Middletown transcript., 1917-01-13
ROAD :
BUILDING
COST OF ROADS AND BRIDGES
Construction Expenditures Have In
creased Nearly FourfoId in the
Past Twelve Years.

prepared by the United States Depart
ment of Agriculture)
Expenditures for the construction Of
roads and bridges in the United States
have increased nearly fourfold in the
past twelve years, while a greater and
greater proportion of the amounts ex-
pended have come to be paid out un-
der state supervision. At the same
time there has been q marked decrease
in the proportion of contributions to
road building in the form Of statute
labor. These facts are brought out by
statistics recently compiled by the Of
fee of Public Roads and Engineering
of the United States department of ag-
ricultute.
The total length Of public roads in
the United States outside the limits of
incorporated towns and cities was
about 2,452,OOO miles on January 1,
1916. OF this, about 277,00O miles, or
11.3 per cent, were improved with some
form of surfacing. The mileage of sur
faced roads has been increasing at the
rate of about 10000 miles year, and
in 1915 approximately one-half of this
increase was made under the supervis-
ion of state highway departments. In
addition these departments supervised
the maintenance of nearly $1,000 miles
of main and trunk-line roads.
The increase in expenditures for
road and bridge work in the United
States has been from approximately
$SO,OO0O0O per year in 1904 to about
S2S2 100000 in 1915, an increase of
more than 25O per cent. The expendi-
trre of state funds during this same
period increased from about $2,5OO,OOO
to more than $53O0O,0OO. In addition,
more than $27,OO0,OO0 of local funds
was spent under state supervision in
1915, bringing the total road and
bridge expenditures managed by the
states to S9O,514,699. This amount is
greater than the total expenditures for
roads and bridges from all sources in
1904.
The growth in Importance Of the
state highway departments has been
rapid. The first of these agencies was
created in 1891 in New Jersey and now
some form of highway department ex-
lists in every state except Indiana,
South Carolina and Texas. Since their
inception these departments had eX-
pended to January l, 1916. an aggre-
gate of $265, 5,35O,S25 in state funds for
road and bridge construction, main
tenance, and administration. They had
constructed over $4,000 miles of roads
in cooperation with the states. More
than 10000 miles Of these roads were
surfaced.
The falling off in the value of road
work performed by statute and convict
labor was from $20,0OO,OOO in 1904,
when the total road expenditures were
SSO,OOO,OOO, to about $15,O0O,0OO in
1915 when the total expenditures had
grown to $2S2, 100000. This was a re-
duction from 25 per cent of the total
in the former year to less than 51a per
cent of the total in 1915.
An increase in the use of better and
more expensive types of roads also IS
shown by the recently compiled sta
tistics. This development has been due
in large part, to the great increase in
automobile traffic. 1t is estimated that
there are now approximately two and
O half million automobiles in use on
the roads of the country, or one car
for every mile Of road. This present
motor traffic is in excess of traffic of
all sorts II years ago.
The cash road and bridge expendi-
lures of the United States averaged
only $2S per mile of rural roads in
1904. In 1915 this average had grown
to 500 per mile. New Jersey led all
other states both in 1904 and in 1918,
with $221 and $475 per mile respective
ly. Nevada made the least expendi-
ture in both years-$3.72 per mile in
1NnA ,,l c17 Y,or v,,iln 1Q1S