Show permanent features of I 1 the road bed foundations drainage and Gradi grading nEf a permanent investment prepared by ane aj U S department of agriculture M n r A e rolling shell road new orleans in expending money raised by the jhb sale eala of highway bonds highway commissioners ners should distinguish carefully between the permanent and the perishable features of the road foundations drainage structures alignment and grades are in general fairly permanent features which should bo be looked upon in the light of an investment it these features do not comply with a certain standard irwill it will be poor economy to spend money on transitory improvements such an aa pard hard surfaces which must it at con sid erable expense be renewed from year to year in the same way it Is manifestly poor policy to build an expensive surface on detective defective grades with poor alignments and short lived drainage features even when much of the money expended upon a highway has gone into the permanent features there Is still danger that the cost of repairs and maintenance will be overlooked or at least slighted in the calculations of of per cent of the total cost coat of a well built macadam road may be considered as spent for permanent features and with bituminous macadam roads about 66 56 per cent this method of 0 estimating cannot be applied to any gravel or natural soil aall road in which no part ot of the surfacing can advantageously be considered permanent for under most systems of maintenance it steadily deteriorates roads built with surfaces entirely of concrete or with brick pavement resting on a concrete foundation are sometimes regarded as permanent but this Is hardly sate safe its it Js not yet definitely known how long tho the best concrete surface will laut the best fied brick surfaces may last a number of years but even with them repairs will be required it ie be borne in mind by those charged with the expenditure of highway funds that the initial cost of a road la Is never the final one that no surface Is permanent and that repairs repair A 4 4 t 1 I U Y patrolman cutting weeds on the road canton N C the road builders when roads are built with borrowed money it la is of course especially important to avoid this error on tho other hand however it Is not necessary to regard the total cost of surfacing a road as a temporary improvement much of the surfacing may be classed as a bermo permanent investment tor for it Is ii becoming more and more common to have sur facea built in two courses the lower of which is as much a permanent feature ot of construction as the grading itself this is particularly true of those types of road that are built with concrete foundations tor for bituminous macadam brick or asphalt surfaces it Is probably improbably conservative to regard 10 40 per cent of the first construction cost of maca macadam or more enduring pavements as a perma permanent gLent investment it Is seldom nowadays that hard reads roads arp are permitted to wear into the foundation course coune of the surfacing where proper maintenance Is assured it is safe to say that an average and maintenance charges will always be necessary on the other oiher hand many features of 0 a good road are to be regarded as per permanent manen investments when roads loads are built w with th borrowed money the distinction between the permanent and the temporary improve ment must be carefully observed in order that the county may have something in exchange when the time comes to repay the loan esy y VVS il r op v ka 0 0 m J s rl fr I 1 coneatta Con ertta ro rf i after one years use ue chevy chase chaa maryland |