Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 15).djvu/204

 If the bed or foundation is of soft sand rolling will be of little use. In this case care must be taken to keep the bed as uniform as possible while the stone is being placed on the foundation.

When the road passes through villages and towns the grading should reduce the roadbed to a grade as nearly level as possible. It must be borne in mind that the side ditches need not necessarily always conform to the center grade of the road. When the center grade is level the side ditches should be graded to carry off the water. In some cases I have found it necessary to run the grade for the side ditches in an opposite direction from the grade of the road. This, however, does not often occur. The main thing is to get the water off the road as soon as possible after it falls, and then not allow it to remain in the ditches. And just here the engineer will meet with many difficulties. The landowners in rural districts are opposed to having the water from the roads let onto their lands, and disputes often arise as to where the natural water way is located. This should be determined by the people