The Abbeville press and banner. [volume] (Abbeville, S.C.) 1869-1924, 1917-05-02

llluStIaIc IaS Poai"' - S IIs
two steel bridges were recently
built at a greater expense than the
cost of changing the road to the op-
posite bank, thus eliminating both
bridges and serving the people just
as well. Had the original locator
contemplated such expensive bridges
he would have located the road on
the other bank. In another county
a main trunk road was built like a
railroad, practically on a level grade
in a wet country, with long tangents
and correspondingly heavy cuts and
fills, causing settlement, In some
cases as much as 100 per cent. and
corresponding difficulty in building
culverts. The engineer ha dno pre-
vious experience in highway loca-
ton. Roads of unnecessary width
for part of their length have been
built for local use where a uniform
ly narrow width would serve all pur-
poses. Expensive county roads have
been constructed in rock on state
ighway routes and will have to be
abandoned in a few years because
they are too steep. Individuals are
not responsible for these errors, for
it is the system. Divided authority
has been a glaring fault in the road
laws; this means divided RESPONSE
bility, which often means no respon-
sibility.
One of the most annoying fea-
lures, of the system has been the
fact that few if any counties, have
preserved proper engineering plans
or records of work done in the past
or records to show how much per
mile or how much per cubic yard
this work has cost. Such records
cost money, Of course, and the engi-
neer or road master, not being re.
sponsible for general results but
only for the detailed work assigned
to him, neglects these records,
which could be made at the outset at
very little extra cost. The local
road board, not appreciating the
value to the public Of such records,
generally opposes any extra expen-
ditures for such work. During the
past go years road work has increas-
ed from the day labor system with
little or no cash expenditure to an
expenditure of about $6,000,000 in
some years. Yet we still have coun-
ty road officials seeking election in
some cases upon a platform Of so
called "practical economy" or keep
ing track Of public work and expen-
ditures trough mental notes, thus
saving the cost of records. If re-
cords did not result in far greater
savings to corporations than they
cost, they would not be kept. The
public must also expect to make
reasonable provision for overhead
expense. =,
For economical work considerable
money must be expended by the
counties and the state in heavy and
expensive machinery, such as rock
crushers, trucks, rollers and graders.
A careful record should be kept OF
all this equipment. It should be
kept in use as much Of the time as
possible, charging a proportionate
part of the original cost to each job
and, when worn out, making a record
of it's ultimate disposal. It would
not be possible under such system
for road rollers, graders and other
equipment to be forgotten in isolat-
ed parts of counties or for public
property to be loaned to favored
contractors without compensation.
The prevention of such losses can
not be had without organization and
system. ,........ -. .,,
Just as the state had no definite
program for road work, so with the
counties. It Is practically impossi-
BILE for court Of three men to adopt
construction program extending
over a series of years and adhere to
it, for the reason that influential
delegations frequently appear be-