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Show ROAD BUILDING FIXING BAD SPOTS IN ROADS Temporary Expedients for Making Them PassableShould Be Employed Em-ployed Only In Emergencies. (From Weekly Nowe Lottor, United States Department ,o Agriculture.) Tomporary repairs to roads aro, or at least Bhould be, confined to emergency emer-gency measures. In proportion to the results obtained, temporary work Is always al-ways expensive and is never justified by ordinary conditions. Unusual conditions, con-ditions, howovor, often occur to plague the road man. For example, tho closing clos-ing of a main highway to traffic bo-causo bo-causo of construction, repair or washouts wash-outs may BUddonly throw n heavy traffic traf-fic for a short tlmo on a llttlo-uscd and probably unimproved byway. Clearly, in such n caso temporary expedients aro legitimate Tho moat common troubles met with In a cuso of this kind nro mudholcs and ruts if tho soil Is heavy, and dust nnil looso sand If tho soil is light or sandy. On a clay or gumbo road mudholos usually causo tho most trouble As wator Is absolutely necessary for tho oxistonco of a mudholo, any treatment, whothor temporary or pormanent in character, must provldo for getting rid of tho water. Tho first stop is, thoro-foro, thoro-foro, to dig n trench to tho Bldo and allow tho wator and mud to drain. If necessary, open up also tho sldo ditches. Furthermore, romovo all of tho soft mud left in tho mudholo. Tho bottom of tho trench should bo filled with broken stono or coarco gravel so as to provldo a drain to provont any further accumulation of wator. Gravel Is tho best material for filling tho old mudholo. If gravol 1b not available, uso tho best earth at hand, tamping it down In thrco or four-inch layers. If possible, spread a little gravol or sand over tho now fill, which should be mado slightly higher than tho adjoining adjoin-ing road surface Tho best treatment of all, howovor, ic to keep tho drain-ago drain-ago in good condition. Serious mud-holes mud-holes will then rarely develop. Don't try to fill a mudholo without first draining out tho wator and removing re-moving tho soft mud. Don't try to fill it with largo stones, becauso If this Is done thoro will soon bo two mudholos Instead of ono. Don't try to fill a mudholo mud-holo with sods or similar material which absorb .water readily. On an earth or gravel road ruts aro bcBt treated with tho drag. Don't bo afraid of dragging "too often during a rainy spoil. If a thin coat of sand or gravol bo spread over tho road sur-fnco sur-fnco when it has boon softened by rain and then worked in by traffic and a liberal uso of tho drag, a poor earth road can bo much Improved and made to carry a surprisingly heavy traffic for a short tlmo. In contrast to' tho clay or gumbo road, tho sand road gives least trouble hut i hi i i 1 iiI.ibI Experimental Concrete Road. during wot weather. On sandy roads anything that will prevent tho freo movement of tho Band particles will bo of value. As long as tho road Is damp, tho surface tension of tho capillary capil-lary water acts as a binder and holds tho soparato grains of sand in place. All efforts should, therefore, be directed direct-ed toward preventing tho sandy places from drying out, or to adding some binder. Tho addition of clay furnishes a posltlvo binder and is really tho best and most pormanent treatment. Tho addition of any fibrous material such as straw, spont tan bark, sagebrush or pine needles Is of valuo and, when spread on tho road and covered with a thin coat of sand or allowed to work into tho Burfaco, will mako an almost impassable sand road fairly good for a tlmo. Dut tho best way to treat a bad place, whether on a clay or a Band road, is to treat it boforo it gets bad. Immediate attention to small injuries will provont later prolonged attention and extcnslvo repairs to sorlous dam-agoa. |