Show THE LOCATION OF HIGHWAYS A mutter of mhd utmost importance ta to the of the laud land when a rAll railroad road is contemplated between two dist distant hrit points careful surveys are made by competent engineers and before a route is finally selected all of the preliminary lines which have been ran run are put down on a map estimates are made as to the cost of building and maintaining each and fur ther calculations elaborated as to the traffic which each of the lines would be able to secure and accommodate with all these facts and estimates before them the engineers and capitalists finally de cide where the road shall be lo located cared upon such preliminary work time and anti money are freely spent for it is is well known to all railroad managers that a bad location is a very expensive error to make at the outset and one too which it is almost impossible to repair it requires even more engineering care and skill to properly locate a country highway than is needed in the selection tiou of the best route for a railroad when the roads which traverse all pa part arts of the united states were originally laid out they were planned without reference to io any great system which should at once answer immediate re quire ments and last for all time when tho population became denser and tin the roads being more traveled were found to be inadequate there was an ail effort made in all such places to build permanent roads but in the great majority of cases tho the old haphazard location of the roads was deemed to be good enough and these trades tracks through the forests and over the prairies were adopted as permanent highways aa As traffic further farther increased these roads were again found to ite be inadequate and the statesmen of the country saw very ery plainly that the poor r roads oads which prevailed nearly all over the united states seriously menaced the prosperity of the people then began on a large scale a plan of highway improvement by which cheva the various states should ie connected with each other before these great national re roads 34 a a assisted ted by the government had been n completed the railway came into be bein gAnd the atten attention of men was directed to making these neN neiron Tiron highways the great systems of common roads wera were neglected and the caro care a and n d construction of country highways p passed as s i A back to each county or township and so they have remained neglected unwed fora for a heavy heary tax onlan on I 1 wid dAnd and all that land produces a menace to agricultural prosperity and tho the great contributing cause which ta the overy crowded cities from farms faria 3 rua mi d villages ps the most and tho tile mc sturdy mai maidens V this system of properly locating and building common highways having been 1 g q 1 ta 11 69 acme 1 nr upon 55 ilin gene rillon to take up the work w ork where it was ft as there left off in locating a railroad an engineer needs to bear in annd imbat the rail ro road d must be ampro approached re lied wherever there is to be a station sti eions are am usually several miles a apart gartand Par tand and therefore this part of his problem is so simplified eliat he lie can locate his road with regard entirely to the general topographical fei fen tures of the country and then establish the stations at such places as may be easy ol 01 approach but ba the engineer locating a highway must bear in mind that his road must be accessible on both sides as far as it stretches see what a difference difre rence this makes the th 0 railroad T ail road engineer in running up a valley can hug high hills on one side with a turbulent water course on the other but such a lo 10 cation would bebout bo ont of the question for the highway engineer for those aou who ho are to use his road must be able to reach it easily from the farms on either side and that without going out of their way and in the matter ot 0 drainage which is of even more importance in in building a highway than a railroad the last is 13 more complex the railroad runs over low ground with an embankment and at convenient places lets the water through with a trestle or an open culvert auh ert such expedients are not permissible permit sAble in locating highways the highway engineer must select his route BO so that he can take the water beneath his roadbed in covered drama drains or bridges or covered cul verts and he must see that the water which is to go belo below belov v will be concentrated at such places as he has provided for its pa passage mige tor for it would never do tor for any moisture to get below the stone with which good highway highways s are covered now as to grades the highway engineer must display greater care and skill it is is faulty location to have deep cuts or high tank embankments ments on a highway highe ay while the railway engineer can do asmuth of this as lie ch chooses es and his company hog has money to pay for if he chood 8 to go under a range of hills he hacks backs a tunnel through and there he lie is on the other side but these devices de ices which so sim n phay the work of the railroad builder cannot be resort resorted ed to by the road maker if he is obliged to go oer over a it range ange r 0 of f hills or cross a valley he must BO so locale alo his line that ho he can do both a and nd s still till in each instance keep within a reasonable distance of the natural surface ak and yet et he must not make his grade so steep that heavy loads cannot be hauled over it easily emily nor must he bb make makeshia his r road OR d very much longer than a straight lin ebe tween een the points from and to which lie is build ing these are a few of the difficulties which any one who attempts to locate a country highway highe ay must consider in inthis this country where R here we w e have as ki i if ua engi ie e rs as there are anywhere in sn t the h e world I 1 d 0 U b it there ther ar are it half I 1 f a dozen men vgo give any considerable portion of their time to the locating and building of country highways high wais we boast of conr enlightenment and point with ft ith compla our cent pride to the lull topa from which our school houses salute wit our cherches eg and yet in a matter which v inch nearly nearl c ion on us all and rua wilL affect our posterity poRt erity we go on from year ear to year wallowing in mire and struggling through mud ignorant of the taxes which we prepay ai elij in ins by reason ot 0 alli alia t m i lid rw it lil diffident to fo our who are am coming after uz ua exo J 0 allmer astl |