The Construction of a Mountain Road in Cyprus. ’ by EDWARDHUGH DYKELEY NICOLLS, Assoc

~apere.1 NICOLLS ON CONBTBUCTION OF A NOUNTAIN ROAD. 341

(Paper No. 3360.)

“ The Construction of a Mountain Road in Cyprus. ’ By EDWARDHUGH DYKELEY NICOLLS, Assoc. M. Inst. C.E. IXthe following Paper is described the construction of a mountain road in the Islandof Cyprus, from the village of Astromeriti to the top of Mount Troodos, where is situated the camp for the troops quartered in the Island,and the seatof the civilGovernment during the summer months. It will be seen from the accompanying map (Fig. l), that the village of Astromeriti is situated about 20 milesfrom Nicosia, the capital of the island, on the main road between that place and Morphou. Formerlythis village was theterminus of the carriage-road for everything going to Troodos from Kicosia, goods having to be transferred at this point to the backs of mules. The section of the road between Astromeriti and Evrychou was con- structedin 1899, and passes over the foothills of thenorthern slopes of the Troodos range. The majority of the gradientson this section range between 1 in 15 and 1 in 50, there being only one gradient of 1 in 12, having a length of about 200 yards. A large bridge wasnecessary at &to Koutrapha, over the Elaia River: this was built entirely of stone, the arches being 20 feet span and the length over all 310 feet. The stone used in its construction was quarried from a neighbouring hill, this being the lastoutcrop of the limestone rock before the commencement of the volcanic formation, of which the whole of the southern range is composed. Parts of this hill, known as Eoronia, also yielded stone suitable for lime- burning, and the lime used for this, as well as for all the other bridges on the road, was burnthere. “Flare ” kilns were constructed and the limewas burnt departmentally,a great saving incost being thus effected; the cost of the lime, including transport, varying between 2 miles and 20 miles, was 6jd. per bushel. The analysis of this limeshowed a large percentage of magnesia, but in spiteof this it was not of itself hydraulic, although when mixed with the

Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. Papers.] NICOLLS ON CONSTRUCTION OF A MOUNTAIN ROAD. 343 local pozzuolana, which occurs in great quantitiesamong the higher hills, it has withstood the action of running water very well. South of the Koronia hill, all the foothills consist of eruptive rocks similar to the main range, and the stone obtainable from them is very unsuitable for building, being too hard and brittle to be dressed, and splitting upunder the action of the weather. The road enters the Karyoti valley near the villageof Evrychou, and, passing close above it, skirts the eastern side of the valley, crossing the river by anold Cypriot masonry bridge called Kaliana. Between this point and Galata some difficulties were met with, as the new road coincided more or less with theold bridle-path which ran along the edge of one of the main irrigation-channels, at the foot of the steep slopes of the mountain, out of which the roadway had to be cut. The irrigation-channelcould not be interfered with or choked, nor could the fields below be used as a tipping-ground, and the cheapest method was found to be that of building walls of dry rubble with large blocks of excavated rock, and filling in behind with the debris; this lessened the width required to be cut, and saved the cost of carrying the surplusexcavation long distances to spoil. Below the village of Galata the arches of all the bridges had been built of limestone brought from Koronia, but as the cost of transport became excessive and as the local rock was so unsuitable for arch work, it was decided to attempt brickmaking from the clay found at Galata. This was an entirely new departure in the island, andproved a complete success ; the bricks, although somewhat rough and not of very even colour, were hard, free from flaws or cracks, andrang well. Thisclay is very suitable for burning in small kilns, with brushwood as fuel, as it contains a large percentage of oxide of iron, and therefore does not require great heat. These bricks have also withstood the action of frost and weather excellently,and have shown no signs of blistering or peeling ; they were made to the ordinary English size and cost 30s. per thousand. Above Galata all thearches were built of them, these beingprobably the first brick arches built in the island since Venetian days. At Rakopetria the real climb begins, the road winding up the Ksrydis valley. Some difficulty wasexperienced atthis point, owing to the want of suitable plant to assist in the removal of the large water-worn granite boulders, weighing sometimes as much as 10 tons, whichwere found embedded inthe ground. These were exceedingly hard, andit was nearly a day’s work for one man to drill a blast-hole 1 foot in depth in a boulder. As, however,

Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. 344 NICOLLS ON CONSTRUCTION OB A MOUNTAIN ROAD. [Selected there was plenty of brushwood available the native method of splittingthese boulders wasoften resorted to. In this method large heaps of brushwood are piled over the stones and setfire to ; after the boulders have been subjected to this heat for some time, water is thrown upon them, when they split readily upon being struck a heavy blow with a sledge-hammer. In other cases the stones were undermined, and were sunk 6 inches below the finished surface of the road. After crossing Karvouna, the saddle joining Mount Adelphi and Mount Troiidos, the road winds round the southern slopes of the range. Several difficult ravines were met with on this portion, and in some places the road had to be cut out of the solid rock. One gorge in particular, about 1,000 feet in depth and having almost precipitous sides, for a long time seemed to forbid the progress of the road along this side of the mountain, and if no way across it could have been found the road must necessarily have been taken directly up the hill by zigzags (a most objectionable feature in any road), instead of bycontouring round the mountain. This would also have necessitated an additional rise andsubsequent fall of some 200 feet, equivalent to over 1 mile of road at themaximum gradient of 1 in 15. A possible location for the road into and out of this ravine was, however, at length found, the easier slopes of t,he mountain on the farther sidewere reached, and from this point to the terminus,5,649 feet above sea-level, no great difficulties wero met with. Between the village of Kakopetria and the summit no height once gained is lost again, except at two points, and the descent in both these cases is very trifling; zigzags were almost entirely avoided, and only occur in four places, the turns being made wide, open, and quite level. The following are the heights above sea-level and the distances and rises between the different points :-

- Height above Sea-Level. 1 Rise. Dietance. -____ --- _____,--- Feet. Feet. Miles.

Nicosia ...... ~ 480 ~ .. j .. Astromeriti ...... 1 580 100 201 Evrychou ...... 1,4iG 896 131 Kakopetria ...... : 1 2,050 574 5 Karvouna ...... ~ 3,750 , 1,700 Troiidos Camp...... I 5,650 1,900 Totals . . . 1 .. 1 5,170

Downloaded by [ Syracuse University] on [16/09/16]. Copyright © ICE Publishing, all rights reserved. P~pors.] NICOUS ON CONSTRUCTION OF MOUNTAINA ROAD. 345 The cost of the construction of the road between Astromeriti and Troodos was 24,247, or an average cost of 5130 78. per mile. The cost of bridging was 22,523, making the totalcost of the road between these twopoints 26,770, or S208 3s. per mile. These sums do not include any metalling, but are for formation only. The road is only gravelled between Astromeriti and Koutrapha, as south of the latter the small rock debris from the cuttings was spread on the road and forms a. good surface, quite strong enough to carry the light traffic which passes over it. That part of the road lying between Astromeritiand Evrychou was carried out during the spring and summer of 1809, the latter village being originally intended as the terminus of the carriage-road. In the spring of 1900, however, the Government determined to carry the road right up to the Troiidos Camp, and instructions were issued in April for the work to becompleted as soon as possible, so that the road should be open for carriage traffic before the returnof the Governmentto the plains in October. The 10 miles of road whichhad to be formed were completed before theend of September at an average rate of about 3 miles per month. The number of men and women employed daily was, on an average, four hundredand thirty, divided into seven gangs, underas many foremen.

The Paper is accompanied by a tracing, from which the Figure in the text hasbeen prepared.