The daily banner. (Cambridge, Md.) 1897-2008, 1922-02-01
GOVERNMENT TO INSIST
o. CL0J Care OF ROADS
Ii Federal Aid Roads Are Not Prop
erly Maintained Government Will
Have Them Kept Up And Charg3
To States Allotment.

Washington, .. c., Jan. 31-"A
stitch in time saves nine" and whom
| this is applied to the repair of i'm
ing Of hundreds of thousands of dol
| lars a year to taxpayers.
Building the highest types of I'M
| proved highways and then promptly
! forgetting them, expecting them to
provide their full measure of eco
! nOmical service without further at
| tention, must stop. This, in effect,
| is the demand of the United States
! government as expressed in the re-
| Gently enacted federal aid bill nro-
viding $4,000 for road building in
| 1922.
The provision for compulsory
! maintenance in the new federal aid
| bill is one of it's most important
features. In harmony with the
| spirit OF President Harding's first
! message to Congress, in which he
! deprecated the failure to give prop
Ell attention to roads after construc-
ton, the new act lays a heavy pen
atty upon failure to maintain roads
to be constructed with federal aid.
Tho act defines maintenance" in
its broadest sense as the constant
making Of needed repairs to preserve
Il smooth surfaced highway
To insure that each highway aided
by the government will receive that
kind Of maintenance, the act provides
that the secretary Of agriculture
shall serve notice upon any state
which, allows a road to suffer for lack
Of maintenance.
If within ninety days after notice
the proper attention has not been
given to the road, the secretary is
authorized to proceed to maintain il
himself, and to charge the cost
against the federal funds allotted to
that State. The secretary is further
ordered to refuse to approve any
other project in the state until the
amount spent for maintenance Of
the project in question has been re-
| money is paid Back it is to >be reap
portioncd among all of the states so
that the delinquent state will lose
all but q small portion.
Even the highest types of pave
ment requires maintenance at some
; time or other, but some more than
| y
! crack at irregular intervals, and
| these cracks must be treated to keep
the pavement from quickly disinte-
| grating. BituminOuS paVementS
may roll up and develop bad spots
| occasionally, which spots must be
cleaned out and restored. In brick
pavements there are times when
some structural defect needs to be
remedied to prevent impairment Of
the surface. In the case of second
airy pavement types, including tie
macadam family, periodic restoration
and reconstruction are necessary
since the advent of motor driven We
hicles.
1t is therefore to the interest Of
the various states:
FIRST-To consider, in the
selection of pavement types. the
question of cost of maintenance
over the entire life of the pave
ment rather than the first cost
alone.
SECOND-To keep all pave
ments in a good state of repair.
THIRD-To keep complete,
details and accurate records of |
maintenance costs of all types |
OF pavements.
A number of states, as for exam |
pie, Ohio, Illinois, Massachusetts |
and New York already are keeping |
such maintenance records, separat- |
ing the cost of the surface proper |
from the cost of bitches, shoulders,
bridges and signs.
-Q-
Face the facts: then season them |