COUNTRY ROADS

Dominion, Volume 7, Issue 2217, 1 August 1914, Page 3

COUNTRY ROADS

FROM BUSH TRACKS UP

ANOTHER VIEW

Jlr. Duncan. Sinclair, engineer to the Pohangina County Council, -n-liicli readies back from Aslrurst towards the ranges," sends the, following contribution to the discussion on the roads question,

. In tho mutitude of counsel there is not always wisdom, but from a multitude of jdeas there may evolve something better than the result of one individual mind, however well that mind may be trained in any particular line or business. There is, perhaps, no wider field for the exercise of individual study, thaii 'the most efficient, and at tho same time fairly econoDucal methods or. constructing "highways for public traffic." .As .-there ie a diversity in the nature of the traffic in various localities, so there must fee a different way of. constructing, the roads or streets to suit the varying modes of' transit) In the streets of a city where the population is more or less congested, there is need for the best possible mode of street 'construction. ■; This is no doubt improved as experience dictates. The same applies, but in a lesser degree, to country roads, where the cost'of construction may become a ' rather heavy burden on the residents of a scattered settlement. And, especially when the best common material for road construction is not available wifchin a reasonable distance, and cannot be obtained without a rather heavy outlay. Each locality may have varying requirements of a different nature-; for this reason different- methods have to be adopted, in conformity with the physical features of the country through which the roads have to pass. This, with'.the possible absence of suitable materials from which to construct a. serviceable road. The matter of road construction is in a great measure governed by the amount oi funds available with which, to construct'them. In' this way the benefits must come to tho greater number, who collectively are better able to bear tho burden of taxation. Thus, tho class of roads depend largely on the funds available to construct them in the first place, and maintenance afterwards. A few ideas on this very important subject are here appended iin--der a number of headings, some of which may arrest the attention of those i who may. be interested in the subject, | and will in all probability differ perhaps materially from the views here expressed. If they do, so much the better, as. the field is a wide one, and plenty of room to differ as to how the "King's highways" should be made, and the beet methods of doing it. ■ r The Bush Track. This may be termed the'road or highway in "embryo." This may be in bush or open country; it, is a preliminary to,what may bo a'road in the near future, and-as such it should be located in the best, possible position, and on .the best, grade obtainable. A practical road .engineer should be entrusted with this preliminary work in order to get the best results. Grade pegs-should-,be .put in firmly on .the ascertained best grade, and maintained during the- construction of the woTk, except where depths of. cuttings and heights- of nllinge would necessitate the removal of pegs. In bush land the. grade of the road being defined by. pegs, all largo trees should be uprooted on the line of formation before the trees are felled. This method saves the uso of explosives in the ' removal of the stumps,' which is often a. rather heavy item in the .'cost; when forming a new road; It is a mistake, too often made to suppose that'because a bush track is cheaply constructed it is of little importance how or ■ where it is made.. The bridle track is in most cases a prelude to what is to be in the near, future a "dray road" which in many cases is formed on • the grade of the previous bridle track.. Thus, if the track is badly graded it follows the wider road will bo very little better—a thing which , is far too plainly seen in rr.any of the roads which have been constructed in this way. After a time such a road is metalled and becomes a permanent structure with little hope of its ever being altered, as long as theitraffic can run over it. ■■«•■" Suggestions For Improvement. . To have the best results from the start in, road-making, the road lines would be denned by a practical road engineer in all new blocks of land to be opened up for sale. The survey of tho land,should-then follow. For the purpose of defining and grading new roads, the services of a good man could be fully employed in such work, if the adjacent local bodies were grouped for this purpose. Such a person could do the engineering and plans, leaving the local bodies to carry out the work by tender or otherwise, under a good overseer. If such a system as the. above were to be adopted the result would be far moro satisfactory than it is at present, and save a lot of s . money being wasted in "useless bush tracks." In tho matter of culverts and small bridges there is much room for improvement in. the present mode of constructing them. Small woo Hen bridges are built over little creeks where a concrete culvert of a suitable size should be constructed. If suitable, clean- shingle, or shell rock can be obtained, the cost of concrete culverts is little moro than wood, which -decay Jn a few years. 'When concrete culverts of suitable size and length • are built in, (earth fillings of considerable depth can I bo made over such culverts, in this way small bridges of. from 10ft., *u 25ft. can be dispensed;with, as it does not follow that a deep gully requires either a large culvert or a long bridge. Many of ■ the deep gullies have very small streams of water in them, and such should have concrete culverts of a suitable size.. It should be the duty of the road engineer to ascertain for himself the catchment area'of rainfall which he has to provide "for, and build culverts for such, and not in proportion to the size of the gullies in which they are placed. Many small wooden.bridges are built, costing £150, more or less, when better results could have been obtained by a concrete culvert, costing less than onehalf the money. In this particular lino of work a suitable staff of men could bo constantly employed by tho adjacent local bodies being grouped for this purpose. Such a staff of men could be provided with all necessary plant and tools, tho cost .would bo reduced, and fixed at a schedule ratofor the work, complete at per cubic yard for the various sizes > of culverts, wingwalls, etc. Metalling Up-Country Roads. In many localities this is not a hard matter to deal with, while in others it is a problem hard to solve. Tho question of transporting metal over long distances is ono which .most local bodies have to face in some way or another. As a substitute for shingle, burnt papa lias been used in places with fair success, but it must be of good (juality, and placed on' a dry surface; its ;co'st under the most favourable circumstances would be from 6s. to 7s. per cubic yard, To obtain tho best results, the rock must be of good quality, and plenty of suitable wood to burn it, otherwise such a class of metal can only bo looked upon as a makosliift. As a rule, the best material is river-bed shingle, tho larger stone broken to required gauge. If this can be obtained in any quantity from a river-bed, a slonc-nr'ushing plant should bo obtained, and placed as near to the river-bed as fiOßcible. The broken stone from the e>

crusher, if required to be taken a long distance, should be carted on a tramline, or light railway to any distanco up to, say, six miles, tho tram-line to be of a portable nature, laid on the side of the road to be metalled. When metal was crushed and nin out for a. length of road in sufficient quantity; and. a quantity of lnetal dumped at intervals for future repairs, the tramline could then be removed to another road, worked from the same crusher, and in this way many miles of road could be so treated, radiating in several directions from tho crusher, until all roads within a reasonable distance were done. Tho whole plant could then be removed to another suitable locality, and worked m the same way. Such a crushing plant and tram-line should be found by the State, and loaned to. the local body requiring such. A; sum of money for rent and depreciation could be charged to the local body for any length of time such machinery was in uee. When pot further required it could be'transferred to some other local body. Modern Requirements on Older Roads. Every local body who may have to maintain, roads or streets for public trafficy under present circumstances, is faced with an,ever-increasing expenditure m the upkeep of its roads. The besMpown methods for this purpose are those where tar and shingle have been tried in various .ways, and these in a measure may be fairly successful in standing wear and tear in the streete or a town, and the roads near to a town. The process being so expensive, it ie almost hopeless to carry it out .on long Tip-country roads. The motor traitc has assumed such .proportions that it reaches, the up-country (ivitricts although in a lesser degreo than in and near tho towns. To provide for this class of traffic which has come on rather suddenly, it is of grave concern to all local authorities at present. Jipw,to overcome the difficulty gradually at a minimum cost,' > ought to be tne study of oveoy road engineer. If there was a desire to use tar macadam as the best method, the difficulty would be to obtain the tar in sufficient quantity. It could not be produced in sufficient quantity in the Dominion, and the possibility is that other countries would use as much or' more than they made and this might in a. very short time leave us .with.little-chance to import -tar ; . While as much tar macadam as possible may be done, there is urgent need for some method of keeping pace with the ordinary wear on all country roads. Such.a plan as the following might ill. a measure overcomepart, if ■ not all, of the present difficulties on country roads. Stone-crush-ina plants i should Ix, established in suitablo localities on or near to stream or river-beds, where a' large quantity of small river shingle could be obtained this shingle should be crushed to a email, sixe, say nothing larger than three-quarters of an inch, taken by the most rapid • travelling process ' and spread evenly on the road, by means of a screw adjustable spreader. By such a means all the little depressions in the surface of the roads (so prominent where there is much motor traffic) would be filled up evenly. For such a purpose the place where the metal was obtained, should bo from a p'ace where freshes •in the river : of stream would bring a constant supply to replace that removed for;the purpose here indicated.fauch a plant could be kept constantly going, "and,- if necessary, adjacent local bodies could-share,in the output'of metal obtained from such a plant; "■•