Little Falls herald. [volume] (Little Falls, Morrison County, Minn.) 1889-1950, 1922-07-21
GIVES UPKEEP COST
ON STATE HIGHWAYS
HIGHWAY BULLETIN SHOWS
MAINTENANCE EXPENSES ON
DIFFERENT KINDS OF ROADS

The fact that good roads more than
pay for themselves now being demon.
strated to the satisfaction of Mime
sofa automobile taxpayers, farmers and
other citizens, the state highway de-
partment in new bulletin lists com.
parative costs Of highway upkeep which
show the economy Of paving heavy
traffic routes before other sections are
improved.
Average mile expenditures for main
tenance during the first year under
the Babcock good roads plan, according
to the official figures, were 1920 on
graveled, 1923 on paved, and $1S1 on
unsurfaced sections Of the trunk sys-
TEN, experience with the last class
showing limit on results regardless
Of upkeep expenditures.
"Only about 80 miles Of paving is
being paid for with state highway
funds this year, the remainder being
financed with reimbursement money
which must be used in the counties
issuing the bonds,' said Charles M
Babcock, state highway commissioner,
Paving is necessary, on some heavily
travelled routes on which money is be.
ing wasted in excessive maintenance
costs, to best serve great numbers of
highway users and hasten other i'm
provements. When highway carries
more than 1000 vehicles day, the
cost of maintaining even fair gravel
surface exceeds the pavement cost, in
terest charges included.'
The last statement was based upon
cost averages estimated by w. F. Ros'
enwald, chief maintenance engineer of
the state department., as follows:
Vehicles Est. Maintenance Cost
Daily Unsurfaced Graveled *Paved
Under 200 $4,000 S 10000 80.
20o-35o (ImpracticaD 10000 49,.
35O-500 10000 5000
500-750 10000 20C
100000 10000 30C
1c00Up (Prohibitive) SOC
Exclusive of interest item, approx
mating $1,000 a year.
The engineer explained that the fig
ures are arbitrary, conditions always
varying because the road is growing
either better or worse.
Orders Many New State Road Jobs
Under fixed, policies to extend roa6
Improvements to all parts of Mime
sofa as fast as incoming road dollars
permit, Charles NJ. Babcock, state
highway commissioner, this week an
nounced a new list of comparatively
small undertakings to be constructed
by maintenance forces.
Special maintenance improvements
highway officials said. will add nearly
$50 miles of new gravel surfacing
500 miles of grading or reshaping, ano
many other betterments to swell the bis
mileages of contract construction al
ready made public. Provision is made
also to continue the patrol service over
the entire system and otherwise carry
out established maintenance routine
The upkeep this season, however, will
be mainly on roads which have beer
built by counties before taken over by
the state, whereas during the first yea1
under Babcock plan much new mileage
was covered by shaping and gravelins
forces.
The list totals $426,125 and will be
increased by $4,000 when complete
maintenance uperintendents in severa
districts having still to submit recon-
mendations. A balance Of nearly
$2,00o,000 set aside for 1922 mainte
nance operations will pay the army Of
1000 patrolmen, make bridge an6
other repairs and cover many miscel
laneous items Of road upkeep.