Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1917-01-26

that thru the operation of this law
there Is an enormous waste Of the pub
lie funds. Some Of the statements
which you make in this article are sc
far from the real results actually OBJ
tanned under this law, that am taking
this opportunity to give you the exper-
fence of Buena Vista county in the
building of good roads and bridges.
1t is generally admitted turnout the
the state that Buena Vista county has
done some good work in both road and
bridge building under what we call the
new law. In our county road system
we have 172 miles, 100 of which have
now been put to permanent grade, and
the remaining 'seventy-two miles are
now under contract to four different
outfits to be completed in 1917. Thus
at the end of the present year we
will have our entire county system
to a permanent grade. This has all
been accomplished in about four years
In 1913. the year the road law was
passed. we went rather slow, building
only two and one half miles of road.
and I will frankly admit that this two
and one-half miles is probably as poor
Noih We ldNc bolS. LII lCLf " =
added fourteen miles to our perma-
nent grades. in 1915, twenty-eight and
one half miles, and in 1915 we put to
permanent grade fifty-five miles. UP
to the first of December, 1916, thirteen
miles of this permanent work had been
graveled. and since that time we have
sraveled sixteen miles. and at the pres
ent time we have 125 teams working
every day. During the month Of De-
cember and the early part Of January
we had as many as 1876 teams working
every day hauling gravel on the county
roads. On some of our county roads
which are far from gravel the board
has under consideration the use of oil,
but no definite conclusion has been ar
rived at
In the building of bridges we
have also made good progress. We
have been building permanent
bridges for eight years and so had
good start when this road law
was passed. In 1915 we built 1879
permanent bridges and culverts.
and in 1915 We built 1877. On Dec.
20. 1916, we let the contract for 103
bridges and fortyfour culverts to be
completed in 1917, and after this
work is done we will have about
fifty bridges and culverts. of four foot
span and over which can not be
classed as permanent.
So YOU may Judge for yourself
that with this amount Of work
done we are in position in this
-, 80 no
working of the present law. and also
something as to the cost of the work
done under 1t.
Your first proposition of waste is in
building grades. You say that this work
will cost about 80 cents per yard. and
the county can build only six to ten
miles each year, therefore the progress
will be too slow. AS with the other
estimates you have made. your esti-
mate Of the cost of grading Is about
80 pr cent too high. II an inexperienced
crew is put on the work, on the theory
so often heard, that the taxes, being
the peoples money raised at home.
ought to be spent at home, 1t may well
be that the cost would equal or exceed
YOUR estimate. foul IL tuS duiIS
contracted to experienced men. equip
ped to do that kind of work. the cost
will not be 80 cents per yard. the
cost Of work in this county is not as
low as 1t might be in some other parts
of the state. for the reason that on
account of the roads being compare
lively level for the most part our work
is classed as light work. In 1915 we
moved l52 Bis yards of dirt at an ave-
rage total cost of 20.3 cents per yard.
In 1916 we moved 246,124 yards Of dirt
It an average cost of 22.b cents per
ward. and 100000 yards Of this was
moved at an average cost Of col cents
per yard.
You speak many times in your ar
ticle of a floor level grade. / do not
think it was the intention of the au-
thors OF this law, and the highway
commission has surely never asked any
county to build floor level grades. On
nearly every country road l have seen
there are places so low that during wet
times they become soft and soggy. and
the only economical way TO remedy this
condition is TO build grade thru this
low place, and get the travelled portion
of the road up out of the mud. In or
der TO do this. dirt must be secured
somewhere and the logical place to get
the dirt is from the higher places that
already have good drainage.
Another reason for making cuts
on some Of the roads is to get better
surface drainage. Many of the little
,l,, l-nfc
tween them from which the water can
not &c. away. If a cut Is made thru one
of the raises, the surface water can be
carried along the road to an existing
bridge or culvert. If this cut were not
made, the only alternative would be TO
build a culvert between the raises to
let the water from one side to the oth-
er. and it has been my experience that
a consid erable yardase of dirt can DC
moved for the price Of one culvert. And
where the grading is done, the water IS
cared for and at the same time the
road made better. To find out the real
sentiment of the people in regard to the
reduction of grades on the county road
system. 1 think you ought to talk to the
farmer who has been hauling his pro-
duce to town over one OF the NILS LOT
wears. even that the grade was only D
or 6 per cent, and who is now doing
his hauling over the same road after 1t
has been put to permanent grade, and
see what he thinks of 1t. / will rest
nv case on the grading with the people
who use the graded county roads.
T am of the opinion that you do not
do much thing in Buchanan county or
,,, ,,,onld MOI suggest putting tile iii