The Mankato free press. [volume] (Mankato, Blue Earth County, Minn.) 1879-1924, 1912-12-27
annual appropriation OF $4,000 from

annual appropriation, OF sl5O,00O iron
the state treasury for the expeAs
or the highway, commission, thu
enabling them to enlarge the tech
meal duties OF 1.-The office STAFF an,
to maintain a field corps of exper
road and bridge engineers, acting a.
assistants to the state engineer, VIII,
shall personally direct and surer
wise :. the work ON all designatet
state roads. Two chief deputies wer,
appointed for State Engineer Coole,
in the persons Of John Fl. Mullen
deputy highway engineer. and Car
L. Nagel. deputy bridge engineer
these men having shown their eff
cheney by previous connection Will
the highway staff.
For the present year, under tn,
new law, the state road and bridg;
funt amounts to $4,000. The in
terest of the counties in the gool
roads movement is evidenced by tn,
fact that the total requests for state
aid amounted to $629,447, which the
state was unable to supply. Thi!
means that work on state road.
amounting to S1,25S,894. or twice
the amount requested, will be done
this year under direct, SUPERVISION o.
the highway commission. Besides
this, an equal amount OF work will
be directed by the highway engi
neers on county and town roads fol
which state aid has not been fur
nished. Although the road improve
ment work in Minnesota, directed
by the highway commission this
year, will amount to nearly three
million dollars. There are $4,000
miles of road in the state, 12,G94
miles of road have been designated
as state roads.
:Forty-fiye Road Engineers.
In accordance with the provision
of the law for an expert field corps
there are now forty-fve road .eDgi
neers and six bridge engineers dis
tributed over the state, each one
having supervision over the road
in, his district. This number is being
Increased to sixty as rapidly as
trained and experienced men can
be procured. Besides these, there
are also fifteen local road superin
tendents who have practically the
same duties as the deputy engineers
but who are appointed in counties
that do not require expert engineer
ing advice. Last year, also, a nun.
Der of road patrols were appointed
in different counties in the state
to determine the advantages Of a
system of continuous maintenance
on fmroved gravel or macadam
roads. Eeach man was given sec
ton of from six to nine miles to
keep in repair, and was supplied
with a wheelbarrow and ordinary
tools for the purpose of filling up
hollows, smoothing over rough
places. and such simple repair work
Much Favorable Comment.
The system, received a great deal
of favorable comment and was so
satisfactory that twenty-four such
patrols are now on permanently i'm
proved highways in the state, which
number will shorty be increased TO
thirty. They are only useful. how
ever. on maintaining permanent
roads, such as gravel Or 5macadam,
as the road drag operated by neigh
boring land owners on yearly con.
tracts is found to be the most sat
isfactory and economical treatment
for the maintenance of improved
earth roads, costing only from five
to ten dollars per mile per year.
Limitations of State Aid.
Thus there is before the people of
Minnesota today a practical, work.
ing and efficient agency for the pro
motion of good roads. But the peo-
pie must help; the state will not do
it all. There seems to be general
of the term, state
road" in that many persons believe
that when a road in a county is so
designated its improvement and
maintenance will then be taken care
of entirely by the state. Such is not
the case. The state will pay only
half Of the cost on state roads in
any county; up to the amount of the
allotment given to that county, and
such roads are better called state
nient. 1t will be particularly helpful
to the northern part Of the state in
rapidly extending serviceable high
ways through the unsettled commun-
tiles, and to those districts where
heavy traffic makes permanent and
costly highways imperative.
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