The automobile traffic first brushes aside all of the screenings and smaller particles of rock, exposing the larger stones. These gradually loosen as the road is used and are brushed aside. When this effect begins, the road is said to be raveling. Various lengths of time may elapse from the time the road is first finished until raveling begins, depending upon the character of the stone, the weather and the amount of motor traffic. During the period before raveling starts, it is comparatively easy to restore the road surface at any time by the addition of screenings or clay and sand. Usually there will be a few small areas of the surface that, on account of faulty construction, will ravel or become rutted much earlier than the remainder of the surface. These can be repaired by the methods described in the chapter on "Water-bound Macadam Construction." When the surface begins to ravel seriously, maintenance becomes much more difficult and in order to prevent raveling and the difficulties of maintenance thereafter, the macadam surface is often coated with a bituminous material.
Fig. 20.—Oiling a Gravel Road
If there is any dust or screenings on the road surface, the bituminous material will not adhere to the stones and will soon flake off under traffic. The surface of the macadam must therefore be thoroughly cleaned before the bituminous material is applied. The usual practice is to finish the road as water-bound macadam, and permit traffic on it for a sufficient length of time to show any weak places in the surface and at the same time thoroughly to season the surface. If any defective places appear, they are repaired and when the surface exhibits satisfactory stability, but before it begins to ravel, the bituminous surface is applied. There will ordinarily be some stone dust and some screenings remaining on the surface at the time bituminous treatment is undertaken, and there may also be some caked mud or other foreign material. All of this must be removed so as to expose the stones throughout.
Applying the Bituminous Binder.—The bituminous binder may be delivered in tank cars, which is desirable if the work is near a railroad siding, or ample tank wagon service is available for long hauls so that the tank will not be held up too long. Often it is desirable to purchase the binder in barrels and haul these to the site of the work in advance of beginning the construction of the surface.
The bituminous material may be applied by means of hand spreading cans not unlike an ordinary garden watering pot, except that a slotted nozzle is substituted for the ordinary perforated one. If hand methods are employed for spreading, the bituminous material is heated in open kettles and then spread on the surface, the quantity required usually being about one-half gallon per square yard of surface. The temperature of the binder should be great enough to insure fluidity and the road should be dry at the time of the application. As soon as the material has been spread, the surface is finished with a dressing of chips.
Finishing the Surface.—For surface dressing the best material is stone chips ranging in size from about 1 inch down to one-fourth inch. But the chips must be of durable material, or they will quickly grind into dust. They must be free from dust when applied, as the presence of any considerable amount of dust interferes with the proper finishing of the surface. The stone chips are rolled into the surface, a sufficient quantity being used to just cover the surface.
Patching.—It almost always happens that some small areas will not be properly cleaned or that for some unknown reason the coating peels off the surface. Such places must be promptly patched to prevent them enlarging under the action of traffic. This work is usually done by patrolmen, who inspect the road at frequent intervals and make the necessary repairs. The patrolman is equipped with a small heating kettle, a spreading can and the necessary brushes, tampers and miscellaneous tools needed for the repair work. The place to be patched is carefully cleaned, coated with bituminous binder and stone chips and tamped until dense and solid. Repairs made in this way are exceedingly important in that they arrest deterioration in its early stages and maintain a high degree of serviceability.
II. Penetration Macadam
A considerable mileage of macadam has been constructed in which an attempt was made to eliminate the difficulties of maintenance by a method of construction that involves applying a bituminous binder in such a manner as to permit it to penetrate two inches or more into the surface. It is expected that the binder will coat the stones to such an extent as to increase materially the stability of the bituminous macadam over the surface treated one. It is also expected that less difficulty will be encountered in maintaining a surface of bituminous material and stone chips on this type of road than on the water-bound macadam. The extent to which these expectations have been realized has varied to a marked degree and although some excellent surfaces have been constructed by this method, the results have as a rule been neither uniform nor entirely satisfactory. It seems to be apparent that good results cannot be obtained unless the materials are entirely suitable and the construction is carried out with unusual skill.