The state herald., 1897-04-23
COSTLY ROAD WORK.
fiimsy CulSer's and Temporary Road
ways That Are ExtraNagant.

The San Francisco Mining aud Scientific
Press has the following valuable suggcs'
tions nbout eNtravaganec In road building;
Considerable has recently been said III
these columns regarding the need uf good
roads In California. II is To be borne In
mind that large amount OF money IL an
nunlly expended for road work In the va
rious countics-onc man writes that In his
county ~ per cent. Of the taxes collected
are 80 expcndcd-hut 1t sometimes happens
that that money Is not wisely or judiciously
spent
Herewith is illustrated two striking In
stances OF eNtravaEHnce In road making,
The lower picture shows plank Culyerl,
which looks economical. but Is really tax
consuming device.
subsirncturcs Of pcrishable material are
always cStraSugnnt. though the first cost
has AN economical look on paper. They con
sumo large nmonnt uf timber and afford
opportunity for arg. amount Of wage
paying. Every time plank gives out n
work aud the cost of repairs is enormous. 4
case has been cited ~ which n man and
team were sent To put plank In n bridge
few miles distant. He started out lelsurciy
In The morning, got II plank from n lumber
yard Hnd proceeded Ia The broken bridge
four or i've miles away, Arriving about
lunch time. he ate his lunch and then nn-
bought tw.lvc-inch plank Instead OF ten
Inch, and was forced ip leave the mlSft
plank Ia III" gap aud return I" town. A.
II was too late in-fhc day to return be- uts
mtcbc'i aud turned In for ihr night The
next morning he went aEnln TO the lumber
yard aud got plank u the right width
aud started again for Ilr broken bridge,
Arriving there he found that some one had
stolen the loose plank which he left In the
gap, but he succeeded lu mailing down The
new ono aud got hnrk lu town that night
When the hill came In ~ Hiust the county II
Of course included the rpst ~ two plnnEs
and two drys' time Of mHu nni team 10 put
On" plank In a bridge fob which should
have been done In half O. inv. Al perish.
ulile Auhkffugtnrss likely 4f
pensivc In this way, aud that j. the reason
why permanent. impcrishahlc structures are
- cheap IN III" end. The plank culFcf
shown IN The engraving will tcqulro con.
slant patrllng aud renewal md VIII there
fore In n few years cosi many times much
as cement aud gluzul srwrrplpc rulvert
The upper picture on iAl, page Is lust ns
eloquent In lis way. II represents tie con
htruction ~ roadway over lava plain IN
Tchnmn county. The plan hHs been Ia roll
The rocks 10 one side mud thu. clear o way
hut The material beneath was u -urh nature
that the roadway soon became dangerous
aud utmost lmpnssablr. Five lines, there
fore, new foais We're arranged Ia take the
place OF those worn nui aud the picture
shows four Of these abandoned roadway.
Last year. oh advice Of the liurcan u High.
ways, the people undertook to build mnc-
adainlzc'i rnnd OF the rock which lay all
around. Their" WAS no public money avail
able, ~ nn" mnn advanced the money To-
buy rock crnshef. the urlghh1rs subscribed
i.oIp days labor Of themselves and teams
others subscribed food md pfoyrnder Tor
man aud beast Will. the work was in prog
r.sS aud the result Is The marndumiyrl road
of which u portion Is shown ~ the extreme
right Of III" picture. n has rnSi less than
tlli the i've worn out roads. hnd II VIII last
for lifetime with iitiir care mud watch.
fulness. II was hard place to build road
for there was uO soil into which excavation
could he mndr to hold The hrokpn rock IN
place, hut by pllinE ~ The loose rocks on
way between these frinlnng lines of large
rprk, the difficulty hns been overcome
fhis too. shows how a good job Will be a
permanent improvement and thus enter
Into the actual wealth Hnd resources ~ the
county. while a p"0r rond II not only rN,
penrlvr. hut represents no investment ~ ALL
IN IT,