The gazette-times. [volume] (Heppner, Or.) 1912-1925, 1915-01-21

Hoto VI Il Cudpter III department OI
Agriculture Bulletin No. 1856, deal
ing with highway bonds. 1t has not
been customary for officials to face
frankly the cost of the maintenance
and repair of bond-built highways at
the time the bonds are issued and be-
fore construction begins. In fact, the
authors of the bulletin point out, in
the majority of cases where bonds
have been issued by local authorities
there has been no provision what
ever for maintaining the roads when
built. This is perhaps the greatest
defect in the method of building
highways by issuing bonds.
Maintenance Necessary.
Maintenance, the highway experts
OF the Department point out, is
necessary in order to insure to the
community the maximum economic
service by the road, and also to pre-
serve the investment. The cost OF
maintenance and repairs must, there
fore, be studied at the outset. In
the absence of general data, the re-
ports on maintenance from states
which have highway departments
should be of interest to county Of
ficers preparing to issue road build
ing bonds.
The following opinions as to main
tenance cost represent the results Of
careful analyses of state highway re-
ports, as well as much first-hand in
formation gathered by the Depart
ment's specialists:
Gravel Roads That Last.
Well-constructed gravel roads will
sometimes sustain several years of
traffic without showing marked de-
terioration, even when there has
been no maintenance. Such roads
sometimes even improve during the
second season; more frequently,
however, they show ruts or the for
nation of chuck holes. 1t can not be
expected that the average life of a
gravel surface will be greater than
that of a macadam surface.
The average interval for re-
surfacing macadam roads is between
six and seven years. If a sum equal
to two-thirds of the original cost of
the gravel surface itself is provided
for renewals at six-year intervals, it
should be estimated at from $50 to
$3.50 per mile per year. If $50 is
then allowed for annual dragging and
small repairs, the total annual cost
of repair and maintenance of gravel
roads would be from $3.50 to $3.50
per mile.
The annual cost of strict mainte-
nance is sometimes below $50. In
Bennington County, Vermont, during
1912, ITS miles of gravel roads were
maintained at a cost of 5000 per
mile. The annual cost of mainte-
and repair on sand-clay roads,
including all necessary re-surfacing
at periodic intervals, should not be
fixed at less than 10 per cent of the
original cost.
Macadam Roads.
The cost of repair and maintenance
Of water-bound macadam roads has
been determined with considerable
exactness from Massachusetts figures
and checked by re-surfacing charges
in other states and in Germany.
From 800 to 1925 per year ordinar-
lily pays for necessary small repairs,
such as patching, cleaning culverts,
etc., and from $500 to $425 per year
Is the necessary annual charge for
re-surfacing at periods varying from
six to seven years.
The sum Of $525 per mile, on an
average, should therefore absolutely
maintain macadam roads II changes
and increases OF traffic are not ex-
cessive. 1t must be understood, how
ever, that In many instances where
macadam sufficed for the volume
and character of traffic prior to 1906,
1t will not Withstand the action OF
the motor vehicle traffic, which has
developed since that time.
Many miles of ordinary or water
bound macadam road have been re-
surfaced with bituminous materials
and many miles of new bituminous-
macadam road have been constructed.
The logical maintenance of such high
ways Is a surface treatment with BIZ
luminous material and rock screen
ings, clean gravel, or sharp sand.
The cost Of such surface treatment Is
from 4 to IL cents per square yard,
and 1t may be expected to last from
one to three years, according to the
density Of traffic and the success Of
fha onnIirofion