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good workmanship. A certain space, say six feet, should be formed into a footpath of one regular breadth, with a surface made with a coating of strong gravel, or small broken stones, at least six inches deep; thirty feet should be allotted to the roadway, to be formed of one regular convexity, with the use of a properly shaped level *; one side channel should be formed by the sod margin of the footpath abutting on the side of the road, and the other by the sod margin of a flat mound of earth, of the same form as the footpath; and the whole waste between the fences should be filled or levelled, so as to have a perfectly smooth surface. The wastes should also be sown with grass-seeds; and where the soil is clay, the scrapings of the road should be carefully spread over them, till they become firm. When the fence of a road is a hedge, this should be cut and clipped every year by the surveyor, at the expense of the trustees; and the work should be done in such a manner as to leave the side and horizontal lines of the hedge perfectly straight and even.

"In order to assist the surveyors in putting their roads into a good shape, I have drawn up the following Specification:

* See Plate VII. fig. 8.

"Specification for the Regulation of the Surface between the Fences, so as to establish uniformity in the Cross Section.

"1. The road is to be 30 feet wide, with a fall of six inches from the centre to the side channels; but exclusive of footpaths.

"2. A sod to be laid on each side of the road, 8 inches wide, and 6 inches in thickness; and in such a manner as to form a sloping edge; the top surface of the sods on each side to be exactly on the same level.

"3. On one side of the road a footpath to be made behind the sod; it is to be 6 feet wide, and to have an inclined surface of one inch in a yard towards the road; and another sod to be laid along the outer edge of the footpath, eight inches wide, the top of it on a level with the footpath.

4. On the other side of the road a flat mound of earth is to be formed behind the sod, on a level with the top of it, six feet wide; the surface of this mound is to be sown with grass seeds.

"5. The waste land on each side, where there is any, between the footpaths, or the mound, and the road fences, to be dug over to the

breadth of four feet, at right angles to the fences, and made quite smooth; when these wastes are covered with grass, the sod to be pared off each breadth, and laid on the breadth last dug; when they are not in grass, the new surface is to be sown with grass-seeds.

"6. If there is a ditch on the road side of the fence, or if the road-fence consists of a high bank, a new post and rail-fence is to be made close along the footpath or mound, with a ditch on the field side, at least three feet deep."*

If the foregoing rules were strictly attended to, the safety of fast travelling by night coaches would be very much increased. The accidents which occur by night, arise chiefly from coachmen getting off the road, and running the wheels of coaches on high footpaths or other high banks of earth immediately on the sides of the road; but if no footpath were higher than six inches above the side channel of the road, and if a flat mound were formed of the same height, on the side opposite to the footpath, coachmen, on getting off the road in fogs or snow storms, would be able to pull into it, or stop, without any danger of being overturned.

For a description of the operations of the Parliamentary Commissioners in improving the Holyhead Road, see the Report of the Select Committee of the House of Commons in 1830, in Appendix, No. 4.

The parish roads are capable of being very much improved by attending to a few general rules. Twenty feet in breadth of the middle of the road should be carefully set out and defined by a row of sods on each side.

The surface of the road should be brought to a convexity of six inches from the centre to the sides, by laying on good road materials, and so as to have the surface of the road on its sides on a level with the top of the sods. The ruts should be filled with hard materials from time to time.

The space on each side the road between the sods and the fences should be lowered or raised, so as to make it smooth, with an inclination of one inch in a yard, from the sides of the road to the fences. Drains should be made along the fences, and all water-courses and drains connected with the road should be constantly kept open, and free from weeds.

Those parish roads which are very narrow, and the surface of which is below the level of the adjoining fields, and on which streams of water are constantly running, should be newmade, by raising them with earth, and forming a roadway of good materials on the embankment.

CHAP. X.

REPAIRING ROADS.

THE business of repairing a road should always be managed on a regular and fixed plan.

The following matters require particular attention:

1st. The quality of materials.

2d. The quantity to be put on per mile per

annum.

3d. The preparation of the materials.

4th. The method of putting them on the road. 5th. The number of labourers to be employed.

1st. With respect to the quality of the materials to be used, the hardest should always be preferred; for it should ever be borne in mind, that hard stones brought from a distance are found by experience to be cheaper in the end than those of a softer kind which may be got near the road, at a much lower price.

Another reason for making use of the hardest materials that can be procured, is the greatly increased labour of horses, which is occasioned

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