for each five-year period, in order to show the progress which is being made in each county in the United States. The cost data contained in Bulletin No. 41 are the first which have been collected and published by the office, and it is believed that this information will be of great interest and value to road builders throughout the country. According to the 1904 statistics there were 2,151,379 miles of public roads in the United States, not including Alaska and insular possessions, but, according to the 1909 figures, there were 2,199,387 miles. In 1904, 153,531 miles of roads were reported as improved, but in 1909 there were 190,467 miles improved. In other words, the percentage of all roads improved has increased from 7.14 per cent in 1904 to 8.66 per cent in 1909. The improved-road classification includes only such roads as have been properly graded, drained, and surfaced with hard material, such as stone, gravel, sand-clay, brick, shell, slag, etc., as well as those which have been surfaced with hard materials and treated with bituminous preparations. During the spring of 1910 an investigation was begun to ascertain the economic effect of road improvement upon communities. In this work counties were selected in which the roads were exceedingly bad and in which bonds had been issued for the purpose of improving the main roads. A preliminary study of these counties was made after the bonds had been issued and the roads selected, but before the actual work of improvement had begun. The amount of bonds issued and the names of the counties included in this investigation are as follows: Spottsylvania County, Va., $100,000; Dinwiddie County, Va., $105,000; Lee County, Va., $364,000; Wise County, Va., $700,000; Lexington Township, Davidson County, N. C., $100,000; Beat No. 1, Lauderdale County, Miss., $200,000; Russell County, Ala., $100,000; Dallas County, Ala., $250,000; Manatee County, Fla., $250,000; Wood Township, Clark County, Ind., $10,000; Riverton Township, Mason County, Mich., $20,000. The total amount of bonds issued in these counties is $2,268,120. A personal investigation and study is to be made in each of these counties and townships each year until the roads have been improved, and until the beneficial effects from such improvement can be clearly ascertained. The results already accomplished indicate that the final report on this project will be a powerful argument for road improvement. Reports received from the principal shipping points in most of these counties indicate that the incoming shipments of farm produce far exceed the outgoing shipments. At the county seat, which is the principal shipping point of one of these counties, the incoming shipments of farm produce, as ascertained from the railroad company, in 1909 were 13,042,803 pounds, while the outgoing shipments were only 4,434,380 pounds. At another point in one of these counties the incoming shipments of farm produce during 1910 amounted to 13,120,986 pounds, while the outgoing shipments amounted to only 1,471,937 pounds. At the principal shipping point in another county the incoming shipments amounted to 8,262,724 pounds, while the outgoing shipments were 1,200,704 pounds. The agricultural lands in the counties above referred to are considered fertile and, with improved roads, it is believed that they would not only produce enough for local consumption but would create a supply for shipment to other points. A careful study is to be made in all of these counties before and after the roads are improved in regard to the value of the land, the character of crops hauled to market, the size of loads, the distance the various products are hauled to market, the cost of marketing crops, the areas under cultivation, the condition of schools and farm life, the efficiency of rural mail delivery, etc. A careful photographic record is to be made of each of the roads. These photographs will show the condition of the roads before and after improvement, the methods of construction employed, as well as the character and extent of traffic before and after improvement. In the counties where this investigation has now been in progress for two years it has been found that the price of land lying along the improved roads has already increased in value from 50 to 100 per cent. Heretofore the roads have been so bad that it has been a common practice in many of these counties to open the schools in August and close them during the early winter, so as to avoid the bad roads. Extensive mining operations are carried on in two of the counties included in this investigation. The mining towns afford an excellent cash market for farm produce, but the local production does not begin to supply the demand. In fact the records of the railroad companies show that the incoming shipments of food products exceed the outgoing shipments at the rate of about 10 to 1, and that they are of the kind that could be produced in the counties to which they are shipped. One of the reasons for this condition of affairs is that the roads are so bad that hauling can not be done at a profit during a considerable part of the time. Investigations dealing with road administration and road management have been inaugurated during the year. It is believed that when these investigations are completed and published the result will be a complete reorganization of the present system of road administration in many communities throughout the country. Information is being collected in regard to the use of convict labor in road building, and taxation and bond issues for road improvement. A complete list of road officials in every county and township in the United States is being compiled. This list will show not only the number of road officials but the character of the work which each class of officials performs. From present indications it appears. that there are approximately 150,000 road officials in the United States. The system of collecting and disseminating useful data relating to road improvement throughout the United States was improved during the year by the appointment of a special agent for each State. These special agents report on the first of each month concerning road activities in their respective States. In this way the office is kept in close touch with the progress of road improvement in each State. LIBRARY. The library of this office consists of about 3,000 volumes, among which are included the publications of all State highway departments, geological surveys, agricultural departments, and experiment stations, as well as those of various other State organizations which publish statistical information or data of interest to the officials and scientists of the office. We are also receiving the publications of the engineering departments of nearly all cities in the United States having more than 5,000 inhabitants. Foreign countries which are issuing reports concerning highway activities have also placed this office on their mailing list in exchange for similar courtesies from us. We are receiving at the present time 64 periodicals, of which 26 are received from the department library and 38 are mailed direct from the publishers. Some of these periodicals contain comparatively little information that is of use to us, but all of them have at least some data which are valuable in our research work. The cataloguing of the publications of the library is proceeding as rapidly as possible, and we have every reason to believe that this will be brought up to date during the present fiscal year. The librarian of this office is now engaged in compiling a bulletin concerning road conditions and administration in foreign countries. The information for this publication is being drawn from the reports of American consuls and the printed information which they have secured from the Governments where they are stationed. PUBLICATIONS. The preparation of 15 publications has been carried on during the fiscal year 1911, but of these only 3 were issued during that year. These are: Bitumens and their Essential Constituents (Circular 93); Progress Reports of Experiments in Dust Prevention and Road Preservation (Circular 94); and the annual report of this office for 1910. Eight other publications were prepared during the year and have since been issued. These are as follows: Descriptive Catalogue of Road Model Exhibits (Bulletin 36); Examination and Classification of Rocks for Road Building (Bulletin 37, revised edition); Methods for the Examination of Bituminous Road Materials (Bulletin 38); Highway Bridges and Culverts (Bulletin 39); Special Road Problems in the Southern States (Circular 95); Use of Concrete on the Farm (Farmers' Bulletin 461); Bituminous Dust Preventives and Road Binders (Yearbook Extract 538); and Progress and Present Status of the Good Roads Movement in the United States (Yearbook Extract 535). There are four other bulletins on which a considerable amount of work was done during the fiscal year 1911. Two of these are nearing publication, namely, Bulletin 40 (Road Material Resources of Minnesota) and Bulletin 41 (Mileage and Cost of Public Roads in the United States in 1909). Publications are now being prepared on the subject of Road Material Testing Laboratories, on the Condition and Administration of Roads in Foreign Countries, and on Coke-oven Tars in the United States. CLASSIFIED EXPENDITURES FOR 1911, BY PROJECTS. Expenditures for fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, by projects. Appropriations: Salaries, Office of Public Roads.. Road management__. Investigating road building and maintenance_ Road material_____. Administrative expenses. Total appropriation_-_. Projects: 1. Object-lesson roads 2. Instruction in highway engineering.... 3. Testing road materials (included in report for No. 31). 5. Lectures, addresses, and papers 6. Special inspection and advice__. 7. Dust prevention and road preservation (included in report 8. Standardization of tests.. $21, 260.00 16, 000, 00 43, 000. 00 23, 280.00 10,700 00 114, 240. 00 18,982.91 5, 363. 30 0.00 0.00 10, 806. 36 7, 294. 61 0.00 1, 103. 37 9. Introduction of model systems of construction, mainte- 2,265.00 10. Investigation of road materials in the several States (included in report for No. 31)‒‒‒‒‒ 0.00 11. Sand-clay and burnt-clay roads (included in report for No. 1) 0.00 12. Burnt-clay roads. 0.00 13. Investigation of slag--. 750.00 14. Cooperation with county newspapers (included in report for No. 5)----- 0.00 15. Corrosion of iron and steel. 250.00 16. Split-log drag (included in report for No. 6). 0.00 17. Classification of road materials (included in report for No. 31)---- 22. Illustrated lecture, photograph, and record work. 3, 356. 66 0.00 24. Cooperation with Forest Service_ 0.00 1, 425. 45 25. Bridge investigations 26. Bulletins. 27. Economic investigations (included in report for No. 32)–– 28. Oil-concrete investigations 29. Surveys 30. Experimental roads_. 31. Testing, investigating, and classifying road materials__ 32. Road management and economic investigations---- OUTLINE OF PLANS FOR THE CURRENT YEAR. The work of the current fiscal year will not differ materially from the work of the last fiscal year. The appropriation for the current fiscal year exceeds that of the fiscal year 1911 by $46,480, and it is therefore planned to increase the scope of the work in all its branches. In the appropriation bill for the current year $10,000 was provided for experiments in road construction and maintenance. The work under this project has already started. Experiments are being conducted at Chevy Chase, Md., to determine by service tests the relative value of various bituminous materials applied by different methods, both in the construction and in the surface treatment of macadam roads. It is planned, if this appropriation is continued, to maintain these experimental sections of road for a term of years, keeping accurate cost data in order to determine the relative economy of the various types and methods of construction, taking into consideration the first cost as well as the maintenance charges. Arrangements are being perfected to conduct experiments in Alexandria County, Va., in the maintenance of earth and gravel road by the patrol or daily maintenance method. PLANS AND RECOMMENDATIONS FOR 1913. The estimates for the fiscal year 1913 provide for an increase of $70,176. In the event that the increase is granted, it is expected to broaden the scope of the advisory, lecture, object-lesson, and experimental work. At the present time, the office can meet only a portion of the requests that are made for lectures and engineers. It is recommended that the name of the office be changed from Office of Public Roads to Bureau of Public Roads. |