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This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1835. Excerpt: ... GENERAL RULES FOR MAKING AND REPAIRING ROADS. The had condition of many of the roads in this kingdom Making new has heen attrihuted to the injudicious application of the roads materials with which they are made, and the defective form cf the roads. These evils might he remedied hy the practice of a hetter system of making the surface of roads, and hy the application of scientific principles to their formation. The ohject in a good road, as far as regards the surface, is to have it smooth, hard, and so flat that a carriage may stand quite upright. These ohjects are not, in many instances, attained hy the present system, hecause no scientific principles are applied; hut it is presumed they are perfectly attainahle in all parts of the country. It is proved hy all experience, that a road made of hroken stones, without mixture of earth, of the depth of ten inches, will be smooth, hard, and durahle. (Report on Highways and Turnpike Roads, 14th June, 1811, p. 27.) It is well known to every skilful and ohservant roadmaker, that if strata of stone of various sizes he placed ou a road, the largest stones will constantly work up hy the shaking and pressure of the traffic, and that the only mode of keeping the stones of a road from motion is, to use materials of a uniform size from the hottom. In roads made upon large stones as a foundation, the perpetual motion or change of the position of the materials keeps open many apertures through which the water Caes. It has also heen found, that roads placed upon a d hottom wear away more quickly than those which are placed upon a soft soil, and that a road lasts longer over a morass than when made over rock. (M'Adam ou Road-making, pp. 46, 47, 5th ed.) It is proper to ohserve, that men eminent for their skill and practical ...