Plank Roads

It seems that every Civil War anything that Granpa and I have gone to over the past five years makes reference to a "plank road."  So I finally decided to research them.  Much to my surprise, but, come to think of it, not to my surprise, I find out that they were mostly instituted for economic development. From being an observant citizen, there is some truth in that saying, "Build it and they will come." The question is, how quickly?

The soft surfaces some roads had (sand, marshes, swampy or thawing permafrost) made travel nearly impossible at times.  Something had to be done to, literally, move things along.  The Canadians copied the Russian engineers, and the Americans copied the Canadians.  The first plank roads in America were often turnpike roads built by companies that had been granted State congressional charters.  (You know us Americans, anything for a buck!)

The very first "plank" road in America was built in North Syracuse, New York in 1846 in order to get salt to markets.  To get that accomplished, legislation had to be passed.  (Nothing changes, huh?)  A State legislator, Thomas Alvord, managed to steer legislation through Albany (the state capital) to get the plank/toll concept approved.  Charters were then awarded to construction companies which would get a return on their investment by charging users a fee or toll. The technology for building plank roads was cutting edge, kinda the Apple of the mid-19th century. Investors jumped on the bandwagon (pun intended.)

The 16 1/2 mile plank road in New York cost a whopping $23,000 back then, and included four tollgates about four miles apart.  It seems that it was what today we call a two-lane road, a dirt side and a plank side. The plank side (3" thick and 8 feet long) was intended for heavy loads; the dirt side was for bicycles, horses, and empty wagons.  It was also used as the passing lane!  Oh, and on Sunday, the plank side was the scene of outlandish bicycle races!  The toll?  1 cent per cow, 5 cents per horse, and 25 cents for a horse and wagon or stage coach.  It was profitable for several years even though horse's shoes and iron-hooped stage and wagon wheels constantly did significant damage demanding permanent road crews for repair.  Routine maintenance would include digging ditches on either side of the lanes to help drain water from the surfaces.

This road was built a bit differently - but Alaska is a bit different most of the year anyway, eh.

"Plank road on St. George Island, Alaska, 1938" by National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) - NOAA Catalog number F&WS 10,067; digital image ID line1699. In the America's Coastlines Collection. Original image information page. Licensed under Public domain via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Plank_road_on_St._George_Island,_Alaska,_1938.jpg#mediaviewer/File:Plank_road_on_St._George_Island,_Alaska,_1938.jpg

The technology missed the mark, however and investors lost millions of dollars.

At any rate, by the time of the Civil War in 1862, the plank road technology had spread all up and down the East coast of the United States and that's why references kept turning up in our travels in the 21st century!