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Show RJMC ACTUAL COST OF GOOD. ROAD Various Methods of Financing Road Building and Retiring Debts Discussed Dis-cussed by Experts on Subject. While it is frequently easy for a county to issue bonds and borrow money for improving tho local highways, high-ways, tho raising of tho money to ro-tiro ro-tiro thoso bonds at maturity Is often not so simplo. Many counties, in borrowing bor-rowing money for bonds, flguro that the amount of money raised represents repre-sents the total cost ojf tho rond, forgetting for-getting that the road must bo maintained main-tained and vopnlrcd if, at tho end of tho term of tho bonds, the county Is to havo anything to Bhow for its investment. invest-ment. Tho question of financing county road bu.llding is discussed fully In Department De-partment of Agrlculturo Bulletin No. 13G, entitled "Highway Bonds," which Is written by tho ofllco of public roads In collaboration with James W. Glover, professor of mathematics and Insurance, Insur-ance, University of Michigan. In this bulletin tho authors discuss fully tho various methods of financing road building nnd retiring debts for road construction, nnd nlso dcnl frankly with tho actual total cost of a road durlug tho llfo of the bonds. On the total cost of a road, tho authors clto tho fbllowlng two examples as affording afford-ing at least a basis for estimating the total minimum cost of a mile of road: Bituminous macadam: Cost of construction con-struction ($10,500) under 6 per cont serial bond with interest for 20 years, $1G,012.G0. Cost of annual repair nnd maintennnco ($000) for 20 yearB, $12,-000. $12,-000. Total cost for 20 ycnrB, $28,012.50. Brick: Cost of construction ($18,500) uiiuer 5 por cent serial bond with interest in-terest for 20 yenrs, $26,42G.73. Cost of annual ropalr and maintenance ($300) for 20 years, $6,000. Total cost for 20 yenrs, $32,420.73. Tho authors point out that tho actual ac-tual cost of building and maintaining n specific highway can bo determined only aftor tho character and volumo of truffle and actual wear and tear havo been studied for a series of Good Road In North Carolina. years. Tho figures quoted above, of course, will not apply to ordlnnry macadam, mac-adam, gravel or clay roads, but in all these cases tho lntorest on the bonds must bo met, and thero must bo expenditures to maintain thorn in condition. Tho poorer tho drainage and the less permanent tho character of the road foundation, the greater must bo tho percentage that ropalr costs will bear to the first cost. Similarly, Sim-ilarly, tho question of whether the actual surfacing is designed to with stand tho chnractor of traffic and weather to which it is subjected also has an important bearing on what it will cost tho county to keep tho road in such shape that when the bonds nro paid tho locality still will havo a valuable valu-able property to show as a result of its borrowing and repayment. |