380 



ANNUAL REPORTS OF DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



NATIONAL FOREST ROADS. 



During the fiscal year ending June 30, 1918, the survey and con- 

 struction of National Forest roads progressed satisfactorily con- 

 sidering the unfavorable conditions which depleted the engineering 

 organization and seriously affected the supply of labor, construction 

 materials, and cooperator's funds. 



Previous to the beginning of the fiscal year the present field organi- 

 zation had been installed. It was further developed during the j^ear 

 as the work required, with a view to providing an efficient road en- 

 gineering and construction organization immediately available for 

 conducting the road and bridge work called for by the Forest Service. 

 Either a district engineer's office or suboffice was established in each 

 of the six places in which the western district foresters' headquarters 

 are located in order that a district engineer or his assistant might be 

 immediately available in each forest district. 



Work under way at the beginning of the fiscal year was continued 

 to the end of the working season as far as practicable. At the begin- 

 ning of the calendar year 1918 an annual working plan covering the 

 entire calendar year was prepared in cooperation with the Forest 

 Service. Care was taken to limit work to those roads which would 

 contribute to the winning of the war or which could be built without 

 drawing upon the supplies of labor, material, or transportation re- 

 quired for war industries. As the season advanced unfavorable con- 

 ditions made it necessary to eliminate further projects from consid- 

 eration until after the war. 



The following tabulation shows the number of projects and the 

 aggregate mileage covered by investigations and surveys of Forest 

 roads during the fiscal year : 



Surveys of National Forest roads. 



Type of survey. 



Preliminary investigations . 



Reconnaissance surveys 



Location surveys and plans 



Total 



Number of 

 projects. 



62 

 47 

 41 



150 



Total 

 miles. 



1,524.5 

 911.75 

 797.5 



3, 233. 75 



Construction was under way on approximately 53.5 miles of road 

 distributed over projects as follows: 



Construction under way on National Forest roads. 



