Evening star., 1917-01-21
FIRST ROAD COST
LEAST IMPORTANT
Upkep Takes Considerable
Sum, Agriculture Depart
ment Authority Asserts.
CITES SOME INSTANCES

HISb tuSl VI Il ROAD is not the
only element in Its real cost. and it is
often not the most important element"
says +. W. James. chief of road main
tenance. United State office of public
roads. Department of Agriculture.
This investment becomes fixed cap
3tal of a peculiar kind. because
county cannot sell a road and recover
this investment as a man can sell
house"
If he continued "a road goes to
pieces il is an absolute loss of fixed
capital, unrecoverable in any way. a
road is subject TO constant and often
rapid wear and deterioration. To meet
this We must maintain the road in good
condition at a variable annual cost. or
there will be a loss of the fixed capital.
Thus it is the annual cost of r. road
that is most important, and not the
first cost.
This current or annual cost involves
two items. The first is the interest on
the permanent investment. The second
is an annual charge TO keep the fixed
capital represented by the road In an
unimpaired condition. The best way to
explain these different items Is to cite
their amounts in an actual case where
Investigated the condition of the roads
or county.
THE county had built considerable
mileage of limestone macadam about
three or four years before. In spite OF
all that could be done the roads We're
in a very dilapidated condition. The
county was spending about $3.50 per
mile per year on the roads. but the
condition of their surface was gradu-
ally becoming worse. On the main
road il was necessary to renew the
entire stone wearing surface. The
road was about three years old. and
cost $500 per mile to surface or1g1-
nally. To put down new top course
would cost S1.650.
Annual Cost of Road.
"The annual cost of that road was
made up of these items: Interest at
per cent on first cost of surface, $50;
sum spent on maintenance. $3.50; one
third of the cost of new top course
needed at end of third year, $3.50; total
annual cost $3.50. Because the county
officials had not considered what the
real cost of road is, they found sud-
denly that they were loaded with an
annual charge they could not meet
without large additional direct taxes.
Their only alternative was to lose the
investment through the deterioration of
the road.
Another instance of failure to ap-
preciate what is real cost of road is
afforded by a county which is now rails
ing maximum road revenue possible
under the state law. The annual in
come for roads was about $4,000 in
1915 The interest and sinking fund
charges amounted to $4,000. The
county has about 100 miles of improved
road and many miles of unimproved
road with only $4,000 available to
meet the annual cost of maintenance.
obviously this county went ahead with
fits road improvements without a full
L. .NK=1s slere. # tha alt CT n hA dG
IL was building.
will our people ever build any more
roads If the cost is presented to them
in this light? Before attempting to
answer this question l will give briefly
a few general figures. In Massa-
chusetts the roads cost about $4,000
a mile to build. the interest at per
cent on this first cost is $500 and the
annual maintenance is about $500.
making the annual cost of the roads
about Sl10O a mile. In Maryland the
state roads cost about Sl0,600 a mile
down to the close of 1913, and the av-
erage annual maintenance charge that
year was Si34. This makes the annual
cost of mile of Maryland road about
S1.e70.
"Dr. L. i. Hewes of the United States
office of public roads and rural en-
gineering has made some interesting
investig cations of the cost of hauling
farm products In seven counties he
found the average cost of hauling one
ton a mile unimproved roads was
2s.l cents. The range was from 16 to
81 cents. He also found that the cost
of hauling on a system Of improved
roads varied from to 10 cents less
than on unimproved roads. If we con-
slider the average reduction as cents
ton-mile, then thirty-three tons
day will provide $500 year. and sixty
six tons a day will provide $1,000
year in savings on the cost of hauling.
Roads Help to Develop.
The return from a good road also
flows, in part, from its power TO direct
the development OF the district ira
versed. II you doubt that road i'm
provement quickens such growth ask
any real estate operators for their
opinion, or observe that every ad-
vertisement of farm for sale mentions
its location on or near an improved
road as an attraction.
There are excellent reasons for In
cludng the pleasure of using an i'm
proved road as part of the return on
United States spent in 1915, $780,
Oee. 900 for spirituous and malt liquors,
$500, ,0G0. 900 for tobacco, $3.50 1000, 900 for
the movies 5000, 100000 for candy,
S200, 900. 600 for soda water and $780,
600 900 for chewing gum. The total for
these pleasures is $4,000 .000,00 So !
think IL conservative 10 say that the
syerage man is willing to pay some
thing for pleasure. There can be no
question about the pleasure derived
from riding on good roads, and that