| Show COST OF POOR ROADS ROAD single defect or steep hill meane meana smaller loads prevailing notion that all High highway wayll mut must be built tl on sectional lines line Is I 1 often responsible for poor condition by H M north dakota agri cultural the old saying baying that a chain to la no stronger than its weakest link would loso lose none of its force orco it if it were changed to a country road la Is no be ter than KB poorest mile it matters I 1 not hawgood how good a road may be it it cord con bains a single detective defective spot or steep grade for no larger loads loada can tie be hauled over it than the borsek can call pull through the defect defective tie place or up the he high hill this statement la Is a BO 0 self belt evident that most people will readily accept it as an axiom haloin and yet they are seemingly contented to haul fractional loads loada to market because of some borne often slight alight local detect defect in fix 1 a road load that could be TT jy paired at ft A nominal cost alib prevailing notion that the only place for foi a highway to Is on the section tine line Is often responsible for this it if a section bertlon line passer through a slough that cannot be easily drained a good road cannot be built through it except at an expense tor for first cost and sub sequent maintenance tar far exceeding the ille cost of purchasing a right of way around the slough the same Is true of hills for it if a hill cannot bo be easily reduced to less lesa than a seven per cent grade it should be circumvented the writer recalls a road tributary to a small town in the lied niver valley where the entire road Is level with the exception of one place where it makes a turn at a section corner near a river the section corner la is close celoso to the river and at least sixty feet lower than the rest of the road and yet scores ot of farmers who use this road in marketing their produce haul their loads loada down this sixty toot foot drop turn the corner and aind haul them up again at certain seasons of the year small loads have to be hauled because of this hill and often horses are permanently injured by the heavy pull up the hill still nothing has so tar far been done 1 though hough at a nominal expense a right of way could be secured above the hill thus entirely obviating the grade and at the same time shortening the distance to town examples of this kind are common an and d force one to the conclusion that 6 action lines are arc the proper place for roads only when a ROOI good ro road 11 d ran can be built over them otherwise the road should be located so BO as aado to secure the best route consistent with such factors as distance and grade in a new community abe the best time to locate the roads wile they should be Is while the land Is cheap when a right of way may be secured over private property with but little dudl culty and slight expense in this connection it should be remembered that i a grade watch may not be objectionable when the roads sire are uniformly poor so BO thit that large loads cannot be hauled tiny way may become serious obstacles when the roads are improved so that they will sustain dustain heavy h eavy hauling in illustration of this point may be cited that while it requires a pull of pounds on the traces to haul final a 11 ton over an average earth road it r requires ei lul a pull or 0 only 60 pounds to haul a ton over a good macadam road A six or seven per cent grade that would be permissible in an earth road w would 01 1 id be impassable with the loads that could bo be hauled on a good macadam road in other words the better and more improved a road becomes the more objectionable becomes the grade further illustration of this fact may be drawn from the experience of our railroads in the early days of railroading with its small locomotives co small boxcars and light trains grade were permitted which since the advent of the large modern locomotive with its heavy trains high speed a and d improved track have become practically impassable so that the tha companies have been forced 0 to o spend millions in reducing these grades |
