The Birmingham age-herald., 1916-02-11
CLARK POINTS OUT PROBLEM INVOLVED
 IN BUILDING ROAD
 TO WARRIOR RIVER
Continued from Page rlvc)

(COntinued from Page Elyc) been very badly scattered over the county (which it will be remembered has an area of 1154 square miles), the active construc- tion points having been widely scattered and for the most part located upon roads which were being completed to the county lines, thereby making the distance to be covered in going to and coming from work very great, with consequent loss of time. Some idea can be formed of this active feature of the work from the fact that the two Ford cars used have together made during 1915 approximately 3o,00O miles.
 The office force has consisted of two men, one draughtsman and one general assistant, and its work has been the prep aration of complete set of new struc- tural plans for reinforced concrete bridges, etc.. of modern and more eco- homie design, plans of new buildings, clas- sified monthly and final estimates of all work under construction, the preparation of maps and profiles and general miscel- laneouS work
 The records of the office show that ap- proximately 23O miles of road surveys preliminary and final, have been made during the year.
 As nearly as can be as yet estimated WlIil dNdhdDl0 Qdtd, luCIc arc III tiiC county at present approximately POGO miles of public roads of the several classes, every mile of which requires some atten- tion and attempted maintenance annually.
 Incident also to this maintenance are the repairs and upkeep on about 90 steel bridges (many of which are old, and some of them of obsolete type, rapidly approaching the limit or continued use under present increased loads) together with m hnr1pcS wOO1an hridOpS and defective waterways, all requiring constant repairs, renewals and as speedy replacement as possible by permanent structures.
 Permanent bridges and waterways of reinforced concrete and simple concrete type are of course the final remedy for this heavy maintenance charge, and structures of this class are being built all over the county as rapidly as possible by convict labor under the supervision of competent foremen and mechanics, using the very best materials obtainable.
 As rapidly as it can be done in addi- tion to the other and imperative work, a road map is in course of preparation which will when completed accurately and graphically show this road mileage with the various grades of road completed, and distances from point to point thereon. A map of this kind is very much in demand and badly needed.
 A complete and accurate list of bridges and structures of every class is also in course of preparation for permanent ref erence
 It is estimated that the county now has approximately 800 miles of roads of first class, requiring to be maintained under the destructive conditions brought about by heavy auto and truck wear, which traffic shows an annual increase of over 50 per cent, and requires new methods for re-macadamizing to keep pace with deterioration, with necessarily heavily increased maintenance cost.
 Statistics just published for il states show an average annual increase in motor driven traffic of approximately 100 per cent and it is a reasonable expectancy, therefore, that this immediate and active district will have to provide for road wear based upon similar heavy increases in such traffic.
 Generally speaking, all the heavy serv- ice roads in the county ate becoming en- tirely too narrow for even present uses, and emphatically so for economic main- tenance. and they should be widened. They are being so widened wherever it is consistently possible to do so. With this fact in view and clearly proven, no future new road construction of any class should be authorized without right of way amply sufficient for present and fu- ture needs of construction and mainten- .ance. as the subsequent widening of such insufficient rights of way is difficult, ex- pensive and in many cases requiring con- demnation.
 View Instructions along narrow rights of way are correspondingly difficult to remove, and afford constant source of danger to automobile service, which should be lessened and done away with wherever possible.
 FORCES AND EQUIPMENT
 To cover the extended and widely scat tered work above briefly outlined and de- manded by different sections of the county during 1915. there was available and made use of the following forces:
 Convicts. An average working force of S33 men provided with 15S mules and the necessary wagons tools and equipment, divided by the necessities of the work into 10 camps.
 Free Labor: An average working force of S1 men, provided with 43 mules and the requisite general equipment, divided likewise into 10 camps or working sec tions
 Total average force, 424 men and 100 teams, or POI mules
 Road Dragging: An average force of 2a men has been employed in the important maintenance work of road dragging. Re- ports on file show that 14O2 miles of road were dragged during the year 1915 at a total cost of $172S.56. or an average cost per road mile of SIPS. This is in excess of the cost in previous years of approxi- mately 20 per cent. The work is neces- sarily difficult to oversee properly. and the main obstacle to overcome has been and is the enforcement of the dragging of roads during favorable conditions, ill the absence of which regulation it is largely ineffective.
 The work of the convict sections was, of course, mainly on construction, the free labor gangs being charged with re.