Palisadian., 1925-06-19
ROAD IMPROVEMENT
is NOT A LUXURY
Government Gives Facts
About Highways.

state of road improvement in the
/ United States at the present time
| is not known, it Is estimated by the
Department of Agriculture that the to-
tai mileage of surfaced roads at the
end of 1924 was between 100000 and
| 475,00O miles.
Indications are that approximately
10000 miles Of surfaced roads of var
ious types have been built during
each year since 1921. Exact figures as
to how this mileage has been divided
by types or states are not available.
A considerable part of the work, more
over, has consisted of resurfaclng. 1t
| therefore cannot be assumed that the
net mileage Of surfaced roads has been
increased during the last three years
by the total amount of the new con-
struction.
The last complete survey of the road
improvement situation was made in
1921 when the total surfaced mileage
was reckoned at 3S7,760 miles. New
construction and resurfacing since
1921 have proceeded at a rate which
Is believed to justify the estimate that
the net gain since then Is we'll above
10000 miles,
Good Roads Not Luxury
In announcing these facts, the de-
partment draws attention to certain
wrong ideas that are current about
road improvement. Improved roads, 1t
says, are not luxuries. For the move
ment Of every vehicle over a road
there Is a certain cost, which is
less If the road be improved than
If 1t be left In state of nature.
Logically, therefore, the only limit
that should be placed on expenditure
for road improvement is the amount
that can be saved In vehicular operat-
ing costs. This amount, of course, de-
pends upon the number of vehicles
using the road.
1t Is pointed out that the country
loses more, in increased cost of operat-
ing vehicles, by not improving roads
than 1t costs to improve them. In
other words, 1t pays for improved
roads whether it has them or not, and
1t pays less by having them than by
not having them
Another common error says the de-
partment, Is that all roads should be
hard-surfaced. Hard-surfacing with
concrete, brick, asphalt, stone or wood
blocks Is an expensive process When
its cost is greater than the saving ac-
cruing from the Improvement, hard
surfacing Is not advisable 1t Is pos
sible to make great improvements in
roads without hard-surfacing them and
these Improvements are quite effective
in reducing the cost Of travel
When vehicles using a road are
comparatively few, an unsurfaced but
graded and drained road can be made
and maintained in satisfactory condi-
ton by dragging at very low cost. If
the traffic is so great that an unsur-
faced road cannot be maintained In
continuous good condition, Surfacing
with stone. sand-clay or gravel, al
though more costly than simple grad
ing, will generally be compensated by
the greater saving in the cost of op-
Grating vehicles over it.
Similarly, when the traffic Is greater
than a gravel road will carry, a bi-
luminous macadam surface can be
economically applied. 1t Is not neces-
sary to use one of the hard-surfaced
types until the traffic becomes very
dense. When that point Is reached,
hard-surfacing is necessary and eco
nomical.
Should Earn Improvement.
All roads should be improved, says
the department, to the maximum de-
gree that the traffic on them justifies,
but no road should be improved be-
yond its earning capacity. When this
principle Is observed the required an
nual expenditure for any type of road
Is within the yearly savings In the
cost Of operating the vehicles it has
to carry. In other words, the return
to the public in the form of economic
transportation Is the sole measure of
the worth Of road improvement. To
say that all roads should be hard-sur-
faced, the department points out, is
merely another way of urging expen-
ditures In excess of income.
Still another common mistake is the
idea that there is such a thing as a
permanent road. This delusion, says
the department, has been responsible
for much disregard of road mainte-
nance. None of the state highway de-
partments, however, any longer har-
bors this error.
1t is now thoroughly understood by
these public agencies that all roads,
regardless Of type, gradually depre-
ciate and wear out under the wheels
of vehicles and the action of the wea-
ther. To keep road In continuously
good order 1t is necessary to start
maintaining 1t the day its construction
is completed.