The box culvert shown in the illustration on page 108 has an opening 18 inches wide and 16 inches deep. The length is 20 feet. The retaining walls are 8 inches thick, 2 feet high (from the barrel opening), and do not extend beyond the culvert walls. The bottom and the side walls are 6 inches thick; the top, 8 inches. Three men, with a highway commissioner as superintendent, built this culvert in two days.
| Materials Required | ||
|---|---|---|
| Crushed rock or screened gravel | 3 cubic yards at $1.10 | $3.30 |
| Sand | 1½ cubic yards at $1.00 | 1.50 |
| Portland cement | 4 barrels at $2.50 | 10.00 |
| $14.80 | ||
Concrete bridges last forever. With all the bridges and culverts of concrete, tax officials will no longer need to levy bridge taxes.
Septic Tanks
The proper method for the disposal of house sewage is an important question on the farm. Cess-pools, simply pits dug in the ground, are great disease spreaders. The liquids from them seep through the ground, carry germs from the pool to the well, render “the best drinking-water in the country” unfit for use, and often cause the spread of disease.
The modern farmer no longer puts up with such barbaric practice. Cess-pools have long been prohibited in cities, where immense sums of money are spent for the proper disposal of sewage. It is not possible to provide farms with these expensive plants, nor is it necessary. Through the use of an inexpensive septic tank all of the conveniences of the toilet and bath may be installed in the house and the danger from sewage removed.
