_Fore and Aft Plank Roads._ This type of road is constructed by placing cross-ties from eight to ten feet apart, center to center, upon which are placed lengthwise for each wheel, two or three sawed timbers not less than six inches in thickness and from twelve to fifteen inches in width. A good road of this type will deliver 150 million feet of logs at a conservative estimate. The grading is usually light and in many places entirely unnecessary. Second-grade six by eight ties with the eight inch face placed down, or hewn poles are laid about eight feet apart. Where the road bed is soft, the ties are placed closer and in some places as near as two and a half feet apart. Over very swampy ground, the road known as the fore and aft puncheon road is used. It consists simply of cedar puncheon placed crosswise of the road with the usual planking nailed securely to it. The plank used should never be less than six inches in thickness in the main road as it has been proved that four inch plank very soon give way under the heavy loads. On the spur lines it is practicable to use four inch plank because the road is used only a short time. The total width of the road is eight feet and the plank are laid on top of the ground, but if they are sunk nearly to the level of the ground the road is made considerably more firm and enduring, and of course is safer. The ends are adzed smooth to present an even surface, drift-bolted to the ties, and all joints broken. The plank in the track are kept together by means of a three by four inch timber driven tightly between the tracks on top of the cross-ties at each joint, and a block nailed to the outside of the tie at each joint with a wedge-shaped piece of wood driven between it and the plank. (See illustration on page 33.) This wedge is driven in from time to time as occasion may demand. If, in addition to this construction, dirt or gravel is filled in the center to the level of the track, the road is made very solid. [Illustration: Fore-and-aft plank road with wedges on cross ties to facilitate the re-aligning of the planks.]