Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1919-11-09
S633,OO0,000 WILL
 BE SPENT ON ROADS DURING COMING YEAR
Amount of Work Solely Depen- dent on Materials Rail-
 ways Can Transport

Washington, D. C., Nov. S.--While the expenditures during 1919 for hard-surfaced highways, according 10 , estimates of the bureau of public roads of the United States depar.- ment of agriculture, will set a new record with total of $13S, ,000, this figure is small in comparison with the computed available total for 1920 of $633, 100000, the spending of which promises to be dependent chiefly on the quantity of materials the present limited railway facilities can transport.
 The items entering into next years estimate are: brought forward from unfinished work, 1919 contracts, $165 5,GO0,00O; funds available from state and county taxes and federal aid, $273, ,000; one-fifth state and county bond issues not before avail able, $50,OO0,000; one-third unex- pended balance of state and county bond issues previously available, S45,- OO0,OOU; available from new bond is sues to be voted on in the fall of 1913 and spring af 1920, $100,000,0 ,000. Unless the available open-top cars, many of which normally lie Idle in the late winter, are utilized in that slack season the work which can be done will necessarily be curtained for lack of materials. The total for 1920 is more than four times the amount that has been expended during any previous year for like purposes. 1 Therefore there must be tremen- dous increase not only in the mate rial supplies and shipping facilities but also in the labor supply, and an enlargement of contractors organiza- tions. First of all, according to Thomas H. Macdonald, chief of the bureau of public roads, the attention of all state, county, and city road building interests should be directed toward overcoming this car shortage. To this end it is recommended that the shipping of materials begin earl fer than usual. The first step in ac- complaining this, MT. Macdonald points out, is to place under contract during December and January as great a mileage of roads as possible. It has been customary to wait un- til contractors organizations were ready to begin work before starting the shipment of material. Under these conditions many thousands of open-top cars lie idle during the lat ter part of February, all of March and the earlier part of April. Dur ing the past spring the number of open-top cars that were idle totaled more than $25O,000. This, of course. was partly unavoidable owing to the
 late date at which work got under
 way, following the signing of the
 armistice. By awarding contracts as
 early as possible, contractors will be
 able to ascertain their material re-
 quirements at different points, and so will be in position to place orders
 dependent on rail transportation a
 considerable time in advance.
 While the placing of material in
 storage, which may result from suct
 a course, involves some expense, il
 will be small compared to the loss
 that will result if contractors are not
 in a position to go ahead with the
 work because of lack of materials. 1r
 view of the experience of 1919 ano
 the greatly increased program fol
 next year, it seems probable, accord
 ing to the bureau of public roads
 that contracts which are not awardet during the winter months will have
 little opportunity for being supplied
 with materials which require raj
 transportation.