Scrapers.

Scrapers are sometimes made of wood shod with iron, but those made of plate iron are preferable: they should be six inches deep, and from fourteen to eighteen inches long in the blade, according to the materials of which the road is composed; the softer and more fluid the mud, the longer the scrapers should be; they should be turned a little round at the ends, to prevent the mud from escaping. The best scrapers are made of old saw plates, stiffened on the back by a rib of wrought iron, or by riveting the plate to a board of elm, cut to the proper width and length, and about half an inch thick.

Patent Road Scraper.

The following is a description of a patent road scraper :

"This machine consists of a series or row of scrapers placed in a frame, and mounted on wheels; it is worked crosswise on the road, and deposits the dirt or dust on the side.

"The machine is easily used by one man, and cleans' above a mile of road per day, or about five times as much as can be done with the common scraper, and the work is better performed.

"The advantages from the use of this implement may be stated shortly as follows, and will be readily appreciated by surveyors : —

"1st. Improvement of the surface of the roads, which cannot be kept hard and firm unless the road be frequently scraped.

"2d. The facility afforded to fast travelling, by removing a great obstruction to the progress of carriages.

"3d. The preservation of the roads, by removing the dirt, which absorbs and retains water on the surface.

"4th. Assistance rendered to the surveyor, by enabling him to take advantage of favourable periods of weather for cleaning his roads.

"5th. The saving of money, which will be applied in strengthening or otherwise improving the roads. "Wherever it has been tried, the machine has given great satisfaction, and the patentees are willing to send machines on trial.” *

* Messrs. Bourne and Harris, of Ilchester, Somersetshire, are the patentees of this machine.

The following letter respecting it is from the engineer of the Holyhead Road :

"Sir,

Holyhead, 3d March 1837.

"On receipt of your letter this morning, I spoke to the foreman, and also to the labourer who attends to the road round this harbour, as to the comparative merits of the old and new scrapers both of them gave the preference to the latter, as doing its work quicker and better than the former.

"When last I was at Corwen, Hugh Roberts the inspector told me that two of his men had had a dispute as to which of the scrapers was the best; they set to work, one with the common, the other with the patent scraper, and the result was, that the patent scraper took the dirt off cleaner than the other, as was proved by that part of the road on which it had been used remaining for a longer time without requiring to be scraped again than that part on which the common scraper had been employed.

"I am, Sir,

"Your most obedient servant,

"JOHN PROVIS."

Hedging Knives.

These instruments have been long used in Scotland, where they are called plashing tools: they are made of different sizes; that represented in Plate VII. fig. 14. is the most useful. When a labourer is a little practised in the use of them, he can trim a hedge as well as a gardener with a pair of shears, and much more expeditiously. They should be made sufficiently light to enable a man to use them with one hand, and care should be taken by the maker that they are properly balanced on the handle, otherwise a workman will not be able to wield them with proper effect. The great error in making these instruments in England is that of making them too heavy, and curving the blade too much.

Working Levels.

Working levels are absolutely necessary in laying out new works, and in repairing old roads. These instruments are easily used by common workmen. One of the best kind of these levels is represented in Plate VII. fig. 8., in which A B C represents the level, upon the horizontal bar of which are placed four gauges, a, b, c, d, made to move perpendicularly to the line A C, in dove-tailed grooves cut in the horizontal bar. When any of these are adjusted to project a proper depth below the line A C, it may be fixed by a thumb screw, which will retain the gauge in the desired position.

Fig. 9. shows a section of the horizontal bar drawn to a larger scale, as marked upon the edge

of the gauge. This section is taken through the line e f of fig. 8. In this figure the position of the square iron bolt, or screw pin, is more plainly seen, and also the washer placed under the thumb screw. Three of these bolts pass through the horizontal bar, fig. 8., exactly three inches above the line AC; the other, seen at d, is only two inches above the same line.

Levels for laying out slopes are best made of a bar of wood, three inches deep, one inch thick, and six feet long on the centre near the middle of the rod, a triangular piece of wood of the same thickness is nailed; the sides of this triangular piece are so formed, that when the rod is placed upon a slope of one to two or one to three, a small pocket level placed on one side of the triangle will be horizontal, and the bubble will remain in the centre.

Ring Gauges.

Ring gauges for ascertaining the size of the broken stones are extremely useful. A ring of this description is represented in Plate VII. fig. 17.

263

CHAPTER XII.

ROAD LEGISLATION.

Turnpike System.

ACCORDING as the trade and wealth of England increased, the roads became wholly unfit for the traffic on them, and this led to the introduction of turnpike tolls and boards of trustees for collecting the tolls and superintending the roads.

The legislature proceeded on a principle that was a perfectly just one, and, at the same time, in regard to its efficacy as a means to an end, one in every way judicious and right. For nothing can be more just than to make those who use the roads find the money for maintaining them, and no plan for obtaining such a large amount of money as is necessary for maintaining them in good condition could have been adopted more effective for that object. If rates on land had been resorted to, the measure would inevitably have failed, because the landowners would, beyond all doubt, have preferred bad roads and low rates to good ones and high rates in point of fact, very indifferent roads would have answered all their local purposes. If the roads had been vested in the hands of government, it may safely be said, that this plan would also have failed, for government would never have been able to obtain the consent of Parliament to