Richmond times-dispatch. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1914-current, 1917-07-08
national VALUE OF GOOD
ROADS PROVED IN FRANCE
Men Sent to Front Over Fine High
ways Win Decisive Victory
on the Marnc.
SAVES NATION FROM GERMANS
This Country Is Now Experiencing
Great Troubles Because of Lack of
Improved Roads = Motor Trucks
Could Give Great Aid in Building.


Improved Roads - Motor Trucks
Could Give Great Aid in Building.
WASHINGTOS, July when We
read that by transporting soldiers in
motor vehicles of every description the
s French army won the decisive battle
: of the Marine. few OF us realized that
while il was the automobile that made
success possible. ii was the network
of good roads north of Paris that made
the automobile OF any use. Yet those
famous roads OF France saved the
country. and the national value of
roads was proved. We are now wit
Messing what troubles lack of good
roads causes in our national emer-
gency. we are building sixteen cities.
each for the temporary home of $4,000
to $4,000 men of our national army.
They must he built in a great hurry.
generally some miles from railways and
towns. The railways are building
spurs into these camps. but the rail
ways are conEcstcd. Cars used for
short hauls 10 these military cities will
stand on sidinEs much OF the time to
be loaded or unloaded, when their best
national service Is in carrying ma
terials long distances Motor trucks
would permit the delivery of some OF
the supplies needed in large quantities
at these camps. but motor trucking is
there are no roads suitable for fleets
of trucks. and the camps must be ready
for the army before the right kind of
roads can be built.
SOCIETY FOR STANDARDIZING
ROAD SPECIFICATIONS
The differences of opinion between
buyers and sellers have long yielded
large part of che income of lawyers
and added to the taxpayers burden for
ha
most of these differences of opinion are
due TO desire of one party to cheat
the other. They are usually due to
lack OF precision in defining what is
bought and sold. or TO misunderstood
ing concerning the methods 10 be used
in testing the quality of products
which are accurately described. or to
both these causes. These needless and
often expensive differences OF opin-
ion regarding the materials OF cnei-
neerinE led to the formation in 1895
of the American Society for Testing
Materials. although at that date the
organization had a different name 1t
is made up of purchasers and pro-
ducers of steel, iron. timber. cement.
brick. asphalt, tar. oil and the like.
Its main work is done by committees.
each of which is made up equally OF
purchasers and producers of some ma
terial. The purchasers tell what they
wish to obtain. the producers explain
what they are able to make. and both
parties then unite in drafting srecii-
cations for the materials, and develop
ing tests by which to separate ac-
Curately the products complying with
the specifications from those that do
not. These discussions are not In
fuenced by the business conditions
which attend any actual purchase, and
experience shows that the results OF
this committee work have decidedly
he 6Hia a in hN-o inn inv
necessary requirements which merely
add 10 the cost of materials without
really improving their quality.
One Of the committees which has
been working in this manner for many
years has TO do with the materials used
in road building. In order to judge
their value for this purpose they have
been tested in many ways in the past.
and il is usually difficult and often
Impossible to compare the results oh
tanned in different testing laboratories,
because of the differences in the
methods used by the investigators.
The committee. the chairman OF which
is Logan Waller Page. director OF the
United States Office of Public Roads.
has been standardizinr these methods
of testing and it's recommended tons
are now widely followed This stand
ardiZation has been carried so far that
the committee decided on June - 10
undertake the Standardization of speci-
hcations for different classes of road
materials and for their use. II has al
ready prepared such specifications for
paving brusk, but the Standardization
OF asphalt and tar road materials is a
much more difficult undertaking on ac-
count OF their complex nature. They
are not simple chemical substances like
water or glass or salt. but arc made
up of d great variety OF chemical sub
stances many of which are little
known. Each OF these bituminous road
materials has its special characteristics
and the new purpose of the commit
tee IS 10 prepare specifications for each
class, which, II fulfilled. will enable il
to he used with reasonable assurance
Of success for various types of roads.
THROWS NEW LIGHT
On CONVICT ROAD WORK
The advantage Of having trained
organization for using convicts on
road construction is vel! shown by
recent instance where a road was
greatly needed for military purposes.
This particular road is link in the
system designated for Improvement
by the state Highway Department, but
money for the work had not been an
propTiated II il very necessary for
the service OF one of the camps now
under construction and funds for its
Improvement were aNaila bio from the
appropriation for that camp The work
Is greatly aided, however, during the
prevailing scarcity Of labor in that
neighborhood by the fact that a large
number Of convicts can be assigned
70 the job under foremen accustomed
TO manage such labor. The help TO the
nation in an emergency which this
training in convict road building az
fords ought 10 he taken to heart by the
authorities Of those States which have
not made good trial of such highway
construction. II is entirely success.
full. not only in tho South I'M, ai.o I,