Page:Remarks on the Present System of Road Making (1823).djvu/61



Directions for Repair of an old Road, being the substance of a Communication made to a Committee of the Honourable House of Commons in 1811, and published with the Report by Order of the House, with additions and alterations, deduced from actual practice during the last three years.

1st February, 1819.

No addition of materials is to be brought upon a road, unless in any part of it be found that there is not a quantity of clean stone equal to ten inches in thickness.

The stone already in the road is to be loosened up and broken, so as no piece shall exceed six ounces in weight.

The road is then to be laid as flat as possible, a rise of three inches from the centre to the side is sufficient for a road thirty feet wide.

The stones when loosened in the road are to be gathered off by means of a strong heavy rake, with teeth two and a half inches in length, to the side of the road, and there broken, and on no account are stones to be broken on the road.

When the great stones have been removed, and none left in the road exceeding six ounces, the road is to be put in shape and a rake employed to smooth the surface, which will at the same time bring to the surface the remaining stone, and will allow the dirt to go down.

When the road is so prepared, the stone that has been broken by the side of the road is then to be carefully spread on it—this is rather a nice operation, and the future quality of the road will greatly depend on the manner in which it is performed. The stone must not be laid on in shovels full,