d
\ -_\~‘_. ~fl'

. ,, . , -_‘J' ‘

.: A.
."r{ .

&& “--

 

HISTORY OF ROADS

Thasis for the Degree of B. S.
MICHIGAN STATE COLLEGE

Donald W. Schang
1940

THIS! ' 4 ‘~
8 MICHIGI Rsm LVIBRARIES

1 1‘ N$TNI Nivel
‘ 1 ; ‘ 'i' ‘1' II "

I'i ll 1‘1“|,i.‘|i ‘1“
.01; , ‘ I " ‘W H| i‘ lil "I
“4“..&. J1 ' ’II ‘ r 1 ’ ‘l I 1'11 1“ “I II: I

i
‘\ 3129301100104

 

 

 

 

 

1 i
1' 1

 

 

 

PLACE IN RETURN BOX to remove this checkout from your record.
TO AVOID FINES return on or betore date due.

DATE DUE” DATE DUE DATE DUE

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ll
\\

MSU Is An Affirmative Action/Equal Opportunity Institution
c:\clrc\ddadlnpm3—p.t

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HIbTORY OF “DADS
A Thesis Submitted to

The Faculty
of
MICHIGAN bBAIE COLLEGE
of
AGRICULTURE AND APPLIED sCIEECE

by

Donald flooster Schang
*._.
Candidate for the Degree of

Bachelor of Science

in

Civil Engineering

June 1940

‘ TthIS

 

Acknowledgement

 

The author wishes to thank
Professor Hitchcock, of the
Civil Engineering Depart-
ment, writers of books and
articles as are shown in the
bibliography, and the United
states Bureau of Public
Roads, for the help, infor-
mation, or pictures which
they contributed toward this
TheSiSo

Preface

"Hith so much to be legitimately ashamed of, our
modern age should be cheered by the thought that at least
in a few points, we are vastly superior to our fore-fathers.
Consider, for instance, the matter of roads, bridges, and
streets."

Following are some passages taken, as was the preceed-
ing one, from the article "Some flicked Bays of Hedeival Days",
by J. T. Durkin, appearing in September, 1958 Catholic World,
describing some deplorable states of affairs in times past.
Hodern conditions contrasting to each of these will be
evident from personal experiences.

"The mending of the wicked ways, so often mentioned
in medeival wills, refers not to moral delinquencies, but to
the state of the roads. In 1415 there was a traffic jam on
the main road thru Darnet and saint Albans because of its
being blocked 'with dung, dung heaps, pigs, pig styles, and
piles of tinber.'" "Conditions in city streets were just
as bad, for: "such streets, by water falling out of gutters--
be holed and founded, to the grate unease of all the king's
subgetts." An entered public couplaint read something like
this: "Isabella Lucas has and maintains a foul gutter run-
ning from her yard into the King's highway, to the nuisance of
the peeple." A traveler, John Kedp, about 1600, speaks of
"this foule way, full of holes, in union I could find no
case; sometimes I skipt up to the waist." At Lynn "it was

necessary to pass a law forbidding butchers to slaughter

their animals in the middle of the main street. Bridges,
too, were in a bad state. "London bridge is falling dovn"
is a fact of history and those words could be used for almost
any of the bridges of this period. "In many a lonely corner
of England there dwelt a monk on a bridge, saying mass daily
in his little bridge-chapel, and looking over the slaunchy-
ness and straightyness of the structure."

As one travels 70 or 80 miles per hour along one of
the world's modern super—highways, he is prone to observe
his surroundings as they are today, or as he has known them
during his lifetime from first-hand observation. How much
more interesting life is for us if we cast reflections into
the past, as we observe that there is for us to see in the
present. Katerial things become much more meaningful to us,
in this way, and we live a more abundant, more complete
life. To some, in fact to anyone, who has not experienced
it, a pleasant surprise is in store at that time when a road
means something more to him than mile after mile of monoton-
ous pavement.

Lith this in mind, I have chosen "History of Roads"
as my thesis subject. Having compiled a tentative biblio-
graphy from numerous indexes, most of the term was Spent in
reading, and preparing note cards from the readin} The
thesis body was written from the note cards, reference hair:

a)

made quite frequently to infornation contained in books and

articles read previously.

May this brief summary of road deveIOpment from
animal paths to super-highways either inform the reader
in a general way or lead him to the sources of more detailed
information suggested by the bibliOgraphy, so that our
highways might become something more to him than mere end-

less miles of cold concrete.

Til-32:9 g: gut-1"; {er-sis

Pages
33943031331 17-0339...0.00.0000...eoeooaoueoeeoooeueoooooo ‘ 1‘4
nadan:noaadco0.00.....00.000000000IOOCCQ.OODOOOOOIQOO 4‘15
Incaafinfiaaaoooooeooococoa.0000000000.oeuooeoosoooooe 15-19
Ehyandaoafiaoo00.00.00.000ooooooaooooeooooo0000.00.00. 19‘21
Frfiflchfzflsdfi........o............................o.¢t 21-25
British»RbadaoaeooooooaoeooeooooeooooooosoeoonOOOOIo. 25.52

Aflarioan‘£08330.coonoeoeoooeoaooooooocoo-econoooonfin. 32‘68

Famfiaa Pioneer.reafleo-aeoeoeooeeoeeeooooooooo- 45.59
Indian firfiil,taeanngiteeonooeooaeeeeooeoocsoa 59.63

Pe‘iorwl A5310. .0. 9......‘00000000OOOOOOCOQCOCC . 63.68

Superahighways the “0213 overcooeeoeeenee-ooeooeaooo. 68.74

BibliOETBILJEWoeooeooone...cocoonoseooeooeeoeeooaooo. . After 75

I. st of Elleizgtt‘sflgga

CTOBS sections 03 fipyiau Lat (2)eooooooooooOOOOQOo-oo
Tyfiiobl Rowan H6fld.............. oucooeeaeooooeoeoooeo
Pavement Cross sections (a cosaarison),,,,.,,..,,....
"and the streams that would fioat his light oanoefi...
”and the keel-boat gave way to the ’flat'2,,.,,...,,.
Lancaster Turnpike in winter.........................

Plankofloaieoeoeoooneooooooeooeooooooeaeooooto...oncan

Indiana.and in 134ooeoooeeoooooooooeooeoeeeeooooeeoe

Wilderness roaaoo-ooeeooooeooeooooeeooooooooooeeeoeeo

Erie Canal...........................................
masonry bridge on Cumberland road,,,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,.,.
Toll Gate............................................
Batches Trace........................................

he State MWXOODOOCOOOOOODOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Co—oyeration yields resulte--1925,,,,,,,.,,,,,,,,,,,
“11836 registration chart............................
Commarativo bar graph................................
Grade separation for a superahighway.................

Research (thickened edge)..........o.....o.....o.....

rage

 

 

Proéfioman Roads

It has been said that the height of civilisation
attained by a nation is reflected in its roads, the arteries
through which the life-blood of the nation flows. A chain
is no stronger than its weakest link and what link is more
important in the chain that binds a nation to strong and
lasting unity than a system of good roads?

A comprehensive picture of road systems in times an.
torior to the Romans is quite impossible to obtain because
of incomplete. indefinite information left for us by histor-
ians of that period. The first roads were probably paths of
animals, beaten thru the under-brush to places where food
and water could be obtained. nan first following them prob-
ably tended to follow the ridges and high places where forest
growth.wns least dense and Where swamps and bogs were scarce;
where the wind swept away leaves or snow and where signal
fires could be seen. migrations of tribes or families of
peeple, in search of places where living would be easier, did
much to create pathways thru the wilderness. Conversely,
pathways once established, served to encourage migrations of
peeple. Localization of natural resources which created a
desire in the human heart led to definite, long-distance
land routes thru EurOpe before 2,000 B. C. But these roads

required no particular specialized effort to construct. They

were merely the natural result of trampling of plants and
packing of soil by the feet of animals and human beings.
Roads as we think of them today are something more than

that. Roads might be defined as a means of over-land commun-
ication, including paths and highways but excluding streets,
Ibioh run within the limits of cities; and we are familiar
with them as "ways of travel” which have required some degree
of specialised, directed effort, to create.

Bond-building requires co—Operntive effort of a fairly
high order. The wants of our savage ancestor were few and
of an individual nature. He had no conscious need for roads.
is he became more civilized, however, and his life became
more and more of an Urban nature, the game trail and natural
path became inadequate for his commerce and the movement of
his conquering armies. Roads of a more advanced character
were a natural outcome.

We do not know when and where man first began to
build roads. Certainly it was some time before the first
authentic history was written. Large cities or dense pep-
ulatione are impossible without roads. Just as impossible
would have been the construction of the great pyramids of
Egypt and the Hanging Gardens of Babylon without roads to
transport materials and supplies. Herodotus tells us that
a I'great king" built a magnificiant road across the sands for
the transportation of the materials for the great pyramid,
employing 100,000 men for a 10 year period to build the
road. This road, ten feet thick in places, was built of.

massive stone blocks. Traces may be found today, near the

great pyramid, probably the oldest authentic remains of a
road surteoed with stone. Roads similar to this one are
'eaid to have been built at the yelncc of Enoseos in Crete.
and at Cyrano. Early historians sneak of roads radiating
from Babylon, on or before 2,000 B. C. These roads extend-
ed to been. Robetnna, Serdis, end Rinevetn. The historian
Strebo even syenks of the Bebylon-Kineveth road as being
paved with brick laid in a mortar of eepheltumk In the
'Aeeyrian empire roadways were maintained for messengers and
the tranegortetion of yroduoe for the imperial house-hold.

A road consisting of a foundation ci bricks covered with
asphalt and surfaced with limestone and red breccia was built
by Nebncnndnezzer in honor of his favorite God, Eerduk., The
ancient Persians, Assyrians, Certheginiene, Chinese and
Pernviane were all grent'roed-bnilderc. Their works, how.
ever. have largely disappeared and the records or their
achievements have been lost or largely forgotten. Speaking
of the city or Ephesus, on the river Cayster, flowing into
the bay of Scale Rove on the test coast of Asia fiinor, dis-
coveries made there in the nineteenth century of remains of
Persian civilization, included "a marble-paved road 35 feet
wide turning northward around Shunt Csreeeus with four diet-
inct chariot ruts cut deeyly in it"; were e111 be included

later concerning the Peruvian reed-builders.

 

1Wood, J. J.. ":cdern Liscoveries on the Site of

Ancient Ephesus.”

mm u PA A nu
0 Via-5i”

. Vv—H-u‘l‘rA-w.

 

Al 0 civilisation may be recognized thru its roads,
.0 the administrative and military genius of the Romans is
reflected best in her highways. Conquests were followed with
extensive road.huilding in order to dispense administration
or government, military protection and shipments of economic
goods to the most remote parts of the tar-flung empire. to
have handed down to us quite a detailed account of the manner
in which.Rcmen roads were built and used.I This is the first
systematic road system or which we have s defenite knowledge.

The first of the great Roman roads, and doubtless
the host famous, was the Appisn way, commenced in 512 B. C.
during the reign of Emperor Appius Claudius Csecus, from
thence the name "Apples” say is derived. This road was first
built from Home to Genus, a distance of about 142 Italian
miles, and later extended to Brundisium, a total distance of
360 miles. It was probably completed by Julian Caesar.
shout 220 B. C. the second road was started. This road cros-
sed the river her about 60 miles from Home by a great stone-
arch bridge with a central spen or 150 feet and a rise or 100
feet. (Evidence that Roman engineering skill was not confined
to roads alone.) After conpletion of the Flaminian may,
road-building progressed Very rapidly, till at the geight of
her glory, about 28 B. 0.. Home hnd traversed every conquered
provcncc with a connecting road system which is estimated to
have aggregated 63,65d miles.

At this time there were 7 main highways which had their

begining at the gates of Rome. Besides the two mentioned there

nor. the Latins. Salarinn, Valerian, Cassisn, and Aurelian
says. Twenty-nine roads in all can be said to have radiated
from Rome, reaching out to contact the vest highway network.
The complete network embraced, according to the Itinerary

of Antonino, 372 main roads. These were known as military,
consular, or praetorinn, depending on their purpose or their
builder. Milages contained in component parts of the Empire,
including only main public hays leading from Rome to the

provinces and large cities, are given in the following tables:-

Bomsn miles Roman Miles
Italy............13.024 Sardinia.............200
Gaul..............9,520 Corsica..............125
dpsin.............7,700 Africa (less Egypt).9,348
Great Britain.....2,597 Egypt...............1500
Sicily............l,362 . Agiaececeeeeceeocee:£EE£l

Total 53,658 Ii.
In addition to these main public says there was a large
milsge of parish roads connecting the public ways with the
secondary towns and boroughs, and of farm roads which connect-
ed the public ways and Parish roads to the farms and hamlets.

The great extent, durability, and solidity of these

roads and the ingenuity of their builders has been a source
of astonishment and admiration all through the ages. Such
natural obstacles as mountains, swamps, lakes and rivers
seemed to encourage the Romans to overcome them rather than
to offer any discoursgment,a Tepogrephy seems to have obtain-

ed little attention, the roads being built in straight lines,

thru mountains and across velleys and swamps. Tremendous ex-
pense was gone to in order to achieve these un.usual accomp-
liehments, but expense seemed an un-inportant factor in the
Roman plans for a far-flung, well governed empire. Even
sees did not halt progress. The roads were built to the
water's edge and then continued upon the Opposite shore.

Construction proceedure followed a quite well defined
set of "stages of develOpnent", in the majority of Roman
reads. A typical method will be given here:
Where swampy, marshy, or otherwise unstable conditions were
encountered, a wood frame-sork.sas first built. The Joints
were made of an Oak that was not susceptable to shrinkage or
warping. To protect the oak from the destructive action of
the lime to be used later, mixed with other meteriels, it
was covered with a layer of rushes or seeds. or sometimes
stres.l On this protective layer was laid the foundation,
and remaining construction was carried out Just as though
it were on firm ground. Total thickness of masonry seems to
have been somewhat reduced on the frameasork, however, to
reduce the dead load of the road-say upon the wood frame-
work and the un-stable sub-soil. .

Upon solid ground, limits of the roadsay were marked
40 feet apart, with a plow. Two parallel trenches were dug
along these ”limit lines" to determine the nature of the
cub-soil and the depth required to get to a solid foundation.
Earth was then removed between the trenches to the level of

the road-bed and carried out by a porter with a basket on

his back. then un-suitshle materials were encountered,
they sore renoved and replaced by a suitable soil which was
nicely compacted by a tafigPT- flooden piles were driven into
the foundation, if necessary, to secure a firm bed. The
final, firm readabed was carefully leveled to receive the
tattooing materials. nub-soil was else;s carefully reamed,
even where the excavation showed that appeared to be a
I comparatively firm foundation.
The Beddinj Course: Upon the prepared soil foundation there
was spread a 4 to 6 inch layer of course send or 3 one inch
layer of line and send mortar. This bedding course was to
ecoomodete the irregularities in the rough lower side of the.
stones used in the first course of masonry. Water for
slaking the line used in mortar-making was carried in earthen-
ware Jars upon the heads of water-bearers. Sometiues V shepe
wooden troughs were used to transport enter from the source
of Supplie '
The First Course: Into the bedding course was laid the first
course, consisting of two layers of flat stones cemented
together with well tentered lime mortar. Ho stones in this
course were permitted to be of a size smaller than would fill
a man's hand, and the larger stones were srrninged along
the sides of the cuuseeey to act as e reteining well. Clay
was sometimes used as a substitute for line mortar in cement-

ing, in looeleties where line was not readily eveilshle. Al.

most any kind or stone was used in this course, its purpose
being only to provide solidity. First course thickness varied

from ten inches in good ground to 24 inches in less stable

ground. Ordinary masons were considered capable or placing
this course. For cutting the stone they employed a chisel
and mallet, iron wedges, the adse (a cutting tool). and a
saw.
The Second Course: This bed was made of broken stones smaller
than the first course, and mixed with lime. Freshly broken
stone were used and mixed with quicklime in a 3 to 1 ratio.
When aggregate came from old buildings, however, more line
was used and the ratio changed to 6:2. xA rammer was used
to strengthen, equalize, and smooth the mixture. The layer
was built up to a thickness of nine inches after being rammed.
The initial step in laying this course consisted of
spreading a layer or mortar over the first course with a rake.
The gravel or broken stone was dumped onto the mortar and
pounded into it with a temper. hortar was used only in such
quantity that voids remained in the surface of the gravel
or broken stone to which the next layer would form a eubstant-
1.1 bond. '
The Third Course: Composed of a gravel or coarse sand and
freshly slaked hot lime cement mortar, this course is bonded
into the intercticies left in the surface of the proceeding
layer. The course is placed in relatively thin layers. each
layer being compacted with a roller. At the sides, all of
the layers of this 3rd. course aggregate a thickness of
about one foot. In the central section, thickness is increas-
ed to approximately one and one half feet to form the crown.

This nucleus material, as the 3rd. course is called, formed

the veering surface for the side roads, which were at a low;

or level than the central roadway or agger.

The Wearing Course: This last course was bedded into the fresh-
I: laid 3rd. course within the central portion of the roadway
between the side curbs. A crown of about six inches in 16

feet was provided for drainage and drains were provided at
intervals thru the side curbs and under the side roads to the
ditches. ‘

Especially on the larger, more important roads, like
the Appian any, the wearing surface was composed of hard,
secretesieting stone like silex or flint-like larva. This
stone was cut into the shape of polygons of various shapes
and sizes from one to three feet in diameter and about
six inches thick. The upper surface was cut emocth.while
the under surface was left rough. The Joints were fitted
so closely as to be hardly discernable. Occassionly the
surface of the road was made of concrete.

the side curbs projected eighteen inches above the
side roads, and were two feet wide. They were built upon
the foundation of large stones extending through the first
course, as shown in the sketches. The total thickness of
all the courses varied from 3 to dp-feet. The over-all
width of the Appian way at the surface was about 36 feet.

Typical traffic upon the major highways consisted of
the horse-drawn chariot, the lirurious human carried liter,
the family coach, the wagon, the pack animal, and foot traffic.

Roman infantry used the roads considerably, and the poor

10

Ian's method of travel was on foot, accompanied by a pack
animal which carried his baggage. The “side-road" afforded
an excellent place for the commanding officers to walk.when
.on the march with the infantry.

The origin of all great mdlitary roads was marked
with a golden milestone in Home, placed there by Augustus.
Romans placed milestones along all of their principle high-
ways, spaced 1.000 Roman paces (4.861 English.feet) apart.
In the vicinity of Rome these milestones represented the
distance from the central golden milestone. Beyond 100
miles from Rome and in the provences, the milestones showed
the distance to the nearest principle town.

The public roads ranked high among the magnificent
works of‘Eome. Untold wealth and labor were expended in
their construction and only officials of the highest rank
sere.considered worthy to be entrusted with the direction of
.sork on the important roads. During the ?mpire, Agustus
hinself assumed charge of the roads.

There are many distinguishing characteristics shich
the Roman roads posses throughout their extent. Though un-
daunted by natural obstacles, the Romans took advantage of
all existing natural conditions in order to make the most of
the Engineering knowledge of their time. They avoided cuts
whenever possible and they preferred sideohill location to
the exclusion of valleys, where foundation problems present-

ed greater difficulties. No attempt was made to balance

cuts and fills, either in profile or cross-section. Except

11

for side-hill excavation, open cuts were usually found only
in rock. Ho explosives were then available, and all rook
excavation had to be done by the slow and laborious process
of picking and wedging. then rock work was necessary,
tunnels were preferred to span cute so that the rock removal
would be confined to the necessary cross-section. Among

the outstanding examples of rock cats is the one on the Appian
way near Terrncine, thru a cliff of marble (117 feet high
and 98 feet loci), and on the Flaminian day at the crossing
of the Appeninss there is a tunnel of a 984 foot length.
Curves required rather large radii because of the long teams
of horses, sometimes composed of ten horses driven two abreast.
Sometimes short radius curves were required, however, to
avoid deep cuts in sloping terrain. As a rule, Roman roads
were distinguished by long tangents, undulating profiles,

and crowned surfaces. A considerable amount of forced labor
was used to build and maintain the roads, and garrisons of
soldiers policed them. Senators and others wishing to gain
favor and fame, used their private wealth for highway exten-
sion and ingrovement, but increasingly the papulations living
on or near the roads were required to maintain them.

An average Roman military road has been estimated to
cost $115,000 per mile to reproduce in the United States in
1926. This calculation is based on an average road width of
twelve Roman feet between side borders with two "side roads",
each two feet wide and an agger (middle section) of three and

one fourth feet in thickness; all built without the aid of

12

statuste labor or legionary soldiers. The estimated cost or
the Via Apple as based upon 1926 values in the United States
it $300,000 per mile. military roads were constructed by the
state and maintained by a tax:asssssed upon real preperty.
Such means as donations. statuate labor, and requisitions,
were used.to obtain road funds. Before establishment of

the public land register, the cost of road and bridge main.
tenance was met thru tolls. Parish and secondary roads

were charged, during construction, to the towns and boroughs,
Iith the help of special donations, and maintained by statuate
labor provided by the owners of adjoining preperty.i I

 

 

 

; . .. fi
Cross Section of The Appian Way
b Cresy
1856)
=...-----.-,- .- ‘
_ - - - - ’e- mm, 4.3:.“ N ’ .aro-——---.-
'l- . ob,a', -.". .‘ ,- t“" “ " .,m<‘;b.. 04.‘
7}}... , , Wfi‘tfr‘g‘fl _, I»? r" .
sew “W“ n we :2 a W

 

Cross Section of the erAppien Way

”1%?

Fm URI 5.—Crusa- saliva of the Via Apogee 3 )shown by Crosy (0) and [um (I).

 

a __ . A ‘ ,,,, i, I‘

 

A‘Verso description oi‘ROme and her road system was
printed in narch, 1940 issue of WRoads and streets". Being

loaewhat appr0priate, it is reproduced here.

"That's that Old Caesar Did"

"When Caesar took a westward ride
And grabbed the Gaule forVRome,
that was the first thing he did
To make them feel at home?
Did he increase the peeple'a loans,
No! He dug in and built good roade-.
That's what old Cneeer did.
He built good roads from hill to hill,
Good roads from vale to vale:
He ran a good roads movenent
Till Rome got all the Kale.
He told the folks to buy a home.
Built roads their rute to rid.
Until all the roads led to Rome
That's what old Caesar did.
And if our nation wants to be
The center of the map,
Where folks will want to settle down
And live in plenty': lap; ‘
If this broad lend its own ebodea
0f poverty would rid
Then let no plan and build good roads,
Just like old Geezer did!”

The Romans relied upon massive construction in their
roads; to support the relatively light traffic, where.ee
modern roads are built on the assumption.thet the pavement
should not as a wearing surface and root to protect the out-
nail.whioh bears the load. This solidity, though involve
ins considerable waste material, is responsible for the
resistance to disintegration which hen preserved the nomnn
roads for no to see, and in some cases use.

The system of Gallic-Roman roads leeted from the fall
of the Empire in the fleet, in A. D. ‘76, to the middle of the
7th. century. The roads, on a system, disappeared gradually

in the following century. Eith.riee of feudalism, Roman

reel- iere in any eeeee destroyed to prevent attack of.
the enemy. i‘hue under the emetic poletieel condition or
the am. as..." mlm‘ m neglected and res“ fell into
e etete of general we

. 9
, “"o\mfltl'n (can nee man“. u...— .
”2:“...‘x-uuuu et Renee“ ‘1 fl‘ ‘3 -— Ma- .
‘ ’C
“'

 

(I...

 

:lnlend went thru e 1400 yeer period

e1 negleet end “Mien beginning with the Anglo.
leu- inveeion in the fifth 'eentury. These old reede were

given Englieh ”I end they are ettributed to a fabulous
erigie. Bonn nude in England underwent their Ioret

15

period of decay in the 18th. century when mun used the meter-
ill they afforded and destroyed them in order to make turnpikee.
These unndieturbed by men became covered with a protective
'earth covering and seem to be little effected by the centuries
of neglect.

The way the Roman roads benefited human civilization
and the magnitude of such benefits are a bit uncertain.
Surely one can be safe in saying that they did offer a
material aid. At least if "The Glory that was Home“ benefited
civilization and if the Eomsn methods of control of a vent
civilised empire benefited civilization, then certainly the
reeds making possible Rone'e Glory and the unity of Rome with
be: provinces, deserve first credit for the benefits of the

Roman Empire to civilization.

Inca; Roads

Centuries before the first Eauropeen let foot on
American soil an International highway which might be termed
"America's first highway"; had been constructed and was in
daily use. This highway, or at least a portion of its 4,000
mile extent through the South.American Andes, was built by
the pre-Incen aborigines of Peru, Iometime prior to the year
800 A. D.

A Peruvian tribe exercised supreme control over a
region extending west of the Atlantic elepe of South America
hotneen Quito in Equndor and the river hhule in Chile at
the time of the Spanish expedition under Pixarro in 1553.

16

this tribe, knosn as the Incas, had succeeded the Tish»
unmooo tribe after the "dark period", 800 to 1100 A. D.
The Incas not only repeated, but surpassed the “empire"
which had left the beginning of the famed Incan roads,
the "King’s Road”.

Though known as the Inoan.and and though doubtless
improved, extended and maintained by the Incas, the "King's
Road“ developed with the Incan predecessors, about Which
little can be learned. The only thing that is defenitely
known in that they were e highly civilized race, wonderful
engineers and builders, and that they left remains of their
structuree.to tell us of their civilization. History does
not tell us when the road system was started, what it cost,
when its idea was conceived or hos much time was consumed
in its construction. Conflicts concerning details of the
road are quite numerous in various accounts of its history
and description. One writer, for instance, leaves one with
the impression that they were not more than 3 to 5 feet wide,
end shown pictures of them which substantiate this belief.
.Anether’writer. on the other hand, speaks of roads 25 feet
ride. Perhaps the latter writer is speaking of a "cleared
way" including more than the width of the actual pavement;
or perhaps the two writers are each describing a different
Iection of the road system as it actually existed. at any
rate everyone is agreed that this Bouthndserican civilisation
did )eeeee unusual engineering and handi-craft skill con-
lidering the handicaps they were facing, as will be described
presently.

17

These early rend-builsers posessed no knocleflge of
Iron or Steel, thet we know of, they possesefl no true metham-
cticel instruments. no transits, no congesses, in fact no
comprehension of engineering as it is now understood. Yet
they built their road thrn a country that presents some of
the greatest obstacles. The Incsn highway followed the
general line of the Andes from Quito. Ecuador to Tncnmen.
Chile with side roads branching off at intervals. “A second
road. 25 feet wide and almost as remarkable as the first
followed the shore line from Ecuador to Cit-ails";

These builders are famous for the architecture and
type of construction in their public buildings. remains of
Which can be found at the tresent time cowered with 8 sons-
whet protective covering of trepical Jungle growth. Out-
standing practice was characterised by e "Cyclopean type",
most of which centered in and about Cuzco. Which later
became the capital of the Incen Bmyire. no cenent or mortar
was used, the wells end bridges being formed of immense
stone blocks, sometimes weighing 20 to 30 tons each. These
stones were cut, faced and fitted with amazing accuracy.
This type construction was incorporated into the roads in
many sections and materiel for many of the wells and tuildings
most have been transported long distances over these roads.

Bond grades in the mountains were easy and accurate.
8 curves were conguted, shelves were been from solid rock,

and ravines and cheese were crossed by csusesuye of solid

 

‘Vcrrill, Hyatt, Scientific American, July, 1930

18

masonry fill, or if they were too deep, by eusPension bridges
with cables of wool, cotton, or fiber rcpe. For a great
portion of its length the reed nus pchd. much of it surfaced
with.esphslt or bitumen, and it use so well built that long
Itrctches of it are in use st the present time. (The use to
which these roads are put at the present tine is not told.

11 they are used for wheeled vehicles, they must have either
been widened to accommodate them or. have been the 25 foot
width variety to begin with. If modern use is for peck
animals and foot traffic, the 3 to 5 foot widtn.will probelly
still sccomodnte traffic.) Like all other great hignueys

it had its auxiliary structures. At intervals there were
"rest houses, for the traveler. which served also as relay
stations for the couriers of the Incas. There were "Imperial
Inns" every 40 miles which served es store houses for food,
supplies. eluigncnt of the army, or for relief of neighboring
villages in case of resins or war; end as eating pieces for
the army when on the mares. There was a continuous series

of sentry stations, forts, and watch-towers. which incor-
porated a system of signal fires, or lights. men were always
on duty and messages were transmitted very rapidly. To
transmit e message from the Chilean terminus of the road to
Quito, about 4,000 miles, ordinarily required about six
hours, by this method of signal lights. Important as it use
for peaceful purposes, to the Incas, their bigness was
primarily a military road. Poser could be easily and quick~

ly concentrated at advantageous points, through its facilities.

19

The roads of the Incas have had the misfortune to
inspire a greater number of silly remarks than almost any.
thing else in Andean history. The truth lies mid-wey between
the belittling statement of the Abbe annal to the effect
that they were merely lines of posts intended to guide travel-
ers, and the fantastic statement of a modern imdginist to the
effect that ”the roads leaped gully from peak to peek and
across lakes". Such seems to be typical of the uncertainty
of the various sources from which we learn of the fanous
Incas roads.

There was a fundamental difference between the purpose
of the Incas roads and the roads of EuroPc in that period.
The nun-cums or purinaacums, of Peru were destined only for
official uses; armies, oourtiers, colonists, and officials
and burden bearers of the state. The peeple could use them
only to attend the established fairs and to return home from
them. There is, then a manifestation of the limited
Geographical orbit within which the mass of the people spent
their lives. On the contrary, vast distances were covered
by the emperor, and certain priveleged others, they being

carried in a "liter" by state-employed burden-bearers.

Mayan Roads

Central America, too, leaves evidence of heving
attained a noble state of civilization. Between the fourth
and tenth centuries, when central‘Yucaten was the home of the

great civilization of the ancient Hays, paved roads of

rolartably permanent construction connected the main centers
of pcpulation and radiated out to the minor cities. Greatest
of these roads was 62% miles long. connecting the cities of
Cabs and‘Yaxnns. This route was recently explored be arch-
seoligists from Carnegie institution. A complete report or
their discoveries is published in the Carnegie Institution
bulletin of September 24. 1953.

This road. long abandoned. is covered by Jungle growth
which causes all former msyan civilization to remain quite
inacessable. From stuna the road was found to run almost
perfectly straight for-43 miles. In the remaining 19%
miles, its original direction changes only slightly but four
times. Built from 30 to 34 feet wide. the road was kept
from 8 to 8 feet above the surface level of the terrains.

Actual construction consisted of digging down to
hardnpan, (quite near the ground surface in most sections)
then erecting retaining walls of limestone set in mortar to
the desired road height. Space between these retaining walls
was filled with large stones chinhed with smaller ones, and
hammered carefully into place. Filling was accomplished in

courses, each succeeding course consisting of smaller stone,

until the requisite height was attained,,at which stage a
layer of finely broken rock was added. After hammering or
rolling to a smooth surface, a fine coating of cenent mortar
was applied. Workers are shown to have been very careful in
mixing, placing, and curing this cement mortar finish. The

cement mortar used was a mixture of slaked lime and sascsb.

21

(shits earth, a conglomerate lying beneath the limestone
cap-rock of the country)

Sixteen of these raised roads were built. It is
difficult to be certain of dates when writing of Hayes
civilisation because of lack of definite evidence of time of
happenings and because of Inch of detailed written history,
but it is probable that these roads were built between the
4th. and 7th. centuries by men quite capable of designing
these great cause-ways. (It seems that an adequate design
for these roads would include drainage through the ”lime-
stone retaining salls", but no BICh drainage is mentioned
in anything I have read)

Having no beasts of burden or Wheeled vehicles, the
Haynes evidently built these highways for foot traffic only.

Appearance of these roads was white, as the modern
Indian name of the ancient stone roads. ”snobs" .o-thite
road. implies. They would doubtless have compared in appear-

ance with our ”great white ways" of today.

The first world-renowned road system to develoP after
the decline of the Roman roads, was that of the French. As
most of this pregram was carried out under Hapoleon, the era
is often referred to as "Napoleonic road-building. Road-
building the world over during the "dark ages” (500 to 1150
A. D.) and the middle ages on into the 18th. century was
relatively Fretty much at a stand-still. When the Roman

£2

Emmire declined in poser the world road system as such,
broke down. Different conditions, however, prevailed in
different countries. Religious pilgrimages, the crusades,
the Journies of the secular rulers, and the high dignitaries
cf.the church.all leave cone record of trans-state and trans.
continental routes, but the records of commerce are meager.
the general tendency was toward feudal government which
resulted in neglect and actual tearing up of some of the
ancient roads, as a means of grotection. During this perioe
the roads and also the buildings of Rome were ravaged to
s much greater extent to yrovide building materials and
metals than by connuest. fire, or any other causes.

Eapoleon become first consul of France in 1799 and
began at once to build a system of national roads. In 1804
he became emperor by plebiscite and also crowned himself
King at miles, of the monarchy of north Italy. Thus a
large part of the former Roman.Emplre, 12% centuries earlier.
was again brought under an empire, this ties that of France.
The Corns de Pants and Chaussees had been established in
1796, and was composed of engineers trained in the art of
road and bridge construction and maintenance, then depoleon
demanded and rigorously supported a big road-building
program, large accomylishments were possible through the
available organization. In 1811 a uniform system of high-
way administration was established. the basic principles
of which have. to this day, been un—changed. Roads were

derided, under this organization, into Imperical and depart-

mental routes. Financial responsulility was fixed ugon the
federal government and the departnents.- Fourteen Ingerial
roads of the first class were designated, leading from Earls
to the principle cities of the frontier.- Thirteen Ingerial
roads of the second class led from Paris to less inportant
cities of the frontier and trohundred and two Imncrial
roads of the third class Joined interior cities. These
Imperial roads comprised a total or about 17,030 miles.
There were 1,165 departmental roads coagrieing about 12,000
miles. The most-Genie, connecting Paris and Turin and the
Simplon, connecting Paris with Kilan. Bone, and Eagles,
were included in this Rational road system.

The French road system is found in history as ranking
among the three outstanding road systeus not only because
of the fine design incorporated in these roads but also
because of the high order of organization required to make
such a systes possible and because they serv d an empire of
Ouch ingortance; ingortsnt both for its were vastness and
important f:r the culture it left for the rest of the world.
.The Roman and the American road systems have these points in
common with the French systems and no other road system in
history can compete for a place with these three outstanding
systems because of lack of one or more of these characteristics.

The French did not invent a road design which was so
far removed from the old Hanan design but what their roads
retained some resemblance to the old Roman roads. receive-

ness of construction was largely done away sith, materially

reducing the unit cost and proving the effectiveness pf en

effboient roud~building organisation. Conpnrieon and contrast

of road designs. as far as pavement thickness is concerned,
can be aunt effectivaly seen, by following the evolution of

road crane—8001510128 shown pictoriblly below.

 

Isie'

 

 

I
~2§

 

 

 

I: §§nnflnwuwwmx fl§‘!“fifiw§g&

-._..‘,...4. own 4+ {“3-5. 33 ;+ +a+ fit;

z'm-D one< 40..p;vn-‘1.-rn::pa;‘.

K. gu§ «9* ' filfllllli§§§llllfi
‘Ikflflnl3§§URB ififi§§fl§hfllflfllfl§§§lfl

ANCIENT ROMAN Z‘LANE MILITARY ROAD.

 

L

V i “i M“; "(if
‘ ‘05:" 'uo

 

 

 

      
 

'18-};

fiafi’w"

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

HEAVY- DUTY 2 LANE CONCRETE PAVEMENT. UNITED STATES. I93k.

drool-leotione comparing the thickness of road surface. in

 

 

Ancient and Mbdern tines.

Both the Romeo uni French road systems have come down
thru history as militery highways. Contrary to general belief.
the greatest exyenaituree were mede for road-building
programs and the most extensive mileges were added otter
the boundaries of both these Empires had been extended to
their greatest dimensions. These roads were used for milit-
sry purposes, to be sure, but both Augustus end napoleon
concentrated on a road-building program which would make
possible the aéministretion of e far-flung empire. provide
suffecient food for their georle, and stimulate trade and
commerce. lusting Repoleon on the question: "I fear
popular insurrections due to Economic @suees, though I rm
not afraid of polotieel up—risings." in adequate trans-
portation system is fundamental to a large nation. to,
here in America are prone to think of our highway system
as having been built purely for eeonoeio gurposes and to
think of the French and Roman roads as having been built
for military purgoses only. If we elevate ourselves to a
bit more cosmopolitian point of view, we can easily acteot
the similarity of purrose of these three great systems. It
Hts Just pointed out that far more road milage was added to
freaoh ana {omen roeas after conquest had ceased than during
ergansion. Cen these lsst-wuilt roads (Comprising more than
half the total milsge) be groferly termed purely military?
If the United states was to be involved in any kind of we.
would not our roses become military roads? Coula not the

reeds built in tn Jnitea states by the French to out-wit

26

the British and vise-verse, prorerl; be celled militsry

roads? One might argue that tn so early roads were not renlly
roads and our real rend oysten began only sith the closing of
the torld Ker. Inst is Quite true but I believe that the
reader sill agree that tiers is a similarity of purpose
common to the three great systems Which is often over-

looked; that of edninistrstive and economic control. In
spite of this similarity of purpose, because of the inherent
preperties of the French and Roman Empires bordering on
hostile neighbors, and of the United states, in its present
status, being adjacent only to friendly neighbors, the purpose
of the road systems of the former tto might be commonly

called military and that of the letter purely economic. This
latter definition of PUTEOBEQ. however, should always be
supplemented by the diens contained in the first pert of

this paragraph, shoeing tns sinilsrity of purgose of all

great road systems.

Eritisn Bonds

The earliest thoroughfares in Eritein are in the form
of "green Keys”, or trees; :or foot traffic. These were
confined to eyes lend in all eases, an more lnrticulzrly
to high ground, thus keeping elesr of forests, undergrowth
and marshy land. The traveler was taught by herd experience.
in the interests of his yersonnl safetV, to keep to area
ground, esny from the haunts of mild animals and his still
more savage fellow man, and to regard every stranger by the

way as a potential enemy.

27

The four faious "Bongo Lars" built in the hritieh
Isles by the honnns While trey were in power: Latling strata,
The Icknield or dihenild toy, ering etrete, and Reese any,
were left to decay mith the dornicll or the Lemon Entire
because of the discgpeerence of art end insyiretion which
went head in hand with Lemon road-hailding. Cenocquently
the material and social progress of Britain was retarded
fourteen centuries. Load-building did not flourish again
till "stone-breaking screen", as he was known, devised a
means of good-road construction. reilure of road-building
to pick up again, any quicker than it did, after the
Eamon decline, mej be attributed to existing law which
compelled each Perish to maintsin its own roads by stetuate
labor. but esteinSEmcnt of turnpike trusts and road meio-
tenence by tolls seemed to have effected but little improve-
meat.-

Betwoen 1760 and 1774, 453 note of Eerlaiment were
passed, establishing local organizations known as turnpike
trusts, to deal with the transport problem. These turnpike
trusts were in-effective because they were too smell and
too numerous to function effeoiently, as they were set up.
A good method of construction was the fundamental lacking
element.

Condition of the English,Roeds during the "dark
egos” can quite aptly be eyprehended by reading a few
quotations from Deveroux'e "John London IoAdom": A leayer,

writing to his Wife in 1690 says: "The oussex Rays are bad

23

and ruinous beyond imagination." This lawyer attributed the
long linbs of the unseen teaches to the constant pulling of
their feet out of the and which he concludes "tend to streng-
then the muscles and lengthen the bone." In 1736 Lord Hersey
canplnined that “the road between this place end London is

so infamously bed that we live here in the same solitude as
if cast on a rock in the middle of the ocean. All Londoners
tell us thntbetween them and us there is an infeasible gulf
of mud.“ Revelegh, an amusement place, used to keep a patrol
of ”twelve lusty £elloee"to guard their patrons from essult
on their outward, and their homewerd way. then returning
from a visit to Lord Fitz Eilliem at hentsorth, about this
time, the Prince 0! teles's carriage overturned near Hewerk
tend rolled down-hill. The carriage was broken to bits when
it reached the botton but the royal occupant mirecelously
escaped with only a few bruises.

Jenn Wenden. born in 1756, was the first man to realize
that the develoPment of English natural resources depended
upon a coherent system of roads, scientifically planned and
constructed. “hen nr. HOAdnm was 14 years old he left his
impoverished family in England to live with a merchant uncle
in Hew‘York State. he set up a merchant trade of his own,
with his uncle’s help, get married, and lived in America for
thirteen years. John and his uncle were instrumental in
vfonnding the nes‘York Chamber of commerce and John served as
its treasurer in 1774, at the age of eighteen years. On
returning to England with his family, John soon found a

leading place in Public life there. Having always posessed
n deep-seated interest in road-building and road construction

29

methods, he directed his energies along this line 01 work.
nftcr long hard years of enhnustive work, much of it at his
own errense, end after suffering mnny discouraging exteriences
with his road-building progr 3s, 2r. insane was finally
noticed as n men who posessed cone rend-Building knowledge
and *es invited to take entire chtrge of 146 miles of road
suggeuersl surveyor, in 1315, at 4&0 pounds her yeer. it
the request of the house of connouo he published a book,
"Ihe present sgnten of loud-building“, so that better reeds
coald be instituted throughout England. This writing was
done after roads had been built about Er’stol by ficéden,
which aroused interest free all perts of the Kingdom.

0'

The principle neon which icndem worked see "That s

a?

road ought to be COnCiuCrCfi es en artificial flooring,
forcing n strong. smooth, end solid surface, at once capable
of carrying greet weight end over which carriages may pass
without meeting any ingedemcnt.” is he knew from eXperience,
that ideal the to be attained only if the ron' is entirely
conyoeed of stone to a thickness of about ten inches, in
which every stone is broken until none exceeds six ounces

in weight. His construction yroeeeiure may be briefly
enumed in the following remarks: The road sh uld be flat

as possible, with Just enou;h rise in the center to silos
rein to run off into ditches on either side. A three-inch
rise was advocated on e rend eighteen feet aide. ficddnn did
not believe that the weight of 3 vehicle on the finished

road, not the width of its wheels (points generally considered

very important) made much difference. He held that a well-
and. road ought to carry anything without injury. .Traffic
pressure was supposed to unite the sharp angles of the stones
into a compact mess, entirely impervious to moisture. Any
admixtures of earth, clay, chalk, or other material which
will imbibe water, was strictly forbidden. wooden considered
Tolfcrd'o practice of paving the reed foundation unpneceeeery
and too costly.

ucddam'o tools consisted of the following: Strong,
abort-handle picks: small, Ho. 1 hammers with a face about
the sire of a shilling, hard-faced with a short handle;
Bakes with wooden heads, ten inches in length, with strong
iron tooth, used for raking out the large stones; and broad-
mouth shovels for handling the road material.

After all of his discouragments and mic-fortunes,
McAdam was finally hold in high acclaim by his fellow-men.
Ho had finally succeeded in transforming the old, impassable
tracks into smooth highways. Coechpbuilding flourished and
tho interior of England become Opened up to the outside
world. The coach are extended from about 1820 to 1836. At
its peak there were orer 3,000 coaches on the road with some
150,000 horses to draw them. About half of these traveled
in and out of London. Final abolition of the turnpike
trusts did not occur until about 1890 because some of them
were turned over to debtors and toll gates were Operated by
the new owners as long as any revenue remained for them.
Canal dovoloPment hastened the decline of the trusts and their

doom was sealed with the advent of the railroad.

51

As late as the first decade of tzis century it was
quite common practice, on country roads, to repair all roads
in sections. By means of obstructions placed according to
which part needed connection the most, vehicles were compel-
led to roll in the broken stone. Rubber tires were hardly
known at that time, but cyclists were quick to attack road
authorities on this practice.

Road-rolling is so common now that it is hard for the
younger generation to imagine a time when road-rolling was
un-known. The first reference to rolling in road material
was in 1619, but no practical use of it was made till a
horse-drawn roller was used in France in 1787. Parliamentary
considerations in England, in 1753 gave priveleges to users
of the road it their wagon wheels conformed to certain
specified widths. This un-ueual practice reached its climax
when wheels sixteen inches broad were exemyted from tolls
and vehicle owners with wheels less than six inches wide
were required to pay double. One writer of 1764 argued that
broad wheels were un—necesSary if six inch wheels were used
and the front axle made one foot shorter than the rear one
so that a twelve inch truck would he made. The "Broad theel
Act” expired in 1765.

In 1775 "rolling carts and rolling wagons came into
use and it was found that stage coaches using rollers instead
of wheels, left the road in a fine, flat, smooth condition..

"ec smooth and clean that even foot passengers preferred them

32

to Iclking in the fields."1

In 1816 a ”tamper" was invented
for tamping the road surface, and in 1817, a large, horse-
drawn roller was patented.

The later history of road-rolling, more common to us,
is associated with the steam-driven roller. Such a contraption
Ian early described as a "Rotund Robust Robot.” The first

steam roller patent was issued in 1859.

American Roads

For the beginnings of our inland commerce routes,
we must look far back into the dim, pro-historic ages of
America. The earliest paths that threaded the continent were
the streams and the tracks beaten out by our heavier, four-
footed animals. Long before the White man, the Indian hunter
followed the migrations of the animals and the streams that
would float his light canoe. There was one distinction between
the animal paths and the Indian trails. The former had feeding
grounds for their ternini while the latter connected from
abiding place to abiding place; being more than mere random
”Ways", these latter trails comprised a system. If this system
could be restored in a chart we would doubtless be surprised
to find what a network it formed, reaching out in various
directions over the country. No such restoration would be
possible, however, because though there are many allusions to
tth in our local histories, rhat information we have is scatteredJ

M‘ 44

1Roads aul Sty-sets, I‘Jjarch, 1940, mm. 49-51.

33

=.eoeeo pawns was

peoam canoe vamp mseespm esp one:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

54

Ipager, and inlcfinite. The Indian path-maker frequently
‘narked the way for the white man's thoroughfares and his tork
was thus perpetuated in the civilization of his successors.
Out of his knowledge came the best rOutes and today the main,
most important lines of trauel and transportation cling, for
the most part, to these primeval pathways. These 01d trails
had a natural.tendency to follow lines of least resistance.
In so doing they pierced the Llleghsny mountain barrier in
numerous places which can be found in use for highway travel
today.

Before anything like permanent thoroughfares could be
established, a considerable pepulation of settlers had taken
up lands in the interior of the states and there had to be
makeshift thoroughfares not only for guidance from.place to
place but for transportation of immegrant's posessions. These
I'traces" as they were called, were merely cleared strips thru
the moods, of suffecient width to allow the settler to come
thru with his wagons, with "blazes" on the trees to show the
way. These ”traces", like the Indian trails, have long been
obliterated. Hhssachusetts pioneered by passing an act in
1659 Which decreed that tie "hays" should be six to ten rods
wide "in common grounds", thus allo in; suffscient room for
more than one track. similar "broad ways" were authorized in
Bee York and rennsy Vania in 1664. stumps and shrubs more to
be out close to the ground and "suffeoient bridges" were to be
built. Virginia was another state to can a early enactment

of road legislation. ”Road~mahing" we must remember, is a

35

Iii-leading tern skylied at this stage in history, if we egyly
it with the some idess we associate with it today. to must
remember it scant simply blazing a trail thru the forests,
which travelers could follow, and perhaps included cutting or
some of the trees and shrubs. streams proved a serious

' obstacle and the canoe or heel boat gave way to the ”flat“ or
barge, at river crossings. The long Philadelyhia road from
Lancaster region into the valley of Virginia wee used so early
as about 1700. 'dheel tranegortution thus road develooment,
had to wait for deveIOEJent of mining to a degree that would
bring down the cost of iron. During the revolutionery period
a road from the York berrens tnwerd the Potomac, two miles
above Harper’s Ferry, Vie. Berkley, staunton, satauge, and
Greenbrier regions, was the longest and most important in
America. In 1785 Kentucky Legislature made the old hildernees
Trail, a wagon road 30 feet wide from Crab Orchard to Cumber-
land Gay. Fndless difficulty use experienced on these first
unnpaved American reeds. Lites were lost, wagons buried themp
selves in smsmps and bogs, and horses were killed, Ingeneous
devices such as block and tackle errsingeuents were often
used to let loaded wagons down steep slopes or assist the
horses in pulling tne loud up.

No genuine reed imtrovement was attempted till 1784,
the beginning of an ere heralded by Lsshington's letter to
Harrison. Lancaster turnpike, the first macudsuized road to
be built in this country, was built in Pennsylvania, from

.Philadelyhis to Lancaster. (The age when Hchdan was shoeing

56

=.pwam. mgp 0p has opww poopnamox map and:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

37

Englandhowx 0 build her roads) hark on this famous American

road was started in April. 1792 and completed in 1794 at a

total cost of £465,000. Allignment throughout the roed's

length was very straight. starting at Lancaster. the road was

paved 100 feet wide for acne distsnce, as an experiment, with

a View to making it this uidth all the may. Eaveuent this

wide proved too expensive, however and it was narrowed to 24

foot pavement, continuing thus to Ehiledelyhia, a total distance

of 62 miles. Construction was financed by the sale of stock.

Declaration of dividends keying as high as 15; made the road

a huge financial success. ’zhintennnce was effected by revenue

. collected at nine toll gates. Load and wheel width restrict-

ions were placed uyon vehicles using the road, the restrictions

depending upon the condition of the road according to the time

of year.} The road is particularly interesting from three

points of View; (1) It begnn a new period in American transport-

cticn. (2) It ushered in an era of syeculation un—heard or

in previous history of the country. (3} It introduced American

lan.makere to the greet problem of controlling public corporations.)
History of road-building in the United States parallels

in but few particulars the road history of the other great

civilised nations of tie world. In many respects our highways

beer but slight resemblance to those of the older countries.

Traditions relative to the construction and management of

roads which came with the first settlers to this country were

practically valueless because the countries from whence they

came were suffering for lock of good roads at that time.

58

 

 

 

 

59

I , .

L;One of the first great American roads was the old
York road which ran from.Bew York to Philadelphia, built in
1711. The old adage the "The dietary of Roads is the history
of civilisation” can well be realized from a study of the
history of this old road. "The Indian Trail, the blazed trees,
the foot-path. followed by the bridle path for pack.trains,
then the rough road for carts and wagons, which were subsequent-
ly graded and paved. making a safer and more easy means of
communication, are all stepping-stones to higher degrees of
oivilixation”.‘t:

The first settlers built their roads Lith volunteer
labor. then this became scarce, evrry able-bodied man was
required to work on the roads or pay a tax for failure to do
so. In the last quarter of the eighteenth century, road-
building was accomplished by chartered companies. replacing
the nnpsatisfactcry "forcedolabor" methods. Upukecp was
financed by tolls. Hundreds of miles of roads were built in
New York State and in some of the Eastern states, of thick,
wide planks. While the planks lasted the road was good, but
they decayed very rapidly and for this reason the method,
proving nn-successful, was gradually abandoned, As a rule,
tolls proved un-successful, some of the companies losing money.
Tho "Turnpike Company" was gradually superceeded by the

restoration of the forced labor system. This became almost

 

1"Progress of Roadbuilding", Yearbook 9; g; __._ Degt.

2£_ngziculture-.1899, pps. 367-380.

40

:ooom

was econ one seemed maeefla esp manna:

 

 

 

 

.b.
04

 

 

.1‘111

 

 

 

 

41

Ilivorosl.until about 1890, each county caring for its own
highways. In 1828, with the advent of the railroad many
people thought there would no longer be any need for public
roads and the national roads were abandoned. rublic roads
were neglected. in general, almost completely, for several
decades.
Not until four years after Indiana's admission to the
t Union was any definite system of roads projected within her
borders. In 1820 there arose new reasons for the Opening
of highways. The fast tract of land knows no "The New Purchase”
comprising a good portion of the state, was thrown open
to settlers in that year. In 1820, 26 state roads were
prOJeoted. During the following ten years there was much
legislation on the subject or state roads, showing the
importance they held in peoPIc‘s minds in those early days.
Revenue and labor for Opening and maintaining these new
Indiana roads was from three distinct sources. (1) Thru
three percent of the monies derived from the sale of Indiana
public lands. (2) A road tax levied upon real estate
(ether was allowed to "work out” his tax on the road)
(3) Every male inhabatant except preachers and certain other
exempts. between 21 and 50 years of age, was required to
work two days per year on the r ads. then called out work
must be done or an equivalent there-of must be paid.
réi:ihil legislative inactment was only a first and very in-
adequate step, hosevcr. because of self-seeking and lack of

coonomy in public works.} After the "highways were cut out"

42

they were highly impracticable and many cases were noted
where they became useless because of a second forest growth.
Vast areas were nothing but swamp which the streams
never fully drained. * at of the year a Journey over
the roads was simply a slow, laborous wallowing thru mud;
the boss were passable only with corduroy and often the
poles comprising this had to be weighted down with earth
to prevent floating away when the swamps waters rose. A
description of conditions by one traveling thru Indiana at
the time would probably sound something like this; "As
one proceeded he must tack to right and left, not to find
the road. but to get out of it and find places where the
. and see thick enough to bear. The way was a most ill-
looking, darkncclored morass, enlivened by streams or
pururer mud (the roads). crossing at right angles. And
these streams were thick-set with stumps out Just low
enough for wagons to straddle. Innumerable stubs ct saplings.
sharpened like spears by being shorn off obliquely. waited
to impale the un-lueky traveler whc.might be pitched out
onto them; and the probability of such accident was con.
siderable, as the lumbering wagon plunged over a succession
of rute and roots.'!LFollcwing are lines written by a
migratory wag in the register book of a Franklin, Indiana
tavern: ”The roads are impassable-«hardly Jack-aeeable; I

think those that travel 'em should turn out and gravel 'em.”z

 

1% wagging 9!; History, March 1907, p. 15.
I
Ihid.

45

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

N

Sueh were the characteristic conditions of Indiana’s early

; thoroughfares. her only means of inland communication.

._ I

:Z/That they impeded growth and handicapped commerce is
obvious. The difficulties overcome to build up the road
system as it is seen today, less than 100 years after the
days of these "wicked says“ is evidence of, and exemplifies

.l

the ambition and sturdiness of our American fore-fathers.: ’/
The first 25 years or the 19th. century was a period
when various states and sections of the country were in
general rivalry for the confluent of our new western trade.
The Cumberland road (to be treated later), suddenly
sprang into being, and Ees‘York state built the Erie canal.
In rapid succession.£ennsylvania, haryland, and Virginia‘
sent their canals into the Alleghanies toward the Ohio.
With the coming of the "iron age", about 1826, land trans—
portation on wheels took to the rails and the roads were
looked upon as a secondary means of communication; merely
connecting links to centers of greater transportation systems
and not worthy of very much attention.
It has been written that increases in road-building
or road-improvement activity can be attributed to four main
forces: (1) hettlement of new land (stageacoach days).
(8) Invention of the bicycle (late 1880's) (3) advent of
the auto (government road survey of }90§},and (4) Advent
of motor-trucks and buses (1914 cuff its have seen hos the
first force effects road extension. The cyclist did not

have a very decided or ride-Spread effect. he shall see

45

the effect of the remaining two forces, later in this history.
It was not until the auto cane into existence, in 1835, that

highways really steited back to their ”place in the sun”.vl

Famous Poineer Roads

Tune fer. American road history, in this paper, has
been deelt with in a general sort of way, chronologically.
not let ne consider some of the more important Poineer
rcnde from a more individualistic point of view. Each.
inltcn‘e read (1754). Braddock's road and Eilderness road
(1775), Genessee road (1794), Cumberland trail (1308).
hdehigan.Boad (1826), and ”The Trail of the Spainiard”,
will be treated individually in this order. This order of
H treatment is according to the year the roads were in procese
ef eonstruction and has no bearing upon the relative
importance, Value, extent, or significance of the roads.
Any of numerous other famous American roads might have
been chosen for this individualistic description, but those
ehoeen tend to give a rather typical cross-sectional view,
so to sneak,of American Iioneer roads, and were chosen
for that reason.

Waflhingtonfe road was built across the Aleghanies in
1754. from Cumberland heryland to Pittsburg, Pennsylvania,
Between these two cities, Braddock's road and Cumberland
road may also be traced. In some places all three of them
coincide. Built over the faenus old Indian trail known,
during the first half of the 18th. century as Remocolin's
path, Washinimon’e road is so-celled because it was first

Opened by Washington as a means of transferring his armies.

The road was un-paved and merely a widened path cut thru
the foreste with provisions made for crossing streams and
enampy places.

Braddock's road, ale: across the Alleghanies, was
built in 1755, the year after the Eashington road. Few
roads ever cost so much, ever amounted to so little at
first, then finally played so important a part in the deveIOp-
cent of any continent. Throughout the latter half of the
eighteenth century it was one of the main thoroughfares
into the Ohio Valley, and during the first of the 19th.
century, when our government built our first and greatest V
"highway, Cumberland Road, the general alignment of Braddock'e
Road between Cumberland, Maryland and Laurel Hill, the last
range of the Alleghanies, was the course pursued. In
certain localities Cumberland road was built upon the very
bed of Braddock's road and Braddock's road was built partly
upon Washington's road, which followed the path of the
Buffalo, Indian, and mound-building aborigines. Howhere
in America can the evolution of road-building be studied
to such advantage as between Cumberland fiaryland and Union-
ville Pennsylvania. Braddock's road was built for English
military purposes in fighting the French. As early as
1796, importance of the road was recognised by haryland and
its legislature passed laws with reference to straighten-

} ing and improving it. More such acts came in 1798 and
1802. It is difficult to say when Braddock's road, as a

route, ceased to be used, since portions of it have never

47

been deserted. The rough track of this first highway
westward may be followed today at almost any point in all
its course between the Potomac and the honongahela. The
great caravan tracks, caverns and gullies along this track
speak for themselves of the suffering and dangers of those
who trsVeled it at the time when it offered one of the few
passagedesye to the vest.

A.traveler in Uniontown, Pennsylvania today is within
striking range of Braddock's road at its most interesting
points. A six mile climb to the summit of Laurel hill,
near Washington‘s spring, brings one to the old road.

EA delightful drive along the summit of the mountain,
northward, brings one near the notorious 'Dunbar's Camp'
where so many relics of the campaign have been found.
many may still be seen in the Hhuseum of the nearby Pa.

soldiers orphan's home.”1

Junonrille'e grove, about one
fourth mile up the valley, and the View from Dunbar's

camp should not be missed. Braddocks body lies less than
one mile eastward of chalk hill, beside a brook which bears
his name.

The naming of cur highways is an interesting study.
bike roads the world over, they are usually known by two
namee:-The destinations to which they lead. The Genessee
road, for example, a famous old road in New York State, is“

known es the Genessee road in the Eastern half of the state,

 

1Archer Butler Hulbert, Pioneer Road!

48

end as the Albany road in the western half. Few roads
named after their builders, such as Braddock, Forbes,
Wayne, Marin, and Boone, preserve their original names.

One road, however, The Wilderness road to Kentucky,
holds the old time name with unpdiminished loyalty. Every
gloomy description and vile worl ever spoken for it still
holds true today. The road extended from hatauga settle—
sent, on the Holston river, Tenn.. to the mouth of Otter
creek on the Kentucky River. It was completed a month
before Open revolution at Lexington and Concord and has
been variously called Boone's trail, Kentucky Road, and
Virginia Road, but its common name, and the one that
persists today, is Yilderness road. It has been termed "the
longest, blackest, hardest road of pioneer days in America."
Wilderness Road Opened for the "Transylvania Company" a
say of settlement of the "splendid lands of Kentucky".
The original Boone's road was of little consequence other
than it offorded a possible route into new territory. The
nountaneons portions of the road are the picturesque ones
as well as the historic ones. The sigcsag pathway thru
Powell's Valley and Cumberland Gap can never be effaced.
Cumberland Road, as are those previously described, was
not paved, and provided primarily, only means of obtaining
preper direction, and means of laborous travel thru the
sildernees without cutting one's own trees.

Genessee Road, previously mentioned, began at Old

Fort Schuyler, new York, and went Eeetward "in a line as

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

49

Wilderness Road

50

nearly straight as the situation of the country will admit."
It was built to the Conessee River by a law passed in 1794.
In 1798 a law was passed extending it to the western bound-
cry of the state. It forms the main streets of Syracuse.
and Utica, the two largest cities thru which it passes. It
is called Genessse Street in both of these cities. ”The
Old Genessee Road passed thru a country as romantic and
beautiful as heart could wish to see or know“1 Construction
was of macadam in some sections and in others it was plank.
A few years after completion, the Erie Canal one built,
roughly-paralleling it. Local people heartily dis-favored
this experiment (the canal). Bad as the Genessee road was,
in set seasons, they thought that it could not be battered.
So poor were the roads leading into the region of the canal
at the time of its construction, that contractors were
compelled to do most of their hauling in winter, when the
ground was frozen. Bad roads were blamed for delay in
progress on certain portions of the canal.

Cumberland Road, best known in some parts of the country
it crossed as "national load", was built free the Potomac
to the hississippe, passing thru maryland, Pennsylvania,
Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, at a cost of £7,000,000. Build-
ing of this 700 mile highway, our first national road, was
one of the most important steps in that moment of national
expansion which followed the conquest of the west. By

1829, the road, having been subjected to heavy travel, was

 

1Archer Butler Hulbert,Pioneer Roads

51

.psesflsemwe

.11
O

H

C

p

d

eHo>mmed kafluanog

Has

no chum egg

mamoem acooq

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

52

badly in need of repair. Repairs were made by the macadam
system to insure effeciency and permanency. Pavement of the
old road was broken up and all stones were removed. The
road-bed was raked smooth and made nearly flat. Ditches,
drains and culverts were cleaned and made so that water at
no place could stand at a higher level than eighteen inches
below the lowest point in the road surface. All stone was
reduced in size not to exceed four ounces in weight. It
was spread on with shovels and raked smooth. No clay or
land was allowed to be mixed with the stone. Stone was,
spread in layers about three inches thick, admitting travel
for a short period on each layer to compact it, interpoe~
ing such obstructions from time to time as would insure
uniform travel over every section of the road. horkmen
were kept in constant attendance to rake the surface when
it became un-even by wheel action. 20 stone except lime-
stone, flint, or granite, were'used. Thickness ranged from
six inches minimum to nine inches maximum. no covering
was placed on the road-bed until it had been well compacted
and thoroughly dried. Bids let for preparing the roadway
called for clearing a Space fourty fast each side of the
centeraline, and grubbing out all stumps and roots for a
distance of 20 feet each side of the center-line.

The road was built by the United States government
under the supervision of the tar Department. The last
apprOPeriation was made flay 25, 1838, carrying the road

into Indiana. About 1830, completed portions of the road

53

 

 

 

 

 

 

54

fall into the hands of the states thru which it passed.
Individual states then set up toll gates to obtain main-
tenance funds. The total of maintainence funds thus derived,
from 1831 to 1877 inclusive, was $1,139,795.00.

The old road carried freight, passengers, and mail.
stage-coach and tavern histories blend with the history of
the old road into a romantic, thrilling, chain of events
that is the real history of our America during that period
in the locality which the road serVed. Monumental relics
of the road remain for us today in the form of ponderoue
stone bridges such as those at Big Crossings, hmithsvills,
Pennsylvania, and the artastic 3 bridge near Claysville,
Pennsylvania.

About 1832 work on the road ceased abruptly, for the
building of the rai1road dampened the road's futur prospects.
In mournful conmoration of this circumstance, a contemporary
poet wrote:

"he'hear no more the clanging hoof,
' And the stage.ooach rattling by;
For the steam-king rules the traveled world,
And the old Pike's left to die."
The old pike is perhaps even now haunted by this poet's
roving ghost. If so, he sees the white stretch of concrete
' (the modern pike) with its stream of rutber tires twenty.
four hours a day. Their piereeing head-lights show nothing
of the Conesota wagons, or the picturesque, swearing, hard.
fighting teamsters, however. They all passed on with the
Old Pike of‘history.

55

Inuummpem Haop as pom mmpmpm Hedsflpaan

 

 

 

 

 

 

56
The hichigan Road depended for its existence upon

a deal made with the Indians. Prior to 1826, the Potow- ,
atoms Indians owned a strip of land which crossed the north-
are part of the newly admitted state of Indiana. There
use no means of overland communication between the white
settlers of the Ohio Valley and the white peeple of
Hichigan settlements. Congress therefore authorized a
treaty with the Indian tribe, it being agreeable to every-
one, which would provide a right-of—way for a road. A
treaty was made and the Indians ceeded a strip of land
"commencing at Lake Kichigan and running thence to the
fiabasthivcr, 100 feet wide, for a road, and also one section
of good land, contiguous to said road, for each mile of the
same and also for each mile of a road from the termination
there-or, thru Inlianapolie to some convenient point on the
Ohio River. .1

Indiana was authorized to build the road, which she
built, from Lake Tichigan, in a generally southward direction,
passing thru Indianapolis with its southern terminus on
the Ohio at Hadison. For years it was, in effect, a
national highway. tell built for its generation, the flich-
igan Road was 24 feet wide, consisting, in sons partl, of
one foot square seasoned oak timbers, 20 feet long, covered
by one and a half feet of soil taken from ditches beside

the road. Importance of this road is second only to the

 

I't‘iemour Dunbar, _A_ History 9; Travel in. America.

5?

Cumberland Road, as a vein of travel for the whites during
the era proceeding the general appearence of the railroad.

Though in 1908 such a thing seemed to many only a
fantastic dream, Ed Fletcher of the test, being impressed
by the lack of a lateral southern route connecting the two
oceans, determined to attempt a paved highway, connecting
San Diego, California, with the Atlantic Ocean. About the
same time an enterprising group of men in Mbbile, slabs-s
were looking at possibilities of a road from Florida west-
ward to the Mississippi River which would reduce their
dependence upon the railroad and water transportation for
economic purposes. (Procuring labor and raw materials,etc.)
Seeking a name for an association.under which a flag could
be flown for their mutual support, several southern states
near Alabama decided upon ”The Old Spanish Trail". Seeking
State legislative aid financially, the association stood
still for siz.years. (1916-1922) Every state approached
by the association deemed the plan a "senseless undertaking".
Finally San Antonio, Texas became interested, for economic
reasons, in the purpose of "The Old Spanish Trail," and
the three groups: Far hesterners, Southerners, and Texans,
became closely knit for a common purpose.

After securing aid of the United States tar Department,
the association was able to approach local authorities with
promise of federal aid, and in this way secured action.
Bridges were built in the 500 mile stretch of rivers and

lowlands between Orange, Texas and Penecola, Florida,

reducing the total 59 miles of ten-1.8 to two and one half
miles. Today (1929) there are only two ferries remaining,
‘from coast to coast, and they are due to be replaced by
bridges soon. In 1929, $70,000,000 had been spent on the
road, but it has meant fortunes to the land it traverses.
the heavy burden the southern states had to bear during
its construction, has amply repaid them. ”Did Spanish
Trail", now U. 8. 90 from Florida to Texas and changing to
0.8. 80 from there on to California, is one of the greatest
of the scores of modern American highway units which gives
America the greatest highway system in the world.

“It can hardly be explained why the great motor.
vehicle interests, alert in business and devoting their
energies to the perfection of the motor vehicle, should tax
their ingenuity to perfect a machine which will withstand
'all sorts of deplorable road conditions, without expending
some time and energy on the roads, which are so primarily
essential to the success of this mode oftransportation.'1
There have been five reasons set fourth for lack of road-
building progress in the United States up to 1903. They are:
(l) Excellence and rapid develoPment of the railroad and
waterway systems. (2) Our long familarity with‘bad roads
and the indifference of those in charge of highway affairs.
(3) Lack of appreciation of social, commercial, and economic
pvalue of good roads and fear of increased taxation. (4)
tasteful and ineffecient system of "forced.labor” roads.
(5) Lack of general authority and general supervisiong non-
equitable cost distribution, and lack of business methods

in highway construction and maintenance.

59

Ideas and theories of preper road design and construct-
ion change quite markedly from time to time, and sometimes
quite rapidly.. Some points set forth as being good read
practice in l903,for instance, follow: "1., It is desir-
able for many reasons to preserve the old dirt road alons..
side and parallel to the surfaced road, whenever possible..
2.. It seems wise to recommend, particularly for level
country where material is scarce, the building of gravel
and macadam roads from 8 to 10 feet wide.. 5.. A common
but erroneous impression prevails, that when a road is once
macadamized,,it is finished and will last forever.. A
road needs constant attention, and unless it receives it,.
will'dis-integrate.73 These points, though sound for their
time, are obviously a long way begind the modern conception

of road.building..

Indian Trail to Turnpike

4} Archer Butler Hulbert, in his ”Poineer Roads, interest-
ingly describes American road deveIOpment in a general way
by classifying the various stages of deveIOpment of any
‘ particular road as "blilg'trail',VPack saddle era", "Eagon
etege', and “Turnpike. I believe that what little repetition
will be caused by summarizing hr..Hulbert'e account of
turnpike evolution, will'be well worth—while. _

The first evolutionary phase was broadening of the old
Indian path, or "blind trail", by mere passing of uider

A

1(Proceeding page) 0:8a Dept, of Ag: Yearbook, 1905.

2% pps. 453-61

. .cue maddem
xosm on» Mo .Aseaea wage a“ cemoapnes pom. mocha senses:

\

 

61

loads thru it. This blind trail, having houses a little
rougher and a little wider by more use, became the road

of the ”Bach saddle era". about 1670 some of the Eastern
states passed legislation for road betterment, which simply
meant cutting of stumps close to the ground, clearing fallen
logs, and perhaps widening or straightening the roads a

bit by cutting trees. Loosely it may be said that the
widened trail became a road uhen wheeled Vehicles began to
pass over it. Carts and wagons were common in the Atlantic
states as earflly as and earlier than the American hevolution.
By 1785 freight traffic by wagons had fully begun across

the Alleghanies at many points, thus the pioneer roads had
reached their "wagon stage" of development. (merely a path
thru the woods suffeciently wide to permit passage and meeting
of wagons. Each year the wagon roads grew longer and the
bridle paths grew shorter. Wagons could not climb the knolls
to keep on high ground, thus avoiding the low, wet, soft
spots, so the grounds were made passable by ccrduroying
(laying logs closely together to form a solid road-bed) where
it was not possible to go around them. fiemains of these

old wagon tracks today are caused by the deep impression

into the earth of the continual packing effectof the hard-
tired, heavy wagone.z:lt is difficult, in this age of hard
surfaced roads, to imagine what it meant to get stalled on
one of the old "Hog Eallow" roads of the frontier. "Jonathan
Tyson, a farmer, is much difficulty in going to Philadelphia

p
\

on the York road. a dreadful mire of blackish mud rested

62

near the present rising sun village. Tyson saw there the
team of ur. dictum stalled. In endeavoring to draw out the
foreehorse with an iron chain to its head, the chain
slipped and tore off the lower Jew, and the horse died on
the spot." :]Chsrles surrey in his "Travels in north America,
tells of road conditions as he observed them in Virginia:
Speaking of the type of soil of nhich the road was composed,
hs says-”I am sorry that I was not suffeciently acquainted
with chemistry or mineroIOgy to analise that wonderful clay
and state its constituent parts; but if I were now celled
on to give a receipt for a mess most nearly resembling it,

I would write: Ordinary clay, 1 pound, Do pitch, 1 pound;
Bird-lime, 6 ounces; Putty, 6 ounces; glue, 1 pound;

Red lead (coloring matter), six ounces." He continues with:
"Whether the foregoing, with a prOper admixture of hills,
holes, stumps and rocks, made a satisfactory draught or not,
I will refer to the unfortunate team. I, else! can answer
for the effectual application of the second part of the
description, according to Joe Miller's version of 'When taken,
to be well shaken.'” [A heavy load could not be sent over

e frozen pioneer road without wrecking the vehicle.

The era of change of American vehicle from pack.
horse to stage-coach must be termed that of the macadamised
road or "turnpike” (turnpike road is one on which tolls are
charged for its maintenance). This type road was‘wider
than any single track of any of the routes they followed,

though 30 feet was the average maximum breadth. This ‘

63

turnpike age of roadbuilding saw many roadways widened and
macadamixed, The bull:or widening and grading, done by
ltates or counties, was on roads that remained dirt roads.
The new macadamised roads were relatively few and far between.
Stagecoach travel over any but the few good roads, was
1030 comfortable than pack-horse travel had been half a
century before§lfljr the Virginia roads of this era (not
necedamixed) Thomas Hoore wrote:
Dear George! Though every bone is aching,
After the shaking
I've had this week, over rats and ridges,
and Bridges
nade of a few uneasy planks,
In cpen ranks
Over rivers or mud, whose name alone
. would make theknees of the scaled-man rocktl
It in said that chases across the road to the depth of six,

eight or ten feet occurred at numerous intervals.

Federal Aid

Road-building by the states in the first years of
the present century presented many menacing problems, some
or them quite serious from the stand-point of a country
of fine roads. The state line was often the end of a fine
state road, the traveler encountering a road in a deplorable
state of repair at that point. Connection of roads at
state lines to make long, effecient, inter-state routes was

practically impossible because of the lack of a central

64

 

 

9. :3. w.

a.
clan..t~.ee

u..lee.llm.

 

 

 

 

55

organising_authority to plan such long routes in a systematic
way. States with a very sparse pepulation could not compete
Imth the road-building programs of more densly settled states.
the increase in auto registration the country over, from
1900 onward, evidenced new needs for more and better highways.
Realising the plight of the roads and the emmensity
of the situation, the federal government entered the field
of highway improvement and in 1916 passed the Federal Aid
Road Act. $75,000,000 was approperiated to be matched by
an eeual amount from the states, for the construction of
rural post roads over a five-year period and $1,000,000 per
year for ten years for roads uithin or partly within the
national forests. Each state was required to have a
responsible, central highway department with the requisite
powers and funds to carry out the program. All of the states
complied with the terms of the act and these preliminary
steps were practically completed, and a vigorous road action
‘Iss about to take place, when the United States entered the
Vorld war.
at the close of the war arraingements were promptly
ads for the vigcrcua persecution of road work in all sections
'0! the country. This was done not only to repair damage
‘Irought by heavy traffic during war-time when maintenance
‘opsrations were few, or to provide adequate transportation
resilitiee for the expanding needs of agriculture and
.industry, but also to provide employment for those who would
otherwise be umemployed during that transition from war to

Dense-t ins.

65

To facilitate Operations, congress appr0periated
$209,000,000 in addition to the $85,000,000 provided by the
original set, for the extension of road construction in
co-Operstion with the states, and some important ammend-
cents to the not were also made. Definition of kind of
roads that can be constructed was greatly broadened, and
the limitation of the federal contribution for any one
road was increased from $10,000 to $20,000 per mile. Ho
formula held good for the type road to be used in every
part of the country. Swampy territory, for instance,
requires a heavy read. some reactions, on the other hand,
such as are caused by heavy traffic, require only light
proads if in certain sections of the country where soil
conditions are proper for such construction.

The United States did not actually commence the road-
building pr0gram that was to make her road system one of
the three most outstanding in history, then, until World
War times. She was about to begin in 1916 but her plans
being interrupted by the war, she resumed her road-building
operations on 076“ t*1arger scale, immediately after the
armistice. Total road milage at the present time is about
3,000,000 miles-oogood, bad, and indifferent. 71% of this
silage is unaimproved in any way, being little better
than the Indian trails. 10; of the total is drained and
graded. 17% has some sort of impermenant surfacing; only
about 2% of the total represents year-around, all-weather

roads, made from base to crown according to most thorough

67

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

68

3
scientific highway engineering. ifhe graph shown on page 69
indicates the rate of road.milage increase since 1914 and
the increase in auto registration presents itself as having
s bearing on road milage increase. Of course the guestion
could be asked here: Did increase in auto registration lead
increase in road milage, or vice versa? Though there is no
proof to offer for the statement, it is quite obvious that
demands were created by the motor car for good and safe
roads and that increase in hard~surface road milage is an
effect rather than a cause. - - Notice the road milage bar

a)
graphs of the following pages.:/

Super Highways The World Over

Modern needs for quick, safe, effeoient transportation
from town to town, and the enormous pepulations to which
many cities have grown, requires every-day improvements and
extensions for the highways of the world. Research is
carried on continually, the world over (especially in the
United States, the world's leading road-builder) in an effort
to devise ways of making an attractive highway that is cheap-
er or safer, so that grovinj highway demands will be satisfied.
The super-highway, Which is the last word in highway circles,
has made its appearance in several of the more advanced
countries. Super-highways in this country will not be
described here because it is assuned that experiences of
the reader, together with the information gleaned from the

next paragraph on the German super-highway will give the

   
  

 

 

 

+69
7 a c
I“ "* &
vi \
H c §
N. °>'\
L. s ‘3
g,“ *1; :3)
: § ’\
b 0x
0 0
(t “t
K K
a ,3?»
h
‘o
N
: g
LL- ‘r‘. a»
. h e?
I e e
:3 3 '4
ti §>
.' e
t
I: X i
h
. ‘ §
l- °>. -§
: fi’ \
. .
. OJ
:: ‘5
:* $1
a“
he . W e
.. vial/oi” ml 0.1]? 003va aria/6‘94 a/‘wau MAW g
hr 1 ‘- 19 ‘ ‘ I?
\

 

B
or g ‘3‘; j ‘o 0
' T t
'6‘ 3/.4‘2' /0 Spflksovvf/ lit/t SPDOJ 30/403 42mg

1 I

s T Q
$13: $1 3 _.

 

The next page is devoted to a bar graph showing mil-
nge increases in paved roads, graphically. The page is
self-explanatory except for an caplanation of the "Low
type" and "High type" roads. These types are both hard
surface. The low type includes eater-bound macadam, tar,
gravel, etc. The high type includes bituminous concrete,
concrete block, cement concrete and wood block in.bridge
paving. How long will it be before the red or black bars
become longer than the green ones?!

Data was obtained from Statistical Abstract; 9; the
Us ted States, 1932 and 1938, under the headings oi Ester
Vehicle registrations (for graph on page 69) and Rural

3086.8.

71

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

«ibbcw .W.\~

VKBXW Lb“ w\.\\hxbo\~k\fim

 

 
                             

lgx

DON

o o o as.“ .
00m.

A. ook

soc «ssh
09w

look

coo 6.3
8o

.e . com.

oco \occv

.. 036th

cos .0093...
sex

”a some

one .ohm .m
one

s
30 .cch m
I 8‘

99m

5‘ 9/!”

p001 jm

“fmf‘p .3. ‘t‘“‘."",.?" “11;...9 a . g
z ».A.‘ "kg; :1 C ._.L 't‘ ‘ ‘ N , , d I _
_é.‘..,‘. f' “'-“.“' ’ "-‘r \ ’~ ~ 5.. 3 e a.

72

reader as good a picture of them, if not better, than the
Deeps of this paper would permit hers. Advanced super-
highway design in this country is largely confined to the
proximity of large cities, where the clever lea! intersections,
grade separations, and intricate systems of traffic signals
make one sense that he is observing the ultra-modern highway.
Practically all of the principles embodied in the described
German design are included also in the American super-
highway.

at the present time there is a system of modern high-
ways under construction by the WReich motor Road society"
of Germany and supervised by the "General Inspector of German
roads". There are two independent roads to each highway,
each 25 feet wide, separated by an unpaVed strip, 17 feet
wide planted to shrubs to prevent head-light glare. No
crossings at grade with other highsags or railroads, are
permitted. Connections with other roadwafs will be made at
special "motor road stations." The road will be harmonised
with surrounding landscape and curved somewhat to prevent
monotony. The two parallel roads can be planned at different
heights. Constructed for a speed of 125 miles per hour and
a sight distance of 2,300 feet where possible, the radius of
curvature in flat country will be not less than 6,500 feet.
Curves will be super-elevated, but not more than 5%.
Surfacing will be of tar bound or bituminous macadam, cement
concrete, or ordinary paving stones. One or the ideas

involved in construction is to employ as many workmen as

75

M
9
j
j
. I

I
.0 .bY-‘zl .
‘3 n ‘ n t "
. I ’ - 1.0.1 In,
. You n y ‘
,pI o u~5h A.-v lo" ... nu. ..
r. ’Vu'v . .Jru .. .l \‘-\‘ .v r. .a a
w. _. :1. a. u... 2.. . \ . Leer...
‘ 4.1
O in: e 0‘
1.1 0 I“ I1
.

. 53$.” 1. .
. immes . .

 

 

           

ene- ele. -. nth-J1. e. a. .-

.\. eeuifien4.

  

.......

. v .
..e\.lll

.93...»

  

 

.....

 

i213
. (flaws...

 

 

 

 

 

 

74

possible and to use only home materials.

A 700 mile highway has been built the length of the
Island of Cuba at a cost of $100,000,000. There are no
railroad crossings, there being seven underqpaeees and 26
crossings over the railroads. There are no greater grades
than 5% and no turns with more than 4% curvature. many
expensive cute and fills were necessary to maintain a direct
route in the rugged country traversed. It is thought that
this is the only national highway with grade-crossings
entirely elemineted. Peculiar and often massive structures
were necessary for bridges, grade separations, certain
fills, etc., to care for semi-trepicel storms and seasonal
flooding.
‘ such descriptions of famous modern highways the
world ever, could be given without end. Such descriptions
would be boresome repition, however, and were more time
available in Which to prepare this paper, much time and
weight would be giVen to various designs of modern pavement
types. A.picture shoeing beneficial effect of the thick.
ened edge in concrete pavement design can be seen on the
next page. As road design would offer more than enough
material for a thesis in itself, and as time which can be
allotted to writing this paper is consumed, we must be content
to have followed, in its most skeleton form, the progress
of man's road-building from the animal paths to the super-

highway .

75

 

I l u
If."

 

 

\.
0! 0.. . . \
. . . u
5.x.
. . “3, § I .OH-

. \Hbl.
,..

 

1 .

......eh

   

- .. pals? .
8... (v.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

 

American Roads

Annual Reports 9: the Department 2; Agriculture, 1919.

 

 

 

Barry, Richard, "The Old Spanish Trail", Borld's Work,
September 1929, pps. 65-69.

Brummitt, "The Super-highway", The American City,
January 1929, pps. 85-88.

 

Dunbar, seymour, "A History of Travel in America",
P138 0 446-48 0

Eldridge, Haurice 0., "Progress of Roadbuilding in the
United states", Yearbook of g. E. Deg't 3:
Agriculture, 1899, pps. 567-380.

Evans, Hainwright, "Covered bagons to Rubber Tires",
Outlook, August 28, 1929, p.686.

Hulbert, Archer Butler, "Braddocks Road".

Hulbert, Archer Butler, "Cumberland Road".

Hulbert, Archer Butler, "Pioneer Roads".

Hulbert, Archer Butler, "The Paths of Inland Commerce".
Hulbert, Archer Butler, "Washington's Road".

Indiana fiagazine 2: History, Harch 1907, p. 15.

 

Killock, Katherine A., "The Colossus of Roads", New
Outlook, April 1934, p. 46.

YacDonald, T. H., "Two Thousand Years of Roadbuilding",
American Highways.

Richardson, R. W., "Progress of Roadbuilding in the Siddle
Rest", Yearbook g; g. E. Deo't_o§ Agriculture, 1903

 

Statistical Abstract of the United states, 1952, 1958.

 

 

Haddell, G. L., "National 01d Trails Road", hational
Reeublic, December, 1950, p. 7.

___‘——_——_—

Roman Reads

"How a Roman flightay was Built and Used", The American
City, June 1954, pps. 62, 65, 64.

Powell, William 5., "When All heads Led to Rome",
Compressed air Iagazine, June 1956, pps. 5051-4.

 

Roads and streets, march 1940.

Wood, J. T., "Modern Discoveries on the site of Ancient
Ephesus", PPS. 37-400

British Roads

Devcreux, Roy, "The Colossus of Roads", A Life of John
T‘-’ .‘
hcndam.

Encyclopedia Britanica, Vol. 19, p. 540.

 

Salkield, "The story of Road Rolling in Great Britain",
Roads and streets, fiarch, 1940, pps. 49-51.

Incan Roads

Bingham, Hiram, "Sachu Picchu", Report of EXplorations and
Excavations.

Inca, Encyclopedia Britanica, Vol. 12, 14th ed., p. 129.

 

Means, Philip 3., "Ancient Civilization of the Andes".

Verrill Hyatt, "America's first International Highway",
Scientific American, July, 1950, pps. 50, 51.

Other Roads

Durkin, J. T., "some ticked bays of Nedieval Days",
Catholic lorld, neptember, 1958, pps. 716-19.

Hurray, John, "History of Egypt “nder the Pharaohs",
Vol. 2.

Rappaport, "New Rig way DevelOpment and Constructions in
Germany", american City, October, 1954, p. 69.

 

"Roads", Encyclopedia 9: the Social sciences, Vol. 15,
p0 4:000

 

 

"Roads and Highways", The Americans Encyclopedia, Vol. 25,
p. 557.

 

‘"The Great Paved Roads of the fiayans Civilization",
Engineering Hews Record, January 11, 1954, p. 47.

 

bright, H. M., "Cuba Builds a Kodel Highway", Scientific
American, April 1950, p. 275.

 

Finis!

9.95M USE Oiil’!

May??? 47.!

 

"—--“

 

 

"liflitijfiflgfiflfiflfig HEMQTIIIII "Tl 1711717111“

 

01041