tc5* it!? IS ■I mm ftp lilll BRIM Class (e.3.5.13 N" umber... Jx >T.3 Volume f ^-"-jb- Zj Source Received Cost Accession No. 14-/0] £ 3 77J ^"^ ■*s»-i Bulletin 46 August, 1897 NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION 1. AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL 2, METHODS OF ROAD MAINTENANCE BY CHARLES H. PETTEE NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND THE MECHANIC ARTS DURHAM, N. H. NEW HAMPSHIRE COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND THE MECHANIC ARTS AGRICULTURAL EXPERIMENT STATION Durham, N. H. BOARD OF CONTROL Hon. GEO. A. WASON, Chairman, New Boston. Pres. CHAS. S. MURKLAND, ex officio, Durham. CHARLES W. STONE, A. M., Secretary, Andover. Hon. JOHN G. TALLANT, Pembroke. Hon. FRANK JONES, Portsmouth. THE STATION COUNCIL Pres. CHAS. S. MURKLAND, A. M., Ph. D., Acting Director. FRED W. MORSE, B. S., Vice-Director and Chemist. CHAS. H. PETTEE, A. M., C. E., Meteorologist. HERBERT H. LAMSON, M. D., Bacteriologist. CLARENCE M. WEED, D. Sc, Entomologist. FRANK WM. RANE, B. Agr., M. S., Agriculturist and Horti- culturist. ASSISTANTS LEIGH HUNT, B. S., Assistant Horticulturist. CHARLES D. HOWARD, B. S.s Assistant Chemist. CLEMENT S. MORRIS, Clerk. E. H. FORRISTALL, Farm Foreman. The Bulletins of this Station are sent free to any resident of New Hamp- shire upon application. AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL BY CHARLES H. PETTEE OBJECT OF EXPERIMENT The experiment herewith described has been carried out with certain definite ends in view, and incidentally the location has been so chosen as to partially carry out a far-reaching improve- ment that is at present beyond the means of the town, and yet is absolutely essential to properly set oft' the approaches to the college. The definite ends were as follows : ist. To use a steam drill on a sufficiently large scale to deter- mine how far its well-known advantages may be applicable to country road work. 2d. To study the question of comparative cost of moving road material, differing in kind and having a variable length of haul. 3d. To incidentally make a further study of the question of what a standard grade should be. 4th. To experiment with different available materials for surfacing. DESCRIPTION OF LOCATION AND OF WORK DONE The locality selected for experiment lies upon the main thoroughfare through the village of Durham, with the property of the New Hampshire College upon either side. This thor- oughfare, for over a mile, is bordered upon one or both sides for nearly the whole distance by land of this institution. The street itself as laid out is 66 feet in width, and is nearly straight, but the traveled portion varies considerably from a straight line. Here and there masses of rock encroach upon this trav- eled way and force it to one side. In other places, deep 60 AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL ravines, requiring heavy fills, have been equally potent in pushing the roadway from the centre, and both together have caused the sidewalk to curve out toward the centre of the road until that thoroughfare has been encroached upon seriously in places. Commanding the approach to the main college buildings from the village side, was a hill 510 feet in length, having a continuous grade the whole distance, except for 50 feet near the top, which was level. While the grade was continuous, it varied from one in eight for a distance of 55 feet to one in thirty for a distance of 120 feet, and these grades were so sit- uated as to give a sharp rise for 90 feet in length near the bot- tom ; then an easy grade for 175 feet ; then a very steep ascent for 55 feet, with an easy slope beyond. These grades may be seen as represented by the broken lines in plate 1, figure 1, in which the vertical scale is exaggerated five times over the hori- zontal. The whole line in the same figure shows the grade of the road since its improvement. The lower part of the hill has been reduced to a uniform grade of one in twenty, while the upper portion has a grade of one in twenty-two. In plate 1, figure 2, the straight or nearly straight dotted lines show the former course of the traveled way and sidewalk ; the broken lines show the present position of sidewalk, and the whole lines give the bounds of the street as laid out and the bounds of the traveled way as now built. The dotted curved lines indi- cate the former position of rock areas now removed by blasting. The frontispiece and plates 2-6 give views taken before, dur- ing, and since the reconstruction of the road. The traveled way has been graded 22 feet in width, with dirt slopes of one to one at the sides. The sidewalk upon the north side has been rebuilt in its proper place upon the outer edge of the laid- out way, for which purpose a large amount of rock excavation and fill were necessary. Ultimately, as the land on the south is improved, the grade of the road should be carried to the full width of 66 feet. In the part experimented upon, which in- cludes about three fourths of the grading required for its full renovation, care has been taken to do no work which will have to be undone, but the remainder may be carried forward at any time with no interruption to travel. Enough has been done to ti \tt> ;•??■ AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL prepare this portion of the road for macadamizing, an improve- ment which it is hoped the town may be able to undertake at no distant day. RESULTS IN DETAIL The following table gives in detail the actual results accom- plished, together with the cost of each part of the work. The expenses include what were actually incurred and what would have been incurred if the town had been doing the work with- out aid from the college. GRADING. 01 ■a o s o 6 Material. Aver'ge length of haul. Source. Basis of esti- mate. Average cost per cubic yard haul- ing. Total cost. 554 Clay. 3/8 mile. College barn. Count of loads. 27i Cts. $152.35 146 Hard pan. 5-16 mile. Rear of Sci- ence buildi'g. Count of loads, 27^ cts. 40.15 24 Hard pan. V2 mile. Hoitt bank. Count of loads. 27| cts. 6.60 50 Hard pan. 200 feet. Stripping. Measurements. 27i cts. 13.75 22 Hard pan. 100 feet. Ditch. Measurements. 15 cts. 3.30 15 Cinders. 5-16 mile. Power station. Count of loads. 22£ cts. 3.32 16 Gravel. 2j miles. Lee gravel bank. Count of loads. 65£ cts. 10.E0 130 Stone. 250 feet. Stone wall. Measurement in embankment. 45J cts. 59.18 258 Stone. 125 feet. Blasted from ledge. Measurement in ledge. Ill cts. 286.38 Spreading earth and shaping road-bed $28.04 Supervision, 36 days at $2.00 72.00 520 loads of earth at 10 cents 52.00 Two culverts— 64 feet of pipe, $9.60; labor, $7.72 17.32 Total value of work d one •• $744.89 Acutal outlay to college $500.00 If of total cost we rebate amounts for supervision, value of earth furnished, amounts charged for use of drill and machinery, and excess of value of farm teams above $3.00 per day (college experiments are usually carried on upon a basis of expense of $3.00 per day per team, while in table this has been charged THE STEAM DRILL 63 at $3.50 per day), and if we allow something for the value of the stone reserved by the college, the actual net outlay will re- main nearly $500, as given above. Of the total fill, one third was for sidewalk, two thirds for roadway. Of the rock excavation, two thirds was for sidewalk, and one third for roadway. On the whole, 56 percent, of cost was for roadway, and 44 per cent, for sidewalk. The cost of moving clay, hard pan, and strippings varied from 25 to 40 cents per yard, differing mainly with the kind of labor employed in shoveling. RESUME 827 yards earth, estimated to shrink in place 1-10 lo .«••••••• 258 yards stone, less 20 yards drawn to college barn, equals 238 yards, estimated to increase in place 1-6, to Wall stone in place ..... Fills according to above estimates Fills from rough, direct measurements Average ...... 1,135 yal"ds at 64 cents (average price) $727.57 plus $17.32 (expense of culverts) . 744 yards. 275 yards. 130 yards. 1 ,149 yards. 1,120 yards. 1,135 yards. $727-57 $744.89 THE STEAM DRILL Steam drills are in common use in cities for grading and sewer excavation, quarrying stone for crushing, etc. They have not hitherto been considered as necessary or even desir- able machines for smaller towns. With reference to them, the object of this experiment was (1) to determine whether they are adapted to work carried on by more or less inexperienced hands; (2) to see if the use of the drill as a portable machine for small amounts of work in a place is practically feasible. While the work done was all within a limited area of a few hundred square feet, the arrangements were on a portable basis, and as a matter of fact, the whole apparatus was moved several times so satisfactorily as to amply justify more frequent 64 AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL changes and removals to longer distances when necessary. Therefore, a detailed history of the experiment will apply as evidence to both of the above questions. After consultation with various parties using drills, the writer, having had no practical experience with them, decided to place himself in the hands of some reputable party, handling a reliable article, and follow his advice. Such a party was found in the person of M. S. Harlow, M. E., New England agent for the Ingersoll-Sergeant Drill Co., with headquarters in Boston. After learning the nature of the experiment to be tried, Mr. Harlow loaned the college an Ingersoll B. drill that had been used a few times and yet was practically as good as new, so that the results obtained by its use were perfectly satis- factory. A man was sent from Boston to run the drill for such time as was necessary to teach those on the ground how to handle it, the college paying for this expense. With the exception of the loan of the drill, any other party would have been treated in the same manner by the drill company, and any machine sold would have been fully warranted. EQUIPMENT The following list of articles was found necessar equipment : i Ingersoll B. drill and tripod 25 feet steam hose ...... 1 set special blacksmith tools .... Duplicate set octagon drill steel Battery, leading wires, etc. .... Extra fittings, bushings, sand pump, etc. Portable 9-horse power boiler, with fittings com plete ........ 50 feet of i-inch pipe in variable lengths with fit tings 1 large and 1 medium Stillson wrench and 1 large monkev wrench ....... 2 water barrels, pails, etc. ..... 1 portable forge and anvil ..... Total cost ....... y for full $220.00 15.00 8.00 16.00 25.00 3.00 210.00 5.00 5.00 1. 00 24. CO $532.00 a8 z o H u D ai In O u w w w a < o w 66 AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL The prices given above are about those that will be accorded to any careful buyer. It will rarely be necessary for a town at the start to secure the boiler or the forge. In almost any town may be found small stationary boilers that may be hired at certain seasons and made portable by mounting upon anv low truck. By putting a few dollars extra into steel, the blacksmith work may be economically done at any shop in town, a part of the drills being used while others are carried to the shop. The special blacksmith tools, however, will still be necessary. Under these circumstances, the necessary expense of outfit may be reduced to about $300. The following force will be required to run the machine: one man for the drill ; one man at the boiler; one blacksmith, or one boy to carry drills to shop ; and one laborer working near to be called upon as needed. If either the man at the drill or at the boiler be a blacksmith, the drill may be run till all the steel is dull. Then shut down and sharpen up. In the work now being described, the person who was to learn the use of the drill acted as assistant, and gradually was allowed to assume control of the machine. In most cases, more or less stripping of earth from the rock is necessary. This should be thoroughly done well ahead of the drill, which may then be placed in the most advantageous positions. WORK DONE Seventy-four holes, averaging 3 feet, 3 inches, in depth, or 238 feet in all, were drilled in 67 hours, or at the rate of 3^ feet per hour. This time included one breakdown, using up 3 hours, and various delays due to seamy rock, stopping to instruct blacksmith, moving boiler, lack of steam, etc., but did not include 7 hours spent in blasting, 10 hours setting up and taking down twice each, and 1^ days, time of operator com- ing, going, and waiting for drill, all of which are included in the tabular expense account heretofore given. The rock drilled was syenite, exceedingly hard, quite seamy, and conse- quently slow drilling. In comparison with hand work, not only is the amount done per dollar of expense more, but a class of work may be NEED OF ROCK EXCAVATION ON COUNTRY ROADS 67 attempted that hand work cannot touch, because of the depth to which the holes may be driven by steam power. The total cost of handling rock, including the work with the drill, was very moderate, being at $1.11 per cubic yard less than the average contract price, which is usually about $1.75 per yard. With the experience gained, the work could be duplicated at a considerable saving of expense. Upon one job, carried on since with our own help, an average of 4 feet per hour was attained, with a labor account per day less than half that in the former case. One run of S hours gave 42 feet with 14 holes. These are not record-breaking results, but what has been actually done in very hard rock by amateurs. NEED OF ROCK EXCAVATION ON COUNTRY ROADS In order to investigate the question of the need of rock exca- vation on our country roads various computations were made, and a section of road 5^ miles long was carefully examined to find what amount of rock work was required. 1. Since it is evident from the table, page 62, that yard for vard rock excavation is much more expensive than earth fill, great care should be exercised not to handle rock when earth can be easily drawn to cover the same. In the experiment already related, if the grade had been carried two feet higher, thus avoiding all rock excavation except for sidewalk, the fol- lowing computation would hold : Extra embankment, 1,100 yds. earth, at 27^ cts. . $300.00 Extra embankment for sidewalk, 51 yds. earth, at 27^ cts. ........ 14.00 Total increase in expense .... $314.00 Stone, replaced by earth at saving of 83^3 cts. per yd., 181 yds., ....... 151.00 Net saving by larger use of steam drill . . . $16300 If a grade one foot higher than that adopted had been used, practically the same rock surface would have been covered and the total expense have been still greater. Therefore, as a mere matter of expense, a standard grade was attained in the best way. IP ,5 o H < aa W H < W H < a, RESUME 69 2. The examination of the 5% miles of road referred to above showed at least fifty places where rock excavation is necessary, either to open up the side ditches so as to keep the water out of the traveled way or for the improvement of grade. No account was taken of the numerous cases where earth could be more cheaply drawn and thus save ledge excavation. This highway is about an average of the better class of country roads in the hill towns of New Hampshire. RESUME As a result of both experiment and investigation it would then seem legitimate to draw the following conclusions : 1. There is need of a large amount of rock-work upon the average country road. 2. The steam drill is absolutely essential for the economical handling of considerable rock masses, and is capable of doing exceedingly economical work, in portable form, for small amounts of work in a place. 3. The ownership of the necessary plant, especially with boiler and forge omitted, is within the means of a large num- ber of towns. 4. A good opportunity for starting such an innovation as above outlined may be found frequently in connection with the carrying out of some single large improvement involving rock excavation. In such case the total expense of plant may be saved the first season. 5. The obvious objections are connected with the lack ot permanent organization of the department of roads and the frequent changes of management in our country towns. This is illustrated by the fact that probably two thirds of all the road machines in the state winter in the open air. 6. On the other hand, a steam drill is not bulky and would be left usually in the care of the person who had learned to run it. In that case it would receive all necessary attention. 7. A steam drill is simple in construction ; is made to stand banging, and is less liable to get out of order than many arti- cles of modern farm machinery in common use. 70 AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRIEI. COMPARATIVE COST OF MOVING ROAD MATERIAL Different materials moved were as follows: Rock thrown out by blasting, rock from an old wall, clay from barn cellar, hard-pan full of bowlders and small stones, a small amount of cinders and gravel easily handled. For details of number of yards, length of haul, cost, etc., see table, page 62. The cost of moving ledge rock is altogether too great to allow its profitable use in ordinary embankment. When, however, the rock must be moved, it can often be used to advantage in grading. Deep drilled holes, a good quantity of at least 75 per cent, dynamite, and a battery for use in explod- ing were found necessary for the satisfactory breaking up of masses of rock, while a hand derrick, which may be hired for about one dollar per day, was found to give far more economi- cal results in handling rock than could be attained without. Without going into details, all these points are of special importance and can hardly be emphasized too strongly when rock-work is under consideration. We see by examination of table that the economic value of an old wall for grade at a distance above fifty feet is exceed- ingly problematic. The size of the stone will be the determin- ing factor. In the case under consideration, about two thirds of the stone had to be handled with bars and many stones were loaded upon the drag by aid of horses. When we consider further the additional expense required in packing the rocks together to make a fairly compact fill, it may be regarded as settled that it would be cheaper to draw earth at least one half mile than to utilize a wall of large stone over fifty feet distant. The cost of handling earth varied from 15 to 66 cents per yard, the variation being largely due to the difference in the efficiency of the shovelers and not appreciably to differences in length of haul as great as one fourth mile. The highest cost, except for gravel, viz., 40 cents, was for earth moved only a little more than one fourth mile. Again, it can not be too strongly emphasized that the selection of the right number of shovelers and the right number of teams, proportioned to the distance to be covered and the kind of material to be moved, is a vital factor. I have in mind one third section of a town 72 \\ KXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRIEE where most of the road work for several years has been done by a single team, sometimes with and sometimes without an extra shoveler. It would be hard to say which combination was worse for the town. While this is an extreme case, indi- vidual instances of such wasteful work are of daily occurence. Perhaps equally important is the size of the load drawn. It was found that an average team ought to draw on a main road, not too hilly and free from mud, at least forty feet or thirty-two bushels of earth. Yet twenty bushels or less than a yard is nearer the average load hauled by teams working for our towns. Failure to attend to these details frequently triples the neces- sary expense. In this experiment, the cost of hauling earth and rock was less than the average cost to contractors and consider- ably less than the average cost to towns for road work. The clay moved from under the college barn had dried and hard- ened into an exceedingly compact mass, every inch of which had to be picked or otherwise broken up. Dynamite was tried several times quite successfully, but on the whole muscle and picks proved cheaper. With less effective muscle, how- ever, the result might have been reversed. A STANDARD GRADE In reducing the grade of a hill to a standard of one twentieth or a little less, it was not expected that much additional light would be thrown upon the question of what a standard grade should be. It was a single example, and whether the college or the people of Durham thought this particular grade the most profitable or at all better than the old, is of little moment to outsiders. Towns, however, will go on cutting down their grades to about the proportions that the experience of Europe and of the more thickly settled portions of this country advises as fast as they get round to the point of making good roads, and this experience has been followed in the case under considera- tion. It may be profitable, however, to notice some of the argu- ments employed by a few individuals to show that the new grade was no improvement over the old. It will be seen by Plate I, that formerly the grade was concentrated largely at two points, and it has been argued that this concentration ■^ ^ * s; ^ * 55 O H U oi H c/2 25 o o a & a H < a < o w H < a, 74 AN EXPERIMENT WITH A STEAM DRILL enabled a team to get over the elevation more quickly and easily than now with a longer hill having a uniform grade. In this case, there was no increase in the total length of road, rather a slight decrease, but only an increase in the length of the hill. There can be no question that, with the same road surface in two cases, a heavy load would steer clear of a grade of one eighth every time, and also of a grade of one twelfth for as great a distance as ninety feet, in favor of a uniform stand- ard grade of one twentieth. Moreover, since it is found that a driving horse with a light load will trot steadily along on a standard grade and that a heavy load may be easily started upon such a grade, it remains at least doubtful whether the extra speed claimed even in the case of a medium-sized load on the concentrated grades is not taken out of the animal driven. In riding a bicycle, it is noticeable that an ordinary rider may climb a hill at a standard grade without marked increase of effort, and with regular, steady motion, while upon a steeper hill, even if quite short, a special effort is necessary to get up sufficient momentum to carry one up the steep part, and this effort leaves one out of breath at the top, or, perhaps, only halt way to the top. We think it is the same with the horse on the steep grades, and that the extra effort required to climb a hill quickly comes out of the reserve strength of the animal, and, therefore, is no real gain. It may be easier in some cases for the driver to concentrate his efforts at a few points while urging on the average horse but the owner of the animal would prefer the standard grade. One fact was clearly shown as a result of the experiment, viz., that a hard surface may counterbalance a steep grade. After the completion of the grading a portion only of the hill was graveled, and that lightly. As a result the road was un- usually muddy the following spring, and there is no doubt but that the harder surface with the steeper grade would have been preferable for the time. As the question of surfacing, at least as well as before work began, involves simply the expendi- ture of a few dollars for gravel, there is no argument there against reducing grade. It is important, however, as teaching the great utility, yes, even absolute necessity, of surfacing in order to procure good roads. ■a. <5> fc o CJ D in •z o u w a H < J o PL, o H s o as > u H