The Richmond palladium and sun-telegram. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1907-1939, 1919-03-29
TRUCKS DEMAND
HARDER ROADS,
EXPERT AYERS
States Money Should Not be
Spent for Other Than Sub
stantial Highways.

Since its organization in 1909 the
National Highways Protective Society
has devoted considerable attention to
the road conditions of the United
States and foreign countries, and
Colonel Edward S. Cornell, secretary
Of the society, says very truly that it
is high time now to place the road
building policy of the country on a
sound economic basis.
Past mistakes in road building" he
adds, have not altogether been due
to poor judgment, because fifteen
years ago no one could foresee the
development which has been made in
the motor vehicle. Cheap roads built
at that time lasted many years, and
until the motor truck arrived could
be maintained at a reasonable cost.
Now that the motor truck has been
developed it is nothing less than a
crime for highway engineers TO de-
sign and build and spend the States
money for anything other than a sub
stantial road. Delaware, New Jersey,
Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and other
progressive states are realizing this
fact and are building more concrete
roads or roads with a concrete base.
New York and Massachusetts are still
continuing to build impermanent
roads and which would seem to be a
waste of money.
THE cost of maintenance of water
bound and macadam roads averages in
New York and Massachusetts $1,000
per mile per year, as against 800 per
mile per year for concrete roads The
bulk of the maintenance in the ma
cadam type is in the pavement itself.
With concrete the bulk of the main
tenance Is on edges and bitches.
commissioner Duffey, in his last
report, states that b.tuminous macad-
am pavement under present conditions
costs $4,000 per mile and concrete
pavement costs $4,000 per mile, or a
difference of $4,000 per mile. This
cost Is Insignificant when you consider
the relative maintenance costs Of the
two types and the fact that after TWEEN
ty years you will have a good road
If concrete one is built, as it is a
proved fact that after ten years btu
minous macadam will be practically
loss, besides, it will not ever serve
as proper base for a good pavement
Practically every highway engineer
today agrees that all roads should
have a concrete base. If heavy traf-
fc does not exist when the road is
built, it will soon develop, and every
highway should be designed for heavy
traffic.
"Inasmuch as 1t Is admitted both
here and abroad that a concrete base
is necessary, then the cheapest form
of pavement is obtained when placing
this base by using little care in the
selection of materials and by using
better concrete. In this way it has
been shown that a good concrete base
and surface are obtained in one op-
Grafton, and we have a permanent
highway, cheaper than can be built
in any other way and of longer life.
THE highways of today must be
built as commercial and business
proposition, and so must be of the best
type to insure reasonable permanency.
Commercial highways are a necessity
for the development of the country as
well as for the quick transportation of
materials and for the lowering of the
cost of living.
THE life of a good concrete road
should be at least twenty years and
1t would seem that this country could
afford to spend large sum of money
in the development of such highways
il the money were put into roads
which will last at least twenty years
under motor truck traffic. Experts
here and abroad believe that the con-
crete road is good for much longer
than twenty years.
''The first fifty-million-dollar bond
issue for the building of permanent
roads in New York State was appro-
priated nine years ago and there is
hardly a mile of the roadway built
under that appropriation that is in ex-
istence at this time which has not
been resurfaced or rebuilt. Connecti-
cut has had the same experience, as
well as New Jersey, and these states
are now building roads that are meet
ing the requirements of present-day
service