Show maintenance OF DIRT ROAD Is no now and will 1111 continue to be real highway problem lem of kansas management Is lacking earth road maintenance now is and will continue for some years to be the re real al road problem of kansas since it is not likely that more than a very small per cent of the highways will be paved in this generation practically all the work done on nn an earth road says W S gearhart professor of highway engineering in the kansas state agricultural college and state highway engineer except reduction of grades correction of horizontal a alignment ll 11 building of drainage structures and elimination of railway grade arilde crosan cros crossings ln s is temporary and should properly be considered maintenance doing permanent ni work ork is a comparatively easy matter for when once it I 1 f cwi casy af y f iS ests tS A ate sa 4 y v y y r r vf yf f A it A a good road in kansas is done correctly it N will III last for a number of years tho the maintenance of an earth road however is a never end ing job it is like milking tile the cos cons and doing other chores for the builder knos that the work of maintenance will have 0 lo 10 o be done over and over again and can never feel that it is in any sense permanent for this reason the earth road has a bad reputation the trouble is not so much with tile the material of which the road is composed as with our system or lack of system of management other types V roads when hen treated as we treat the earth roads are much more expensive and serve the traveling public little if any better the vast improvement that can be made on our present earth roads by intelligent direction in their construction and maintenance is little realized by the public and the serviceability of a properly maintained earth road is not appreciated precia ted when compared with other types of roads as to cost of construction successful construction and maintenance of any kind of a road depends upon the recognition by the public and the builders of a few fixed and fundamental requirements one practical well paid road builder should be made responsible for the upkeep of a certain section of road and should be employed throughout the year his tenure of office being made dependent entirely upon the character of services rendered the graded portion of the road should be elevated and crowned so that the water from every section of the road surface will flow into the side ditches |