Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1927-01-30
EUROPE TACKLES JOB
OF IMPROVING ROADS
Thomas HI. Macdonald Surveys Conditions Abroad
and Compares Situations Existing ON
Continent and i'm United States.

and less frequently by horses. There
| are many bicycles and pedestrians
and all Of this traffic pauses at will
on either or both sides of the roadways.
The number of motor vehicles is as
| yet not large. 114.700 O925). or one
to 1858 persons. The maximum rate
of automobile traffic reported near
the population centers is $500 in Is
hours
The Italian premier. Benito Musso-
lini, in his final address to the Road
Congress. stated:
Italy has a great road problem to
solve: new roads necessary to promote
her agricultural life, to facilitate her
commerce, and finally, arteries neces
sary for international tourism in or.
der to render her beauties accessible
She possesses, moreover, n conspicu-
Gus road patrimony formed during
many centuries by the work of count
less generations
Dust Is CnbearabIe
With rolling and mountainous
topography covering so much Of the
area, many of the roads follow side-hill
locations and the surfacing is almost
entirely of untreated stone maCadam.
These roads were planned and we'll en-
gineered for traffic that did not in
clude the motor vehicle. Now they are
too narrow for the motor vehicle along
with the other traffic. and the dust in
the dry season is unbearable.
The difficulty of financing new
construction and the necessity of ade-
quate highways leading from inland to
the lakes. have been largely respon-
Gil Ia for fr,.r
ment of a franchise to a private com
pany which has built about 81 miles
of motor toll road connecting the in
land with the Lakes Como, Varese and
Maggiore. The toll rate would average
for an ordinary car a little under 3
cents per mile.% Italy has very capable
engineers and they are faced with a
tremendously difficult problem Of their
road system. This must consist, first
of all, in providing adequate surface
over the major part of their whole
system.
Paved With Stone.
France and Belgium have q Won
derful heritage in the systematic plan
that was laid out and begun prior to
and developed and completed since
the Napoleonic decree of 1911, so that
the layout and classification of the
highway systems in these countries
on a nationwide basis for uniformity
and adequacy of planning are perhaps
superior to anything in any like area.
The Polytechnic School and the Ecole
des Points ct Chaussees supply the
highest ranking engineering gradu-
ates for the highway work. In both
of these countries there Is a consider
able mileage of main routes paved
with stone blocks, but the surfacing
problem on long mileages of stone
macadam is now the real problem.
1.-The minister of public works re-
ports that of the system of national
| roads, approximately $4,000 miles in
length, more than 80 per cent are rock
surfaced roads, and that he has for the
maintenance of these roads at the
present about 5000 francs per kilo'
meter, which at the present exchange
rate Is equivalent to approximately
$500 per mile. He lists as the roads
| most urgently in need of repairs
practically all of the main routes
| leading from Paris to the important
cities and ports of France. He also
says, however, that
1--WE are using judicious propa
| ganda to attract tourists whose ex
penditures constitute the so-called "in
visible exports" and who each year
leave billions in the country. But tc
get them to come is not the whole Of
| the question; we must also make II
possible for them to circulate com
| fortably and for this must provide fol-
the maintenance of our roads which
have been damaged by the war and
| by the ever-increasing automobile
| traffic
He also points out that adequate
roads are directly profitable and thai
they have collected for the first nine
months of 1926, 309 million francs OIL
approximately 12A millions Of dollars
Surfacing Is Important.
"In Austria and in CZechoslovakis
also the surfacing problem on the
main roads is OF first Importance
There are in existence some splendid
| highways which we are informed date
back to the time of Marie Therese
Near Vienna and again near Prague
experimental roads are under con
struction in which both the bitumi
nous mixed types and concrete slab'
have been used. These appear to b.
the first roadways which have beer
laid in these countries corresponding
to the standard types Of pavement II
general use here.
I'VE were informed that followin,
the establishment of a school for tech
meal instruction in France, a schoo
was established in Prague, an,
whether from this school emanated tn
standards that were set up for tn
national road construction is not mad
clear. but in any event some of tn
best roads, those more nearly cor
responding to the best modern stand
ards in alignment. substantial pre-
portions, width and adequacy, ar
found near Prague.
Where such foundations exist al
adequate modern surface will com
plete roads of the highest class. Blu
the financing will be extremely diff
cult. The area and supporting popu
lation of Austria have both bee
reduced to only a fraction of thei
former dimensions, and some metho
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