Building a road involved simple technology and heavy labor. The first task, to clear the road, was
usually the most difficult. Stumps, boulders, brush and trees had to be cleared. Usually, this was
done entirely by hand or with the help of horses. It was not until the construction of the Erie
Canal that an ingenious workman invented a stump-puller; using this device, seven men and a
team of horses could pull forty stumps in a day. Considering the density of forest through which
many roads ran, even this was slow progress indeed.
Once debris was cleared, leveling began. This was the distinguishing mark of an improved road,
separating it from paths for foot travel or animal migration. Using hand-held rakes, hoes or
sometimes horse-drawn scrapers, farmers and rural laborers supervised by township officials
created a surface amenable to wagon and stage travel.
The land also had to be surveyed by a professional to determine the most efficient route between
two points. Distance, direction, and elevation all had to be measured. Distance, up through the
early nineteenth century, was measured with an iron chain 66 feet long known as Gunter's Chain.
Eighty chains equaled one mile; ten square chains equaled an acre. To calculate distance,
Gunter's Chain was simply stretched between two points as many times as necessary. Direction
was measured with a magnetic compass or a vernier, an instrument that measured horizontal
angles; it allowed a surveyor to determine how much a sight line diverged from magnetic north-
south. Most elevation measurement was done with a simple level, a flat device containing an
glass cylinder of water with a small air bubble. Elevation changes were determined by attaching
the level to a sight, placing a vertical measuring rod some distance away, and then reading
through the sight the relative height of the second location. Changes in elevation were extremely
important in roadbuilding; in the interest of efficient travel, it was followed that a wagon pulled by
horses could only traverse a grade of five degrees (a vertical rise of 462 feet per mile).
Cleared, flattened and graded, a road could be finished at this point. However, builders found
that these sorts of roads eroded quickly. Drainage ditches were added to stay the erosion process
and avoid wheel ruts, but a permanent road badly needed a top cover of stone. In 1799, an
anonymous roadbuilder published "Directions for Making Roads" in the Philadelphia
Magazine and Review. Here is his advice on laying stone:
"The stones should be spread equally over the surface, and settled with a light sledge [hammer];
in this operation, such stones as are too large, must either be broken or carried away; over this a
layer of small stones, not larger than eggs, should be scattered, and settled with hammers between
the interstices of the largest. Over this a small quantity of any hard clay, just sufficient to cover
the stones, should be spread; if mixed with gravel it will be better...In a month or two [of traffic],
the clay and gravel will be worn away, and the corners of the large stones will appear--men should
now be employed to break the stone with hammers, weighing about two pounds and an
half...After another months or six weeks, the road must be broken, with care, in the same manner;
and, with proper intervals, it should be broken from time to time, as often as may be necessary--
four times is, in general, sufficient."
Often the responsibility for building a road was passed from the state and federal government to
private turnpike companies. Hence, the "turnpike" or toll road: once a company had bid for and
built a road, it owned the rights of passage on it.
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When the toll was properly paid, the pike would be lifted, or if mounted centrally, turned, to allow the passage of traffic.
