Willmar tribune. [volume] (Willmar, Minn.) 1895-1931, 1920-03-31
GOOD RoADS-sTATE OF NEW
YORK
ARTICLE "

A clipping published by request OF
H. L. Wadell, County Highway En-
gineer:
AT present the road building pro-
gram calls for an additional improved
road mileage of $500 miles, making q
total Of $4,000 miles Of Improved high
ways: MY policy in building the new
not tissue paper roads that need con-
tinual patching and mending. The con-
crete roads best answer that need.
sition connected with the building Of
these on account of their initial cost,
which is higher than that Of any of the
oths Sew typ Sor Gf sss Vas the
state in the work Of improving roads.
The first type Of road that was built
was the one known as the water-bound
dust, some chemical mixture. and awater
This served its purpose until the auto
mobile came into existence. After that
the water:bound roads literally went to
pieces. The mixture was crumpIed up
and the stone dust which was set free
was continually in the air.
THE problem as it appeared at that
which would keep the dust down. The
bituminous macadam road seemed to
answer the description. with the result
that all subsequent roads were built on
that plan. They seemed to meet all the
gan rumbling over them. What hap
pened to the water-bound roads hap
road road today. They are going to pieces
and need constant repair.
The next step in the evolution Of
Is the OF taa
Engineers agree that up to the present
time nothing has been found as satis-
factory as the concrete road: The OBJ
lection to them, as have before stated.
iC initial matter
fact, they are, in the long run. cheaper
than either Of the first two types. We
have laid out $4,000 miles Of road. We
on building, we shall have laid approx
| imately $4,000 miles. The records in the
department show that it costs approx
and reconstruct the water-bound and the
we have 5000 miles Of such roads by
| 1890 it means that we will have to meet
| a maintenance cost of some 25,O0O,O 600.
| That figure is an impossible one, as far
as having it met by the State is con-
cerned.
tain concrete road mile a year: If
| we had $4,000 miles of road by 1890 it
would mean that our maintenance costs
would amount to Approximately $4,000
| 900, figure certainly more within rea-
son than the one given above.
and grading the same for all roads:
| Inc OlHerenco lies IN the payment
| alone. The approximate cost of building
a mile Of water-bound road is $4,000. a
bituminous macadam road $4,000, q
plain concrete road $4,000. and a rein
forced concrete road, $26,200.
1.-THE average life of the water-bound
road and a macadam road is seven
years: The average life of concrete
road is thirty years. During seven years
of the first types the maintenance cost
is approximately $1,000. During. the
thirty years Of the concrete road the
| ures are. of course, not exact. They are
the average as shown on our records
However. taking a hypothetical water
had $1,000 worth of annual repairs, and
taking a hypothetical concrete road~th
has for thirty years had 800 annual re.
pairs, it would seem that the average
cost year for the water-bound roaG
concrete road. With a false sense Of
economics. however, opponents of thu
concrete roads refuse to see the true
proportion of values between the two.
THE farmers upstate want roads
farmer out of the mud. But, in orde
| to give the State and taxpayers in tn
State any sort of a fair deal. it is neces
sary to build type of road that in tn
the counties want long mileage o
narrow tissue paper road which tn
State has to maintain I have tried t.
impress upon them the permanent valu
; see it or refuse to see it. However,
have found way out of the situation
by putting this proposition to them
: Any county that wants a water-boun
, or macadam road can have it, pro
! costs of more than 500 a year. Tha
usually brings them around to a NOR
logical point of view"