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Show HIGHWAY BOARD TO MAKE SUGGESTIONS (Prapand r tha Pnltacl Statu Dapartmant ol Airtcultura.) Tentative agreement on the form and color of warning and directional signs to mark the principal Interstate roads of the country was reached by the Joint board of Interstate highways In session held at Washington. Highways High-ways to be marked as Intel-state roads, for which the name United States highways high-ways has been proposed, will be selected se-lected after a series of regional meetings meet-ings of members of the board with highway offlcluls of groups of states. As the membership of the board Is made up of state and federal officials In charge of highways and Is representative repre-sentative of the departments In control con-trol of the state roads of all states, It la anticipated that the recommendations recommenda-tions of the board will be translated Into definite action within a . few months. The routes selected as United States highways will be numbered and marked uniformly In all states with s standard marker. All state highway departments will be asked to submit proposals for the design of the marker. mark-er. The design tentatively proposed by the hoard consists of a United States shield with a white background bearing In black letters "U. S.", the number of the route In large numerals, numer-als, and the name of the state In which the marker Is erected. Differences which now exist between the warning and danger signs In use by the various states will also be eliminated elim-inated when the recommendations of the board are adopted, at least so far as the Interstate roads are concerned. Tentative proposals adopted at the flrst meeting of the board call for the adoption of a standard round sign for marking all railroad crossings: an octagonal oc-tagonal sign to Indicate danger or Btop ; a diamond-shaped sign for caution or slow; a square sign to Indicate "look" or attention; and a rectangular shape for directional or Informational signs. Colors tentatively adopted for non-luminous non-luminous signs are yellow for warning warn-ing and danger signs and white for dlrectlonnl and Informational signs, Including In-cluding the route markers. Lettering Letter-ing on both classes of signs will be in black. For luminous or reflecting signs the colors tentatively selected are red for danger, yellow for caution and green to Indicate "go." - Standardization of the slr.es of all signs and the lettering on them will be referred to a subcommittee or tne board. All recommendations of the board with regard to the shape, slue and color of signs will be submitted to the highway departments of all states for consideration before the final adoption by the board. Eliminate Guesswork in Construction of Roads With the determination to have the best roads that . Its funds will build and to see that Its roads are constructed con-structed In accordance with specifications specifica-tions the North Carolina highway department, de-partment, with the help of its chemist, chem-ist, R. L. Oberholser, has advanced the science of road construction to the point where all guesswork haa been eliminated as to uniform density in pavement construction. Even when the materials are mixed according to specifications and the surface sur-face looks good, the mixture which has gone Into the road may fall through lack of proper compression. Mr. Oberholser meets this situation by Insisting In-sisting upon dally density tests of the finished pavement. From each road project In the state the chemical laboratory of the state highway department at Raleigh receives re-ceives dally a piece of the pavement drilled from the day's lay. If the laboratory lab-oratory test reveals that the workmen have been lax and there Is Insufficient density, the work on the project under un-der Investigation Is stopped Immedl- ately. Poor construction cannot continue con-tinue on any road longer than 24 hours. After the cause of the trouble Is ascertained the work proceeds. If necessary the stretch of roadway showing insufficient density Is torn up and relald. The tests sometimes save, It Is estimated, as much as $12,000 a mile later In road repairs. As a result of methods such as these North Carolina Caro-lina now has some of the best bltn mlnous motor roads In the world. Trucks Speed Road Work j While the motor bus and the motor truck accentuate the demand for Improved Im-proved highways. It Is also true that the motor truck makes rapid road building possible and materially cuts down the cost of such construction. The old Roman paved roads were built at the rate of about a mile In 14 months, while today a mile of, paved road Is laid In 14 days or better. Improvement of Roads In our country, the Issue of good roads has passed the point of controversy. contro-versy. Our roads now have not only the dimensions of great length, but also the dimensions of greater width for ever-increasing traffic, and of greater thickness to hear the heavier loads. - The public Is now on wheels and wherever the question of good road? Is raised we find the public decisively expressing Itself In favor of steadr development. |