The Lake County times. [volume] (Hammond, Ind.) 1906-1933, 1922-09-29
CLAUSSE:N
POINTERS
FOR PORTER
lake County Commissioner
Tells of Lake COuntyS
Good Road System


hard rosd construction n prepara
tion for the road building program
which Is ahead there. To get the
pointers the Porter county people
decided to see how the work is done
in Lake county which is among the
leaders OF tho state in hard road
mileage.
County Commissioner John Claus
sen was consulted and accompani ed
the Porter county representatives on
a tour of the county. On the trip
he furnished them with lot of In
formation which may be new to
many Lake county residents.
Mr.. Clussen took them out in his
automobile and showed them some
Of the hard surface roads construct
ed by Lake county on main high
ways, told just how this was being
done, the original cost, and the
maintenance cost OF the roads when
they were OF water bound macadam.
and also what the maintenance cost
had been since the cement construc-
tion had been in. The figures were
revelation and the maintenance
cost was far less than the visitors
had imagined would be possible.
Mr.. Claussen stated that Lake
county had a total of $50 miles OF
hard road. not including state main
tained roads and the last year the
county spent one million dollars IN
building and maintaining roads. and
this year would do the same thing
Porter county last year with about
$50 miles OF road. not including the
state highways. spent a total OF
$s41.ooo. Lake county's total expen
diture included the building OF some
hard surface roads, while Porter
county's expenditure included the
building OF some water bound ma
cadam roads, and OF road repair.
Lake county has had some cement
roads for several years. the oldest
one being nine years old and the
road which Porter county people are
familiar with II. being the cement
road over Lake George, on the Chi
cago route. In all these nine years
Mr.. Caussen stated that the main
tenance on this road had not been
one cent. and that with about 100
miles OF cement roads in the coun-
iy, the mainten ance of these roads
had averaged about $40 per mile a
year.
He stated that the commissioners
lad found that a water bound ma
cadam road would not hold up on
main highways. and that to continue e
building such road for main arteries
was waste OF money and contin-
uRl expense. For that reason the
county commissioners had adopted a
plan OF building hard surface county
unit roads only, and was building no
county unit roads except main high
ways, leaving the other roads, or
feeders to be built out Of stone un-
der the township three mile unit
road law.
Mr.. Claussen took them out over
a section Of the Jackson highway,
the main road from Chicago to Indi-
annapolis. which carries a wonderful
amount Of traffic, both trucks and
pleasure cars. He stated that state
control of this highway did not
come to Crown Point and that the
county had been spending as high
as $500 g. mile each year, attempting
TO keep this highway in passable
shape. A year ago, without issuing
bonds. but by taking the money
from the road repair fund. they put
concrete asphalt top on this high
way. II costing at that time $4,000
a mile. This road is as good today
as when It was put in. and not one
cent has been spent on it for main
tenance. He also stated that the
cost OF doing such work had come
down considerably since the road
was repaired in that matter by con-
tract, and that IL could be done to-
day at a cost Of about $4,000 mile.
Lake county, he said. had almost ev-
cry type of road construction includ
ing straight concrete, asphalt con-
crete. taryia, brick, stone and water
bound macadam- The concrete as
phalt he stated was proving to be
the best and where they have a
stone road. with a good foundation.
BY quitting this on. inches thick.
1t has been proving wonderful
road and in maintenance will pay
for itself In a few years, to say
nothing of the comfort IL gives US
ers when driving over it.
Another road that they asked Mr.
Claussen about. is the cement road
from Hobart to Gary, with which the
majority of Porter county people are
familiar. This stretch OF road used
TO be something fierce, and the main
tenance was terribly high. 1t Is part
OF the valparai5o-Chicago road, and
gets the same traffic that their own
road through Wheeler gets.
Two years ago Mr.. Claussen stat
ed that they decided to hard surface
that FIVE mile gap and that concrete
asphalt was used, and in two years
this road has been down, not one
cent has been spent for repairs OF
maintenance and that the road is in
as good condition as the day it was
put down.
The cement asphalt roads do not
crack with heat or cold. The old
macadam road was an eight inch
stone road, and on top OF this was
placed a two inch top of this cement
a asphalt, the original stone in the
road all being used. This road was
rebuilt under the county unit road
law, and at the rate other Lake coun
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