Atlanta tri-weekly journal. [volume] (Atlanta, Ga.) 1920-19??, 1921-07-07
Saving Millions of Money
BIZ Hiqh1ua1 Maintenanc
n a notable address on highway engineer

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the North Carolina Geological and
Economic Survey, points out that the ques-
ton already has been raised amongst bond
Investors as to whether they will buy bonds
issued for road construction and improve
ment when the maintenance OF the roads so
constructed is not provided for by law. Inc
interests of taxpayers always required, put
lnhappily have not always received, what
those of the bond purchasers now demand.
Millions of public money have been washed
UP and blown away for want OF proper main
tenance of the roads on which 1t was eX-
pended-and millions wasted through Ill
advised ECONOMY which undertook to pro-
eeed without adequate and competent engln-
serng counsel.
The time is past, if ever it were present,
when any State or community can afford to
neglect these essentials of highway stability
and service However small may be the in
vestment, good business requires that it be
duly protected; and as a matter of fact 1t
amounts nowadays to many thousands and
hundreds of thousands of dollars a mile.
Southern roads costing from twenty to forty
thousand mile are no longer marVeed at,
while in the North and East as much as one
hundred thousand and even four hundred
thousand dollars mile are involved Thus
neglect of upkeep becomes highly serious in
its consequence, as serious and as inexcusa-
BILE as it would be to make no inspection or
repairs or costly ana n66QIuA piece VI
machinery in constant use.
Atlanta's municipal government saves
much expense and gains much service by
looking after the little breaks in street pave
nients, where the proverbial stitch in time is
particularly helpful to the motoring public
and to all others concerned. The Georgia
state Highway Department also has proved
markedly efficient in this respect, as far as
its powers and resources permit. 1t has
completed or put under construction some
twelve hundred miles of inter-county roads,
and if authorized by the Legislature will take
over for maintenance the remaining thirty
six hundred miles of the State system
: But the question of maintenance is closely
fnterknit with that of construction, the
quality of the latter going far to determine
the formers cost. Roads, built of poor or
nl-suited materials by incompetent workmen
and without the &C vice and supervision of able
engineers will inevitably call for frequent and
extensive repairs, and then not give good
service. How we'll road will wear depends
upon how well certain problems in engineer
ing are worked out. Among those lnstanced
by Dr. Pratt are the location and right-of-
way the subgrade or road foundation, drain
age the load of traffic to be sustained, and
the surfacing material, including the base
and the upper course. Touching the question
of foundation, this authority interestingly
observes: "ln previous years but little consld-
Grafton has been given to the question OF
many instances a very costly surface has
been laid down upon a subgrade that was
not capable of sustaining the weight OF the
surfacing material and the load that was to
20 over it. The result has been that many
highway surfaces have been broken up un.
necessarily where they would have given
satisfactory service if the subgrade had been
properly prepared. No matter what the sur
facing material may be at the present mo-
ment, the subgrade on State road should be
4Lak uyi1 ,af hn nv
except in rare cases, to change this in the
least when the traffic requires the construc
ton of a heavier surface in order to take
care of the greater loads. Wound you con
struct a one hundred thousand dollar build
ing or even a twenty-five thousand dollar
building, without being sure your foundation
for this building was o. K? Would a rail
road construct a one hundred thousand dol
lar bridge without making sure that the
piers to hold that bridge were on a suitable
firm foundation? Why, then, should we moi
see to it that the foundation of twenty-five
thousand dollar to one hundred thousand
dollar mile road has been given the same
Considerations?
s'Obviously, such matters are not to b'
managed without competent highway engln
GERS. Basic principles will be overlooked anC
n1ultitudes Of important details neglected
unless far-seeing eyes and practiced hand
are at the task This service is not to b.
had without cost, for it represents educa
ton, study, training and talent. But what
ever it's cost, within bounds at all reasonable
to dispense with it would be sheer extrava
sance To sink the peoples money in make
Shift roads that would begin breaking do~I
before fairly completed and never give salts
faction, would be not only poor business bu
rank injustice. Maintenance in this cas-
would be most expensive from the outset an
soon would become impossible. The bes
roads are cheapest, and they are the onl
kind in which Georgia should invest
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:. GERMANY Good Fortune