Page:Historic highways of America (Volume 15).djvu/158

This page has been validated.
154
FUTURE OF ROAD-MAKING

with binding material and to leave such material damp enough to insure a set.

If a road is built of tough, hard stone, and if the binding material has the same characteristics, a steam roller is essential for speedy results. A horse roller may be used to good advantage if the softer varieties of stone are employed. For general purposes a roller weighing from eight to twelve tons is all that is necessary. Heavier weights are difficult to handle upon unimproved surfaces unless they be constructed like the Addison roller, the weight of which can be increased or lightened at will by filling the drum with water or drawing the water out. This roller can be made to weigh as much as eight tons and, like several other very excellent ones now on the market, is provided with anti-friction roller bearings, which lighten the draft considerably.

Every stone road, unless properly built with small stones and just enough binding material to fill the voids, presents a honeycombed appearance. In fact, a measure containing two cubic feet of broken stone will hold in addition one cubic foot of