Jasper County Democrat, Volume 19, Number 10, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 3 May 1916 — Illinois Concrete Roads Standing Up Well. [ARTICLE]

Illinois Concrete Roads Standing Up Well.

We were over to Watseka, 111., Sunday on an auto trip. We wanted to see how the new concrete roadways over about Watseka— of which there were some eight or 10 miles constructed last year—got through the winter. Of course, we had a very mild winter, possibly not a very good test, but we did not see a crack in the concrete at any place and it looked fully as good as when we were over it last September or October. If concrete will ‘stand up” —and it would seem that it should if the road is properly drained and the mixture is put on of sufficient richness and depth—4t_is preferable do brick, as the surface is as smooth as a floor and it is free from dust. The only fault with this particular road, as it seems to us and as we pointed out in our comment last fall, is that it was made too narrow—nine feet wide, we understand—and when the dirt or sandy gravel banking on the sides are wet and soft it makes it difficult to turn off and back onto the concrete when meeting another vehicle. A 1 6-foot roadway would probably cost half more fhan a nine-foot road, but it would be worth the difference. Illinois started in rather late on improved highways, but she is going al it good and strong now and seems to be building roads of the permanent sort, either brick or concrete, having the advantage of its late start o' the experience of other states in I the permanency of road-making material. It will be but a very few years now until ail the more traveled highways of our neighbor on the west will give ’em all cards and spades on good roads, and she certainly has needed them for many yearn.