Earth Roads

1902

Farmers' Bulletin Number 136

National Agricultural Library

Drainage is the key to success in making earth roads, and constant watchfulness is the sure means of keeping them up after they are once well made. Water is destructive to any road, especially to a dirt road; therefore, drainage that will at once carry away rainfall or melting snow is absolutely necessary. Again, little breaks in the road may be made by rain or by a heavy load at any time, and if not repaired immediately will grow into mud holes, especially in the winter, and these mud holes easily and rapidly develop into an almost impassable mire. But frequent inspection and a little work will keep the road in good condition and with less cost than under ordinary methods. This is proved by practical trials reported elsewhere in this bulletin (p. 22).

With good drainage established in building the road and frequent inspection to keep the drainage efficient and to mend promptly small injuries to the surface, the earth roads of the United States could be maintained in a much higher state of usefulness than at present, and at considerably lower cost.

The aim in making a road is to establish the easiest, shortest, and most economical line of travel. It is therefore desirable that roads should be firm, smooth, comparatively level, and fit for use at all seasons of the year; that they should be properly located so that their grades shall be such that loaded vehicles may be drawn over them without great loss of energy; that they should be properly constructed, the roadbed graded, shaped, and rolled; and that they should be surfaced with the best available material suited to their needs.

It is to be hoped that all the heavy traffic roads in the United States can be macadamized, graveled, or otherwise improved in the not distant future; but owing to the absence in many places of rock, gravel, or other hard and durable substances with which to build good roads, and by reason of the excessive cost of such roads where suitable material is scarce, the majority of our public highways will of necessity be composed of earth for many years to come. It is fortunate, therefore, that under favorable conditions of traffic, moisture, and maintenance the earth road is the most elastic and most satisfactory for pleasure and for light traffic. The condition of the common roads in this country, especially in the Middle West, is so deplorable at certain seasons of the year as to operate as a complete embargo on marketing farm products. It therefore behooves every interested citizen to know something about the location, drainage, construction, and maintenance of the earth road, and it will be the object to present in this paper the fundamental principles of earth-road construction and maintenance and to furnish instruction and advice to the road builders whose facilities are limited and who are so often supplied with only inferior materials.

U.S. Department of Agriculture