Construction
and
Maintenance
In the late 1800’s, with the growth of the cities, the demand for better roads increased. The need to move farm produce from the fields to the city in a steady, dependable manner grew with the increasing city population. Yet, only about 150,000 miles of the rural roads were surfaced, while the vast majority was of rutted, packed earth that became unusable with inclement weather. In describing the prevalent condition of the roads in this country, General Roy Stone said, “In many parts of the United States the roads are torn up with the outcoming frost in the spring, soaked with autumn rains, frozen into ridges in winter, and buried in the dust in the summer, making four regular seasons of bad roads, besides innumerable brief ‘spells.’ ”[1]
Early grading operations were performed with pick, shovel, and animal-drawn equipment. This muledrawn slip scraper hauled very little earth compared to more modern devices.
Roadbuilding and maintenance, in the latter 19th century, was still primarily accomplished by the statute labor system using horsedrawn slip scrapers and teams and wagons. The road grader, first introduced in 1878, consisted of a steel blade hung beneath
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- ↑ A. C. Rose, Historic American Highways—Public Roads of the Past (American Association of State Highway Officials, Washington, D.C., 1953) p. 100.
