THE STATE
August 3, 1935
In the Days of Plank Roads
N
>KTII CAROLINA
LMHHI M'.I'I*.
«111*1
WC I1«»V
Hike* our modern highway
;i« .‘I limit"!' of I'OIUW.
‘TWAS back in
1Й52.
(Ii.il the plank
road was
1нчиц
hiiiEf from Fayette-
villc to AVinslon. and the people of
I hat day and lime considered it a
great engineering feat, finite dif¬
ferent from our highways of today,
however.
the bin
this Mai
■•.Is. Particularly was ibis
1 rue of highway construct ion Injure the
War Between tin- State*.
One uf tli" earliest "improved roads"
in North Carolina wae the Fayette¬
ville ami Western Plank Road whirl,.
I am informed, ran from Fayetteville
10 Winston nml is still known around
Asheboro ns “the old plank rond."
Copy of an Old Contract
I recently came across a copy of a
contract that was made in Ix-half of
the Fayetteville and Western Plank
Road Company for the construction <*f
stretch of this road in
mtv, between Asheboro
and High Point.’ This contract and
agreement were made and entered into
on the third day of January . 1852, l»y
and between JeMe Walker, the party
of the first part, and tile Fayetteville
. ornpauy.
A part
a seven-
mil"
Rnudolp
1, Cc
Western IMank Rond *
e second part.
. r .t,„ .....
I.
/пи.
The p
of road and -ix dollars
|ич
feet B.M. for Mich hewn til,
av! .1 v:ill i
part agrees
"iisation to
>Wt at the
id Thirty-
•r mile for
id portion
r thousand
party of the first p
to furnish fur the const
the some to
Ы
I„ad"'m
ahlv to the i Miniates of
of the said Company res
cent of ihe said monthly
til the completion of the
,1
me
'iietiuli ut
payment
•ntlilv. ag
•1...
•tinl contract
bv
.1*
T. Co
F. W
Walker,
P. IL C
Specifications of Work
«,
believe that overvl-.d,
Bi/ II. >1. ROBINS
ern methods. Mere is the agreement :
lit. All timber trees and stumps,
are to be removed for the distance of
seventeen feet from the center line of
All trees and stumps are
tin
to
I rig ami plank
ularlv wln’ii o«
THE STATE
• road.
U- cut below the surface of the
ground; and that portion of the road
U|M>n which the plank are to In- laid,
i. to lx- cleared of stumps and roots,
that in no case shall the plank of
stringers rest upon either stump or
root. And nil dead trees, standing
within thirtv-feet of the center of the
road, are to be cut.
2nd. The read bed is to In- graded
crowning, or in “Turnpike form." so
a* to Is* twenty-two feet wide; and the
center, when completed, raised at least
twenty-one inches above the bottom of
the side ditches ; and also so a* to re¬
move slight inequalities in the natural
surface- of the ground.
ard. A ditch i« to Im> formed upon
each side of tin* road except in case of
embankment, so as to carry off all «ur-
face water from llm road to the
том
READ
THE STATE
EVERY WEEK
And Keep in Step With the
Progress of
NORTH CAROLINA
convenient cross sluice or
other place of discharge.
Said ditch is to be five f*-ct
wide at top. two feet wide
at bottom, and the entire
slope to In* upon the side
next to the road bed. and
such other lateral ditches
cross sluices as may be
necessary to carry off the
surface wafer from the
rornl, to secure its entire and perfect
drainage, are to be made in such place
and manner as the Engineer of the
road may direct.
•III,. The plank an* to be laid upon
four string pieces, which are to be so
laid the outer edges of the other string
pieces «hull bo five and one-half feet
apart, and each equally distant from
the center line of the planked track:
and the space between the outer and
inner string piece, on the same side,
six inches in the dear. They are also
to be so laid that the plank shall have
a firm hearing upon each string piece,
and the outer end of the plank
1ю
two
inches lower than the end at the cen¬
ter of the road. The string pieces are
also to rest upon the earth their entire
length. No earth is to remain between
the stringers and plank.
.*»th. The earth is to he firmly
packed in and around the string pieces,
and to !-• >0 fitted and levelled that the
plank shall have a firm bearing upon
their entire lower surface.
6th. TIlO plank are to be laid upon
either side of the center line of the
road. n« the Engineer of the Company
may direct. They are to be so laid
as alternately to project one beyond the
other three inches, and to bo driven
down and closely together.
7th. After the plunk are laid, the
road shall lx* so graded that the firmly
packed earth in the center of the rend
shall
1ю
three inches higher than the
inner of the plank: and the firmly
packed earth, at the outer edge of the
plank, one inch higher than the outer
edge of t ho plank; and tin* whole sur¬
face of the graded road-way is to be
made ever, and uniform, so as to
так-'
a perfectly smooth road.
8th. The entire work to lx> subject
to the inspection of the Engineer of
the Company, and done agreeable to
his direction, and subject to his de¬
cision in ull questions relating to the
efficiency ,»f the work, and whether
done agreeable to these apecificalions
and this contract.
