Ceredo advance. [volume] (Ceredo, W. Va.) 1885-1939, 1914-02-25
GOOD ROADS
AddreSsDelivered at Wayne
February 9, 1914, by j.
French Robinson.
Mr.. Chairman and Gentlemen

lliiiS 10 De Wltn you on account OF the
short course in Highway Engineering
which is being given at the University,
he has requested me to meet you and
assist you in discussing your road prob
lens. will not be expected to give
you as lengthy and possibly as prac-
teal a talk as your chief engineer but
L want to assure you that L am heart
and soul with you. l want TO help you
solve your problem
1t is not necessary to state that the
most important subjects that confront
the people of West Virginia today is
our highways or more especially our
need of them. 1t is an astonishing
fact TO compare the cost per ton per
mile of this country and countries
abroad. In Germany the cost of trans
porting ton of freight one mile is
eight cents; in France, ten cents; in
America, twenty-five and seven tenths
cents, and while in West virginia it
ranges around thirty cents.
Here | wish to cite you to an article
taken from Mr.. Williams address in
which he gave an incident of his own
experience. 1t was necessary in the
month of February, i9l1, to haul 1876
COO feet of lumber distance of four
miles The condition of the roads were
such that with two horses weighing
l 300 pounds each, he was able TO trans
port but one ton, or 400 feet, and make
two trips per day. The team was cost
ing - O0per day which made it cost
! him - 80 per ton four miles or 62 -
cents per ton per mile The county in
the following spring spent 5000 ON
this road eliminating the bad grade
and macademising the soft surface of
one mile which affected the entire road
! Following this he was able with the
same team to transport 300 feet of
lumber per load, and in lieu of two
loads per day was able TO make three
or l-2 tons for the same cost as two
tons over the bad roads or &c 2-3 cents
per ton for the four miles or at IA cost
1928 cents per ton per mile as against
62 l-2 cents per ton on bad roads. On
the first hauling it cost 1928 per thous-
and feet while by the latter it only
cost Sill or saving of - IA per thous-
and. Now, if he had been compelled to
haul two million feet of lumber over
this road he could have built the i'm
provement for the county, and turned
1t over free to the county at the end
| nf hn nrtA1
ahead. Now there are thousands of
such examples to be found all over
our state doubtless you can recall some
similar ones here.
want here to impress upon this
body that it is not so much the costs of
good roads that we should consider.
but to have you impress upon the peo-
pie what we are paying for bad roads
There are three things essential in
road construction: To improve the
surface, reduce the grades and shorten
the length. By reducing the grades
and improving the surface we mate
rally increase the speed, and and by
increasing the speed we decrease the
length of the road a great mistake
has been made in this state in the past
by believing that any man was com
petent to locate road. This has cost
Us millions Of dollars in construction
and in deficiency of service from the
roads and their construction.
1t has been proved by actual test
that horse can exert a pull of 10 per
cent OF his weight or a 200 pound
horse 100 pounds when working steadily
and that for a short period this pull
may be increased to practically 40 per
cent of his weight Now as the grade
increases, the load the horse can pull
decreases very rapidly. For instance
on 6per cent. grade a horse can pull
only about one-half as much as on
level grade; on 10 per cent. grade
only about one. fourth as much Since
you have 4,0lS horses in your county
il is easy to figure that bad grades
would cost this county the time Of
1900 horses this at $500 per day per
team and taking 25O working days as n
basis your tribute 20 bad roads i'm
Wayne county alone is 90. 100. co.
Along with grading our roads should
come q system that will not be ma
terial advantage TO the locality i'm
which the road is built but the saying
ono man lives unto himself alone. il
very applicable TO road building. 30
county can build a road for itself
alOne-lt must also build for its neigh.
bors. Your state Road Bureau has
recommended to the different county
courts and it asks the cooperation of
this county and all patriotic citizens Of
the state in carrying state system
into actual practice. This can be done