Der Nordstern. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1874-1931, 1922-10-26
Big Road Building Program
ss Ahead.

Ahead.
Fifteento twenty yearssofsDullldl-
inc good roads lie ahead q the
United States Under thesprogram
which the country has adopted
there will be built, during that
time, 10000 miles Of improved
highways which will constitute the
Federal-aid highway system and
an equal OF greater mileage Of
State and local roads. When the
great job is done, the trarsporta-
ton facilities Of the country will
far exceed those Of any other ma
ton, past Of present, insthe world.
The highways Of the ancient Ro-
mans, whose fame has come down
through the centuries, will pale
by comparison.
Details Of h svast rpad-building
program are to be placed before
the Highway Education Board at
its conference in Washington Oct
ober 20 to 28, inclusive. BY State
Highway Engineers and officials
of the Bureau Of Public Roas, y.
S. Department Of Agriculture, to
whom has been entrusted the work
Of planning and supervising the
construction of Federal-aid high
ways. The plan will be presented
to enable the Board to proceed au-
thoritatively with the work Of de
yising aids for scloolssand colleges
to which road-builders of hescoun-
try are turning for competent
engineers.
Officials Of the bureau place the
aggregate cost Of the Federal-aid
program alone at about $1,000
spread over the twenty
year period. They base this est
mate on an average cost of$I7,ooo
per mile. The average cost, in
turn, takes into consideration all
classes Of improved roadWays:
from the cheapest to the most ex-
pensive types. Approximately one
third Of the proposed system, OF
10000 miles Of improved high
ways, already are either built or
The program IS a new one. Up.
to comparatively recent years, road
ii the United States had
been conducted without special re-
gard to a national system. High
ways had been constructed where h.
needed without considering Wheth-
er they would link up mthe most
effective manner with the whole
network Of roads to be spread over
the nation. Engineers had sought
more to meet immediate and local
demands than the broader require
ments Of the States and nation.
The present Federa1-aid road
building program, officials Of the
bureau state, will contemplate the
constructions of only such roads.as
fit into the national program and
contribute to the national system.
Attic same time the roads will be
SO selected as to serve the most
important local requirements With
marked notifications, the system
adopted in=building the railways Of
the country will be borne in mind
III the constru1lctionzof the country's
new highways. There will be
main lines Of highway comrnuni-
cation between centers and thou
sands Of miles Of feeder roads,
reaching back into the more
sparsely settled regions and into
the rich agricultural sections, to tap
areas whose population and prod
uucts will flow over the new system.
New roads will be planned and
built=-thousands Of miles Of them
where they will fit III most avarz
|tageously with the entire program,
The bureau is continuing its re
search work into most efficient
methods Of road-building, includ-
ing the character and wearing po-
Wer of materials, resisting quail
ties Of varying subsoils, etc. and
has amasseda considerable store Of
valuable information all Of which
will be available for the highway
engineer Of tomorrow, whom the
Board is seekingt have educated
in practical and modern methods.