OCR Text |
Show ! BETTER 1 ROADS SAFE WIDTH OF HARD ROADS Bureau of Public Roads Makes Reconv mendation of 18 Feet to Provide Good Clearance. (Prepared by th VnUd Stafs LVpartmenl ot Agriculture.) A minimum width of IS feet for bard-surface roads Is recommended by the bureau of public roads of the United States Department of Agriculture. Agricul-ture. The maximum wldlh of truck body generally permitted Is S feet, and D'4 feet Is the ordinary clearance . , " p j Traffic on a 16-Foot Pavement. width of automobiles. At an average speed of 30 miles an hour It Is unreasonable unrea-sonable to expect the driver of an automobile to drive with the wheels closer than 1V feet to the edge of the pavement, says the bureau. For trucks at an average speed of 15 miles an hour, this distance should not be lesa than 1 feet on account of the great width of the rear wheel. Three feet seems to be a minimum safe clearance between bodies. Inasmuch as a certain cer-tain amount of truck traffic la to be expected on all main country roads, the minimum width of surface should be 18 feet to provide these clearances when an automobile meets a truck. ; Where the frequency with which trucks pass each other becomes a big factor, as In the neighborhood of large cities, the minimum width of pavement should be 20 feet to provide a clearance clear-ance of 3 feet and a safe distance of wheels from edge of pavement. |