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Show WD FEDERAL AID FOR HIGHWAYS Operations Aggregate in Length Nina Times Distance From New York to San Francisco. The unprecedented stimulus given highway construction in the United States in the four years that have passed since the federal government entered upon its policy of aiding road improvement, is shown by the fact that road operations under the federal aid road act thus far initiated aggregate aggre-gate in length nine times the distance from New York to San Francisco, according ac-cording to Thomas H. JlacDonald, chief of the bureau of public roads, United States department of agriculture. agricul-ture. The federal government's share tn this stupendous undertaking is greater than the cost of the Panama -s a , i. One Type or Road Truck-Load of Hot Concrete Being Dumped Ready for Surfacing. canal. The participation of the national na-tional government in highway improvement improve-ment marked a departure from a policy which had been followed for nearly a century. Federal co-operation with the states on approximately a "50-50" basis has counted more than any other factor, says Mr. . MacDonald, In initiating initi-ating highway construction that is being be-ing carried on under adequate supervision, super-vision, and in accord with a program co-ordinating local, state and national needs. Second only in importance to the size of the present road-building program pro-gram is the excellence of the character char-acter of the roads being built. Sixty per cent of the total allotment of federal fed-eral funds which has been approved to date will be spent for roads of such durable types as bituminous con- rrpfo PnrtlnH fomonf pnnfrptp anrl vitrified brick. These roads, when built, will increase by 7,600 miles the total of 14.400 miles of roads of this class which existed In the United States before the federal-aid road law was passed. But these figures by no means represent the total mileage affected. af-fected. In 1915 the total expenditure for roads and bridges by all the states and local governments was $267,000,000, while this year the estimated funds available for main road construction are nearly three times that amount, or $633,000,000. In all, federal funds to the amount of $266,750,000 have been apportioned among 48 states without a suggestion of favoritism so adequate are the provisions for a just apportionment. One of the early and most far-reaching results directly attributable to the adoption of the federal-aid program was the creation of adequate state highway departments in 17 states which previously had either no state department, depart-ment, or departments Insufficiently equipped. Within one year after the passage of the federal-aid road act more constructive state highway lecis- lauon was piaccu upon tne siature books than had ever been enacted in a similar period in the history of the country. The Insistence of the government upon the construction of federal-aid roads under the supervision of engineers engi-neers of the state departments has resulted re-sulted in placing a much larger pnv portion of road work under skilled direction. In 1015, the year before the federal-aid act was passed, only 30 per cent of the money for roads and bridges built in the United Slates was expended under the supervision of state highway departments. This year these departments will exercise control over fully 80 per cent of the j large sums that will be spent for road building. |