El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1912-07-23
Fl PlsO's ASPHALT ROADS COST LESS
Than SOME STATE MACADAM ROADS
Michigan and Ohio Reports Show that the Cost of Con-
structing the Ordinary Macadam Roads in Those
States Has Been More Than Judge Eylar Has
Had to Pay for Macadam With Asphalt Sur
facing Resume of County Road Work

That Ell Paso county has been able to
buiId asphalt-macadam roads as
cbeanIv as many sections Of the cOun-
fry have been able TO construct the or
binary unacadam roads, IS showing
made by official figures which county
judge Eylar has recently received
Michigan and Ohio reports in his pos
session show that the ordinary mac
adam in those states costs more than
the macadam with the aSphalt Top
has cost the taxpayers OF II Fase
county. Judge Eylar, who IS one OF
the leading good roads enthusiasts OF
the Southwest, has given his personal
care and attention to the construction
of All the roads in the county and has
the facts and figures at his finger
tips. He is justly proud OF the work
the commissioners nave accomplished
since his term in office and intends
to keen the good work going, in sys
tematic manner, as long as ne remains
in office
At tbe request of The FL Paso Herald.
Judge Eylar has prepared a statement
of the cost of road work IN the county
from its inception in January, 1908, to
the present time. His article follows;
Ell Paso. Texas. July p, 1912
Editor OF FL PasO Herald.
I am glad to comply with your re-
quest for a statistical report Of the
road work of Ell PasO county during
recent years, and am sorry that the de-
mands of a more or less strenuous
campaign do not permit me to give
that detailed report that the import
ance of the question deserves.
The Cost Varies.
The cost of our county roads varies
from $4,000 to $4,000 a mile. This
includes cost Of rock and asphalt,
grading, culverts. cement bridges lex
cept 5-mile bridge) and every other
item of cost Comparative figures as
to cost of road building are of but
small value, because OF the varying
elements that enter into the cost OF
-
qUarries, number of bridges and cul-
Verts. amount Of grading, etc, but it
should be some satisfaction to know
that this county is building asphalt
macadam roads at a slightly greater
cost than plain macadam roads cost
in some parts Of our country. \ Mich
igan report at hand shows a mile OF
plain macadam road. 16 feet wide. that
cost SS694.50. and an Ohio report shows
a plain macadam road $500 feet long
Il feet wide, that cost $1,000, without
bridges and culverts. which has been
heavy item Of expense in building
our roads.
The top grade or our roads is p
feet wide. but the width of the metal
and by that is meant the asphalt
macadam center, varies from II feet
on the Anthony COurchesne road. to
so foot sphalt-macadam surface on
Alameda avenue.
Considering the upper valley. road in
the order in which il lies, we have;
Harris Mill Road.
This road cost s1S,29219; its asphalt
macadam surface is q feet wide; il
contains 2S-271 square yards Of asphalt
macadam- After deducting the cost Of
the cement bridges and the concrete on
this road the road cost S16,S5S-5O Di
vide this By the number of yards and
is SIS cents II p the best road for
the money that the county ever built.
owing TO the fact that the grading was
not heavy. and the road was close to
pa n N-H In FnF7 fur
nished the rock.
COurehesne CUTOFF.
The COurchesne cutoff is $500 feet
long and cost S12.92A- Previous to its
construction. traffic from the upper
valley went over the hills back Of the
cement plant This work was we'll
done by Mr. Courchesne. the contractor. 1
and its value to the upper valley can I
not be Overestimated.
Anfhony-COUrchesne Road.
The NEUTRALITY-SUSPICIOUS. road is 1876
miles long and cost S101.245.2s- 1t has
an asphalt-mac adam center. II feet
wide. Much of il is built through
swamps that made the grading ex-
pensive, as gravel had to be used as
necessitated long hauls: the grading
and ballast on this road cost $3O,S5e.
The rock and asphalt surface on this I
road cost 50 cents square yard
Taking up the lower valley road /
work in its order we have first
FL PaSO-YSleta Road.
This was built by Richard CABLES un-
der contract. and cost S79.2SS.6S His |
contract called for a plain macadam I
road without any asphalt surface It /
cost so cents a square yard. which es- (
innate includes both rock and grading
ResurfGcing Xsiefs Road With Asphalt. :
It was soon learned that a plain 1
lnacadam road is not practicable in this I
dry climate. It pulverizes into dust /
and the dust nuisance is insupportable
After many costly experiments. IL was
discovered that hot asphalt rolled into
the macadam top solved the problem
This originated the asDha1t-macadam I
road The last four miles Of the Ysleta I
toad were treated with hot asphalt as ]
Il was built. The county then came
back and put an asphalt-macadam sur
face from two and a half to three
inches thick on the remaining part Of
The road making il a double thickness !
road This resurfacinC cost ~ cents
l square yard and the total cost Of the
asphalt work on this road. which in
'ludes this resurfacing. amounts to
,4S.952-T0
NsIeta-CIinf Road
This road was designed by . road I
,xpert sent US by the United States /