El Paso herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1901-1931, 1916-10-07
'SPENDTHRIFT HABIT ISFAR TOO
PROMINENT IN BUILDING ROADS
American Highway Association Advocates Appropriation
On Basis of Valuations -Roads Should Be Built for
Actual Needs Rather Than for Show
Expert Advice On Costs Needed


I Of his family And Yet we complain
I when a county with a very low valu-
alton per road mile is NOT interested
! with roads as smooth as the top of a
! billiard table This shows that we have
/ our foolish ideas like the flightv sales
/ woman and the extrava CANT clerks As
| a matter Of fact. Lake county, Michigan.
lS showing good judgment in restricting
IS road building 10 gravel roads costing
$1,000 mile The country is not able
now TO build roads costing $4,000 a
mile. as Wayne county is doing. and
such expensive roads are probably not
Vet needed.
There is 5alneasure OF the need for
roads. Just IS there is a measure of
the financial resources for road build
. ing This measure is the travel the
road is carrying now. and the probable
increase IN the travel during the next
i've TO 10 years. The improvement of
q country road results in the slow de-
Eeiopment Of property along it, so that
there IS a slow annual increase in what
IS called the residential travel
If the road is on a thorough route
between important cities some distance
apart there may or may not he a ma
Jerlal Increase in the foreign travel,
by which is meant the travel between
these cities This can only be deter
mined by study OF local conditions.
The residential travel can be actually
counted. however, and this ought to be
done The state highway department of
the United States office of public roads
and rural engineering at Washington
VIII furnish Instructions for the work
which can be done by school children
under the direction Of their teachers.
This IS a kind of child labor which no
fefOrme- viii weep over. and the ef-
flciency expert viii approve
Resources for Road Building.
We have now found out something
about our resources for road building
and the travel our roads must carry
This brings US TO the point where tech
meal advice IS needed We are like the
sick man with a little money laid aside,
whose physician must recommend treat
ment within these means or he is not
professional man but just . pill ped
dler. For example. 20 years ago. when
broken stone roads without any btu
minOus material TO bind them answered
all requirements experience in the
suburbs OF large eastern cities indicated
that the most durable roads there were
constructed Of trap rock
This is quite expensive. prohibitively
expensive, in many parts of the cOun
try. but the idea became general that
il was the hest rock that could be en-
ployed under all conditions This idea
was broken down by the scientific in
vestigatiOns Of the United States office
OF public roads. which showed that trap
rock was not so suitable for roads with
light travel as other classes or rock, far
more widely distributed than trap and
g
il was shown that roads without any
rock at all. made Of certain proportions
o. sand and clay. were actually better
for very light traffic In some districts
than roads with broken store surfaces
Wears Out Roads.
The travel over a road wears IL out
in different ways, according 10 the num-
Der and character Of the vehicles. the
relative proportion Of horse drawn We
hicles and automobiles. the climatic
conditions and the construction Of the
road For the same travel, road adopt
ed for a moist section with cold win
ters is needlessly expensive for a dry
section with little frost Some types OF
roads wear out quickly but are easily
m aiutalued- other types Withstand trav-
e. well. but when they need repairs the
work is expensive All these things
must be considered in determining the
annual cost OF 2 road, which is done in
the following way
The first element Of this cost is the
first cost Of construction per mile Of
road including all engineering ex- &
penses- Knowing the travel over the
road. an expert can estimate the num-
Der of years such a road viii serve its .
purpose, If properly maintained before
reconstruction is necessary. This cost .
divided by the number Of years Of serT- ,
ice. gives the annual first cost To this
must be added the annual interest on /.
the first cost per mile and the annual +
into fund which will be
enough 10 reconstruct a mile Of the road .
when it is worn out or 10 retire the .
bonds that are sometimes issued to pay
for the first cost
The annual cost per mile of main
tanning the road in serViceable cOndi-
ion IS the last item to be estimated The
sum Of all these items is the total an D.
n1al cost per mile of the road. and this
figure is the most important one to the
taxpayers. But another unit for meas
lrlnE cost which is sometimes very use
ful. is the cost OF the road per vehicle
mile. This is obtained by dividing the
total annual cost per mile by the num-
per of vehicles using the road annually.
The type OF construction which gives
he lowest cost per vehicle mile is gen
rally the best to employ.