REPORT OF THE DIRECTOR OF THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS. 



United States Department of Agriculture, 



Office of Public Roads, 

 Washington, D. C, November 15, 1910. 

 Sir: I have the honor to submit herewith the report of the Office 

 of Pubhc Roads for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, and also an 

 outline of the work planned for the current and ensuing years. 

 Respectfully, 



Logan Waller Page, Director. 

 Hon. James Wilson, 



Secretary of Agriculture. 



WORK OF THE YEAR. 



The work of the past fiscal year comprised cooperation with local 

 authorities in the construction of object-lesson roads for the purpose 

 of introducing standard forms of construction and instructing local 

 road builders; the construction of experimental roads and the con- 

 ducting of Liborator}^ investigations for the purpose of testing various 

 bituminous and other road binders, and for developing and improving 

 methotls of preparing and applying them; laboratory and field experi- 

 ments in the utilization of by-products, particularly slag, for the con- 

 struction of roads and the treatment of old roads; field experiments 

 in sand-clay construction and variations of the sand-cla}'' method, 

 with a view to adapting it to the various climatic, soil, topographic, 

 and traffic conditions; a series of economic investigations to deter- 

 mine the effect of good and bad roads upon the welfare of the rural 

 population; the introduction of the split-log drag and the distribution 

 of information concerning its construction and use; the inspection of 

 roads on which rural delivery routes are established, and the giving 

 of advice concerning their improvement with the means already 

 available ; traction tests, conducted to determine the relative tractive 

 resistance offered by roads of various types and at various grades, 

 with the use of both narrow and wide tires in the experiments; the 

 routine testing and analyses of road materials to determine their 

 physical qualities and mineral composition; the training of engineer 

 students in highway engineering, both practical and theoretical; the 

 collection of accurate and comprehensive data relatingtoroad mileage 

 and the progress of road improvement in the United States to the 

 close of the calendar year 1900; practical lectures and addresses 

 delivered throughout the United States; the giving of advice and 

 instruction concerning specific problems in road work; cooperation 

 with States and counties in bringing about a general improvement in 

 administrative systems, and in methods of construction and main- 

 tenance, notable examples of which were cooperation with the State 

 of Louisiana in the organization and operation of convict camps for 



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