The Topeka state journal. [volume] (Topeka, Kansas) 1892-1980, 1917-01-02
Dirt ROADS BEST
Macadam Road Not a Success
Under Auto Wear.
Money Spent on Earth High
ways Does Most Good.

saltwater. Okla, Jan. 2.-Road
;+aaanoe and improvements
should be given as much consloeIal 1t,a
by those engaged in promotiHs pe
good road cause, as the cost OF coli
str,lction, Alfred Boyd, dean OF engl-
neerins at the Oklahoma A. ~ M. col
lege. declared in an address before the
twelfth annual short course meeting
for farmers here tonight he urseo
that after road is built, its improve
ments be kept up to the original
standard
After explaining the different ways
that money is raised in Oklahoma Tor
road purposes. Mr.. Boyd said:
There is one phase of the Whole
matter of road Improvement which we
will have to consider in connection
with any expenditure for road build
ing and that is road maintenance
That subject is not given the proml-
hence which it deserves. More I'M
portant than road construction Is the
care and maintenance of the roads
after they are built.
'"rhe maintenance of highways is
not a matter of designing and con-
Structing a large and important work,
but consists rather in giving constant
attention to seemingly small and I'M
important details. That is why main
tenance gives more trouble than con-
struction.
"Thruout the whole of this country,
there is no influence which has SO af-
fected road maintenance as that of
automobiles. Automobiles have af-
fected road work in two different
ways They have affected it bene-
ficially by stimulationg an interest in
road construction. Every owner of a
car becomes an enthusiastic booster
for good roads.
1.-The other effect of the automobile
and the one which 1 have in mind in
anr rx-ifI 70 1for1 ie
the destruction effect of the automo-
bile upon ordinary earth or water
bound macadaTn road. The well con-
structed macadam road used to be
considered a fairly good road, but it
will not withstand the erosive action
of automobile tires. They require
hard surfaced material that will stick
together
Il wish to urge that all of those
who have to do with highway i'm
provement keep in mind the import
ance of keeping these improvements
up to the original standard. l do not
know that we can adopt the method
that is used in France where a patrol
is placed in charge of a certain stretch
of road and required to keep working
at it constantly, taking note of any
! small defect or the beginning of a rut
or wash and making the necessary re-
pairs and thus keeping the road a t all
time in excellent condition. 1 say 1
am not advocating anything of this
kind at the present time but 1 do be-
lieve that we should give more time to
these small items of maintenance and
spend more money on them.
Under the head of the economics
of good roads, L may take up the
subject of the relative Importance of
hard surface roads and ordinary hard
road construction in Oklahoma, but l
am not going to encroach upon what
l recognize as the province of the
state highway department, and I am
more willing to do this because I be-
lieve they recognize as well as I, and
as everyone has who has given much
thought to the situation, that in the
construction of good earth roads oVel
a large area in this state, there will
come a greater benefit than in the
building of a few miles of hard sur
face roads.
The principal benefits which are
likely to come from good roads car
be classified under five heads.
First: Increased land values
Second: Saving in hauling costs
Third: Growth in population.
Fourth: Increase in school at
tendance.
Fifth: Growth in general pros
perity."