Indiana daily times. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1914-1922, 1921-08-20
ROAD SCHEME
WOULD SAVE
FOUR MILLION
Concrete Highway Is Pro-
posed for the Discard
by Governor.
CONTRACT LULL NOW
McCray Says Interest on
Saving Enough to Con-
struct ThOrOughfares.

A road building program which he
declares will save the State Of In
diana s4.5OO,OOO a year as long as the
roads constructed are in existence
has been mapped out by Governor
Warren T. McCray. The program
contemplates the paving Of only one
third of the roads in the State and
the maintaining Of the remainder
with gravel or crushed stone in q
perfect condition.
The Governor hinted at the plan in
speech at the Republican State Editorial
Association meeting in Lake County re-
Gently and he now has elaborated his
statements into something approaching
a definite program.
According to the Governors plan only
1000 miles Of the 1000 miles Of State
highways would be hard surfaced These
would be the roads on which there is
extremely heavy travel. The remainder,
which would be contributOry TO the main
paved roads. would be constructed OF
gravel or crushed stone.
There is no reason why all the State
highways should ever be paved the
Governor said. The cost would be tre-
mendous and the results as compared
with gravel roads would not compensate
for this cost"
GRAVEL MORE SATISFACTORY.
THAN CONCRETE.
Governor McCray pointed out that at
the present time the cost Of building
concrete road Is about $4,000 a mile,
while the cost Of improving a gravel road
amounts to about $1,000 a mile. lie
contends that for general purposes a
gravel road well maintained is even
more satisfactory than concrete road
The cost Of maintaining a gravel or
crushed stone road in perfect condition
amounts TO $500 a year per mile, the
Governor said. This, the Governor points
out, is considerably less than the inter
est on the difference between the cost
OF a concrete road and that Of gravel
road. Figuring the difference between
the cost per mile Of the two types Of
construction at $4,000 and the interest
on this amount at 6 per cent, the interest
would be 81 500 a year for each mile OF
read. This would amount TO a saving
Of $1,000 q mile a year on each gravel
road. or a total OF 81 100000 a year for
the 5000 miles Of gravel and crushed
stone road the Governor proposes for
the State. This interest would be in ad-
dition TO a saving Of the principal which
would be paid for the construction Of
paved road.
CONCRETE ROAD LASTS
ONLY TWENTY YEARS.
In mapping out his road building pol
icy Governor NIcCray looks into the fu-
ture. He contends concrete roads are
still in an experimental stage and that
Il has not been definitely determined
how long such a surface will last. He
estimates, however, the life Of a con-
crete road at twenty years At the
game time he points out that a gravel
or a crushed stone road which has been
properly maintained for twenty years
viii be in a much better condition than
when it was built.
Using the Governors theories and cal
culatiOns, the saving works out something
like this: The cost Of mile Of concrete
road, without figuring in a maintenance
>Gsst. over a period Of twenty years would
be s9SOO0. This includes an initial cost
of $4,000 with interest on this cost added
The cost OF a mile Of gravel road for a
period Of twenty years would amount to
S2S. 600 This includes initial cost, the
interest on tls initial cost and main
tenance. The interest on the money saved
by the construction OF a gravel road in
stead Of 4 concrete road over a period Of
twenty years would amount to S3GOOO.
Thus IL is shown, according to the Gov
ernOr's calculations, that in twenty years
time the savings in interest alone over
a twenty-year period would more than
pay for the construction OF a gravel road
The State now is maintaining its roads
by a patrol system. The only roads being
paved are those for which contracts were
let last year. The Governor stated no
more contracts viii be let until material
prices are reduced When this time comes
the policy which he has outlined is ex-
pected to be pursued.