. A horse can pull practically twice as much as he can on a macadam road, three times as much as on a gravel road, and five times as much as on a good earth road. Thus these highways cut down the cost of marketing farm,products. Concrete roads can be made nearly flat and still shed wfater. The sur-face-texture, if properly constructed, is gritty, which prevents horses and wheels from slipping. The rather flab crown brings the entire roadway into use. There is no tendency to drive in the middle of the road, and the wear ,|g even or cr the rur-

face. Although such a road is hard, it has an em surface, which prevents wrenching of horses’ knees and shoulders.

The bulk of the materials for concrete can be found In many localities. Where sand, gravel, and stone can be obtained near-by. the cost is reduced. Most of the labor can be obtained -in the locality, and the money remains in the community. The best concrete-road construction requires the greatest care in the selection of the materials in unformity of measurement and the actual work of building. Even though the specified proportions of the sand, gravel, and cement are correct, if there are any variations in the mix the road will be only as good as its poorest spots.

Too many persons believe that low-quality : sand, gravel and stone and poor workmanship can be cured by the use of good cement. This is an error. Careful attention to every detail will produce a concrete road that is permanent. Inferior materials and careless V workmanship will produce failures even with the best cement. If the proper sand, gravel and stone cannot be found in the locality. hey should be bought elsewhere. It is false economy to use poor materials. Properly constructed concrete roads rarely crack. Crosswise cracks occur where joints are no; close enough together. Lengthwise cracks occur where insufficient drainage and freezing vveather cause heaving, and where a less thickness of concrete w placed in the center of the rociii .than, a't ethe. edges.•

.. rw-h cracks, if neglected, wear traft; If cleaned out and kept filled with bitumen and sand, are u 6 detriment to the road. Wear at r e ! oints is prevented by protecting t’ne edges with soft metal Plates* t » Concrete roads can be built successfully on heavy grades. Here is a list of a few of the places where rch roads have been built with the ; erceniage or" the grade required; Kansas City, Mo.. IS per cent and lit er cent: Bellingham. Wash., 16u per cent; Sioux City, la., 16 per cent: Davenport, la., 12 per cent- Duluth. Minn., 11 per cent; Mason City. la.. ft per cent; Middletown, Conn.. S per cent: Stewartsville, is'. J., a per cent. The road plans used in Illinois, New York. Pennsylvania and other states proportion the expense of building permanent highways so the farmers do not have to build good roads for the benefit and pleasure of non-resi&ent users. Twenty-year bonds are voted in some states. Hence the greater part of the cost of construction and maintenance falls

»l>on corporations and municipalities. In Illinois such a plan will cost the farmer eight cents an acre a year. In New York state tne farmers pay about 15 per cent of the cost of the improved roads. Some counties in Pennsylvania vote on the average six mills a year for the construction and maintenance of improved highways. Many states use the motor c4r tag license fee to build imI roved roads. When proper materials are to be had locally, the first cost of concrete roads is a little more than that of a water-bound macadam. Where materials have to be brought for a considerable distance, a concrete road can often be built at less expense than any other permanent t. v 3 e. This is due to the small amount o materials needed.

Because of varying conditions it is impossible to give directions for building concrete roads that would apply everywhere. Where the soil is sandy no sub-base is necessary, '•bile in other soils a neglect of a proper sub-base might result disastrously. This matter should be left to au engineer. If the soil at the excavated grade is firm and solid, no further preparation is needed; but if there are any soft or spongy places, they should be excavated and the holes filled with a firm material, packed solidly. If the sub-base of the road is not drained properly, water will accumulate under the road, freeze in winter, and cause the concrete to heave. Where natural drainage does not take care of the surplus water,, either a broken stone trench or a tile drain is necessary. The sand and gravel are. unloaded in proper proportions. The cement is stored in a dry place and hauled as needed. Concrete should never be placed on the sub-grade of the road when the temperature is below 35 degrees above zero. When the weather is hot the new work should be protected from the sun. Concrete expands ~sn,T contracts about the same as steel. If expansion joints are not placed every 25 to 35 feet, the concrete will either buckle up from expansion or crack, owing to contraction. Asphalt, pitch, tar, and tar paper are among materials used to fill the joints.—Farm A. ii