| Show I. I Public Highways Prepared by the United States Department Depart ment of or Agriculture It Is fully tully as Important that a road be ba dragged at nt the right time as It is that the dragging be properly done Furthermore the difficulties Involved la 10 n prescribing definite rules for determining determining determining deter deter- mining when dragging drugging should be done arE ore equally as great as those already encountered In attempting to define how It should be done Only ver very gen gen- general general eral ernt statements concerning this feature feature fea fea- ture of the work worle can con properly be made here bere and much must be left to the experienced experienced experienced ex ex- Judgment of those who decIde decide de de- cide tide when the dragging of any particular far lar road Is to be started and when It ItIs Itis Itis is to be stopped The rule frequently cited that all earth roads should be drug drugged dragged ed Immediately Immediately immediately Imme Imme- after every rain Is In many cases entirely Impracticable and Is also r 0 I Drag on a North Carolina Road very misleading because of the conditions condi condl- tines which It falls fails to contemplate It ItIs Itis r Is Js true that there are many road surf sur- sur f p. p faces composed of earth or earthy material ma ma- which do not become very muddy under traffic even during long rainy seasons and since such surfaces es k tend to harden very rapidly asp as t. t soon as the weather r clears up It may maybe maybe rr- rr be desirable to drag roads of this kind Immediately after a rain Such roads 4 however would not ordinarily need tobe tobe to tobe be dragged after every rain because of ot the strong tendency that they naturally nat nat- r orally mally possess of holding their shape On the other hand many varieties of clay and soil tend to become very muddy under only light traffic after very Tery moderate rains and It is evident that roads constructed of such materials ma ma- could not always be successfully successfully success success- f fully tally dragged Immediately after n a rain Sometimes in fact it may be necessary necessary sary nary to watt walt until several consecutive dear days have elapsed after a n lon long rainy spell before the road Is sufficient sufficient- ly dried out to keep ruts from forming almost as ns rapidly as ns the they can be filled by dragging Well-constructed Well sand-clay sand topsoil roads should not often become muddy after the they are once well compacted They may become seriously rutted however under heavy henvy traffic during rainy weather and are almost sure to need dragging several times each year Such roads should ordinarily be dragged dragged drag drag- ged gd as soon after a rain as practicable practicable practicable as ns otherwise the surface soon becomes dry and hard so that it Is n necessary to do considerably more dragging In order to fill the ruts FurthErmore Furthermore Fur Fur- thE the material which the drag moves will not compact readily unless it contains a n considerable amount of moisture Gravel roads cn can cad be effectively maintained maintained main main- with a road drag only when the gravel composing the surface Is fine I grained and contains a considerable quantity of clay earth Gravel road surfaces in which this condition prevails prevails prevails pre pre- vails not Infrequently get badly out of shape during wet weather and may sometimes require considerably more attention than well-constructed well sand- sand clay topsoil roads rands The time for dragging dragging dragging drag drag- ging gravel roads is unquestionably I while they are wet In fact the best results are sometimes obtained by do- do lap the dragging after the road has become become become be be- come thoroughly soaked and while it itis its is s still raining In general It may be said that the best time to drag any type of road is when hen the material composing the surface surface surface sur sur- sur- sur face contains sufficient moisture to compact readily after It H has hns been moved by the drag and is Is not sufficiently sufficiently sum sum- wet for the traffic following the drag to produce mud |
