The Springfield herald., 1897-04-23
COSTLY ROAD WORK.
FIimsy CulSerts and Temporary Road
wmys Tint Are ENtrnNngnnt.

The San Francisco Mining and Scientific
Press has the following valuable suggcs-
tions about extravaganza in road building.
Considerable has recently been said IN
these columns regarding the need Of good
roads in California. II is 10 be borne in
mind that II large amount of money Is nu'
nunlly expended for road work. In the VA.
rious counties-onc man writes that In MS
county II per cent Of the taxes collected
are so cNpended-but 1t sometimes happens
that that money is not wisely or judiciously
spent.
Herewith is illustrated two striking in
stances of cNtraragance In road making.
TIL, lower picture shows plank culvert,
which looks economical, but Is really tax
consuming device.
Substructnres of perisabc material are
always cNtrnvngnnt. though the first cost
has an economical look on paper. They con
sumo II large amount of timber and afford
opportunity for large amount of wage
paying. Every time plank gives out
whole lot of county machinery is set at
work aud The cost of repairs is enormous. a
case has been cited In which n man and
few miles Instant. He started out leisurely
In the morning. got plank from n lumber
yard and prosSs,Iea to the broken bridge is
loaded the plank He found that he had
bought II twclvc-lnch plank instead of ten
inch. and forced to leave the misht
plank In the gap and return to town. As
II was too late in the day to return he nm
hitchcd and turned In for the night. The
next morning he went again to the lumber
yard and got Il plank Of the right width
Arriving there he found that some one had
ssolen the loose plank which he left in the
gap. but he succeeded in mailing down the
new one nnd got back 10 town that night.
When the bill came In against the county 1t
of course included the cost of two planks
and two days time Of man and team to put
one plank In brdge--a job which should
have been done in half day. All perish
able substructures are likely 10 be very ex-
pensive In this way. and that Is the reason
why permanent, impcrishable structures nre
so cheap IN the end. The plank cnlvert
shown IN the engraving will require con-
slant patching and renewal. and will there
fore in II few years cost many times MS much
ms n cement and glazed sewerpipc culvert
would.
The upper picture On this page is just as
eloquent in Its way. 1t represents the con
str,lcton OF II roadway over IL lava plain in
Tchama county. Tie plan has been to roll
the rocks to one side and thus clear way,
but the material beneath was of such nature
and almost impassnblc. Five times, there
fore, new roads were arranged to take the
place of those worn OUT. and the picture
shows four of these abandoned rondwnys.
Last year, on advice of the Bureau of High
ways, the people undertook TO build a mac;
around. There was no public money avail
able. so one man advanced the money to
buy II rock crusher. the neighbors subscribed
1000 days labor Of themselves and teams.
others subscribed food and proycndcr for
man and beast while the work was in prog
rrSs, and the result Is the niaca,lamiZed road
of which portion Is shown ut the extreme
right of the picture 1t has cost less than
for II lifetime with little and watch
fuluess. 1t was u hard place to build n road
for there was no soil into which excavation
could he made 10 hold the broken rock In
place, but by piling up the loose rocks on
each side, and making a crushed rock road
way between these retaining lines of large
rock. the difficulty las been overcome.
This, too. shows how good job VIII be n
permanent improvement and thus enter
into the actual wealth and resources of the
county, while n poor road is not only cN,
pcnsivc but represents no investment at all.
because 1t has no durability or permancncc
In 1t,