Page:Remarks on the Present System of Road Making (1823).djvu/60

 During nearly five years that the writer has given his whole attention to the improvement of the Turnpike Roads, experience having confirmed his ideas on the subject, no endeavours have been spared, to extend the benefits which have already resulted to the Bristol district, over the whole country. The very limited means possessed by any individual for influencing this important branch of domestic economy, has occasioned frequent attempts to convey instructions for road-making in writing. This method has never been entirely successful; it being impossible to acquire a mechanical art without actual practice; or to obtain any just ideas of it, beyond the first principles, from books.

These principles are, that a road ought to be considered as an artificial flooring forming a strong, smooth, solid surface, at once capable of carrying great weight, and over which carriages may pass without meeting any impediment.