OFFICE OF PUBLIC ROADS. 787 



INSPECTION AND ADVICE. 



The advisory work of the Office consisted of 242 assignments dur- 

 ing the past year, which may be classified as follows: Advice in 

 regard — 



(1) To various methods of road construction, including macadam, 

 gravel, earth, sand-clay, burnt clay, bituminous, slag, brick, and 

 oiled earth. 



(2) To surveys for proper location of roads. 



(3) To the use of convicts on roads and housing them during the 

 continuance of the work. 



(4) To preliminary inspection of conditions and location of roads 

 where object-lesson roads are requested. 



(5) To new methods of construction to be used experimentally. 



(6) To the treatment of driveways at the Washington Indian 

 School, Pu3'allup, Wash. 



(7) To the construction of bridges. 



(8) To oil-concrete flooring for bridges. 



(9) To devising model systems of roadways for counties, and the 

 best methods of construction, maintenance, and administration. 



(10) To the destructive effects of automobiles on roads. 



(11) To bond issues for raising funds for road construction. 



(12) To the use of the split-log drag. 



(13) To the investigation of road materials. 



(14) To the use of concrete on farms. 



This branch of the work is constantly growing in importance as the 

 corps of engineers, chemists, and experts of the Office is now looked 

 upon as a high-grade body of consulting specialists from whom 

 reliable advice may be procured concerning difficult and peculiar 

 problems such as are not capable of easy solution by local authorities. 



STATISTICAL AND ECONOMIC INVESTIGATIONS. 



In November, 1909, an investigation was begun to ascertain the 

 present status of road improvement in the United States. The 

 cooperation and assistance of state highway officials and of county and 

 township officials was sought in this undertaking. In six States the 

 ^tate liighway departments have promised to collect the necessary 

 data; in all of the other States the county and township officials 

 have had to be relied upon for procuring information. Questions 

 were sent to each county requesting data as to the number of miles 

 of each type of improved roads therein, the cost per mile of such 

 roads, and whether bonds had been issued or authorized for road 

 purposes. In many instances immediate replies were received to 

 these questions, but in a majority of cases a second and sometimes a 

 third and fourth set of questions were required. However, at the 

 close of the fiscal year, practically complete returns have been received 

 for about one-fourth of the States. On receipt of complete returns, 

 reports for each State are being sent, when practicable, to some state 

 highway official, or other competent state official, for verification. This 

 consumes considerable time and necessarily ck^lays the work to some 

 extent. It is the purpose of the Office to publish the results of this 

 investigation as a supplement to Bulletin No. 32, which was issued in 

 1904, and it is expected that the work will be completed aiul the 

 bulletin ready for publication by January 1, 1911. 



