The Hood River glacier. (Hood River, Or.) 1889-1933, 1915-06-10
road bed. which is % feet wide.

road bed. which is 90 feet wide.
This road is preferred by.all classes
Of traffic TO three year old msesdam
road Of which il is a continuation. The
maintenance of this road consists iu ad-
ding three inches of new gravel each
year. This costs 500 per mile. and
keeps the road permanently in the
same condition as when FIRST built.
This is high maintenance cost, being
one fifth Of original cost, equivalent TO
complete rebuilding every five years.
IAN average good roads engineer snd
economist considers this kind of an eX-
penditure a wasteful and extravag8nt
one.
'But apply the plan TO problems in
Hood River county, only at double the
cost, the road quoted not being a fair
average. Your $500 year will then
give you at $1,000 per mile, so miles of
road the first year; maintenance of this
road the second year at $500 per mile
will be $4,000. Subtract this from
the yearly appropriation of $50, 600, and
you have left the sum of $40, 900 with
which to construct 40 miles more of
good gravel road. The maintenance Of
this 90 miles for the third year will be
SIS, 900, leaving you balance Of S32,
| 600 for first construction. You may
then build the remaining 10 miles of
highway with a balance in the county
treasury of S22, 600. The 100 miles of
completed road, after three years
work. has cost a total sum of SIPS, 600.
Future maintenance of the 100 miles of
road will cost $50, 900 per year. inter
est on the investment at six per cent
will be $4,000. Thus the total cost per
mile thereafter will be $3.50 per year,
or $2S, 600 for the entire system as
against $4,000 per year on the other
plan.
"A large mileage of reasonably good
road at low cost is a way for immedi.
ate relief. The most good to the
greatest number, in the quickest time
is what the proposed policy leads to.
However, the good roads enthusiast s
efforts do not end here. He is rather
in a position to go ahead legitimately
with high priced surfacings. adding a
little each year, as funds will permit.
The gravel road will serve ss a good
base for such construction. its location
and grading having been carried for
ward with such final end in view.
OBJECTIONS to such plans, however,
present themselves. To touch on few
of these. First. certain emergency re-
pair work will be required each year or
all ordinary country roads. Providing
for this merely shows up the carrying
forward of your road policy, applying
equally to either plan.
Secondly, construction of bridges
and culverts has not been prov ided for.
Their economics are the same as for
the road namely, reasonably good, low
cost construction first, to be gradually
replaced BY high cost permanent con.
struction.
Thirdly, many roads will cost sew
eral hundred dollars perl mile merely
for the location survey alone, and sew
eral thousand dollars per mile for grad.
ing, exclusive Of surface. Such new
roads should be undertaken only with
specially provided funds. The forego.
ing plans are exclusively for the i'm
provement of existing roads.
"Fourthly, road construction depends
on traffic and tonnage, and macadam,
asphalt, oil bound macadam, wooC
block and the hosts of patented pave,
ments all should have their place and
use. This is perfectly true, and these
will be considered in the more nearly
permanent types, which properly fol.
low the construction of gravel roads.
"Fifthly, there are cases where d
costly road is required at once to sus-
tain an exceptionally heavy traffic.
Provision must be made for such cases,
will handle very heavy tonnage fol-
one season, and provision is made fol
resurfacing each year.
"Sixthly, it may be stated that grav.
ell roads are not good enough for auto
mobile traffic. That is hardly true. A
1925, 900 a mile road, certainly,is better
The gravel road is somewhat dusty il
summer and somewhat muddy in win
ter, but not very objectionably so wher
surfaced each season. Your motorst
however, will prefer so miles of grave
to two miles of brick and 48 miles o.
average Oregon country highway.
Brick roads, of course, are more
desirable than gravel roads and ar,
no doubt worth the price, il commun
ty can afford them. But the troubl
with most communities at present i
that a large mileage of reasonabl,
good roads is required at fairly Low
cost. If the state of Oregon shoul
adopt policy of $25, 900 mile roads
it would be very long time befor,
good roads for the entire state woul,
. he achieypd and the cost of a poo,
roads system would be so great as t
transcend the bounds of reason. +"
In Hood River gravel roads hav
proven very successful. September o
last year the old Belmont road wa
treated with a gravel surface. Th
total cost per mile was 1896. The cos
of maintenance since completion ha
been Is. The road today is in excellen
condition and favorite drive with mo
torsts. In the city of Hood River i
1913 a number of the residential street
we're surfaced with oil bound macadar
at cost of S9,2I0 per mile, countr
road widht. Mr.. Kay has been observ
ing the surfacing of these two road
ways, and he states that for ordinar
traffic at the present time the travelle
can tell but very little difference.
However. says MIR. Kay, IL ar
not saying this to knock oilbound mac
adam for it has its place" "
J In fact, the oilbound macadam of tn
city referred to was constructed unde
Mr.. Kay's supervision, he having bee
employed as engineer by the city fO
. this special work.