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Show HIGHWAYS SAFER AND SPEEDIER New Problems in Road Construction Con-struction for Engineers to Solve. . j J.a.r-a Department svwssr birses Newer designs in "-" and trucks, together Mtl e UUeral speed laws it . the onty states have presented new v in highway construction for bunw J enters to solve, according to J bureau of public roads of the bnueu StaTes Department of Agriculture The n w vehicles demand that b Is be designed for safer and speedier this demand highway engineers engi-neers today are planning roads better grades and alignments than , Isted some ten years ago. The : roaas have wider and smoother pa oients and easier curves. 1 Y Roads superelevated and ed;J are developed to afford B distances on both horizontal and v tlcal curves. Guard rails are more substantial and better protection at railway crossings is provided. Appreciate Natural Beauty. Further demands are made upon the highway engineer today by the dan-,g dan-,g appreciation of natura beauty on the part of the general public. H.glv ways mutt not only be travelable, but they must also be pleasing to the eye The engineer develops road locations so as to bring out the natural beau y of the locality. This is particularly noticeable in the new road locations developed by the engineers of the bureau bu-reau of public roads in the national parks and national forests. They are making use of short tunnels tun-nels and half-tunnel sections under picturesque overhanging cliffs and along precipitous canyon walls. Formerly For-merly it was the custom to blast away these irreplaceable landmarks, destroying destroy-ing fine scenes and leaving ugly wounds which took years to heal. Save Desirable Trees. Much can be done during the construction con-struction of highways to preserve and enhance their natural beauty, says the bureau, by intelligent clearing of the right of way so as to save desirable trees, by development of vistas of outstanding out-standing magnificence, and in building build-ing bridges and culverts to harmonize with the general character of the landscape. land-scape. After the road is built much can be done by Intelligent planting, with due care to avoid obstruction to view of intersecting roads, unnecessary unneces-sary interference with the cultivation of adjacent farm land, and use of plantings foreign to the natural character char-acter of the locality. |
