SIXTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VIII. 825 



of the law are carried out. The administration of the law is more im- 

 portant than the law itself. Perhaps there should be changes made in 

 the road laws, but, generally speaking, we tinker too much with the laws; 

 and the tinkering is sometimes done by men who do not know themselves 

 just what they want. 



Some objections urged against the law are that townships with seven- 

 ty-two miles of road to care for often prove too large for satisfactory ad- 

 ministration by one man; difficulty is found in securing men with suffi- 

 cent administrative ability to plan good road work and superintend 

 t"^e labor of other men; minor repairs — a defective culvert or broken 

 plank in the Iridge — which repairs should be made quickly and cheaply, 

 --are now sometimes delayed and made more costly by reason of having 

 to notify the road superintendent. 



To remedy these defects the average township might be — at the pleas- 

 ure of the trustees — divided into four districts, and a superintendent ap- 

 pointed for each district. The trustees in Jackson, LaFayette and Wash- 

 ington townships, where the Cedar river divides the township, have 

 worked on this plan by appointing a road superintendent for each side of 

 the river. 



One of the best means of keeping public roads in good condition 

 would be the general use of wagons with broad tires for heavy loads. 

 Tests made at the experiment stations prove that the draft on a heavy 

 load is largely in favor of the wide tire. The use of the broad tire is a 

 benefit to the roads. The broad "tire rolls and levels the road while the 

 narrow tire cuts them in ruts. Iowa should encourage the use of wide 

 tired wagons. Some states have laws that provide that wagons for heavy 

 loads must have tires four or five inches wide. Some states encourage 

 the use of wide tires, by a rebatement of taxes. At the last session of 

 the Iowa legislature a bill was introduced to encourage the use of wagons 

 with tires not less than three inches in width, allowing a rebate of 25 

 per cent of the road tax of a person who used such wagons in drawing 

 heavy loads, limiting the rebate in any case to $5. The bill passed the 

 Senate by an almost unanimoums vote.but was defeated in the House. 

 The legislature is. considering a similar bill this winter. 



Lumber is getting so expensive that we should make culverts and small 

 bridges with concrete. But the concrete floors should be reinforced 

 with iron rods. We have used some old bridge steel, also some railroad 

 rails for reinforcements of cement work. All these are imbedded with the 

 concrete. The side walls of a cement bridge should be down to a solid 

 foundation and every precaution should be taken to protect them from 

 undermining. Some recommend a cement floor to prevent the bottom 

 under the bridge from washing. I do not think much of this extra 

 expense. 



The abutments for larger bridges should also be solid masonry or 

 concrete where stones, gravel and sand can be got near by, at fair prices. 

 Stone or concrete abutments and tubular steel piers filled with concrete 

 are better and also cheaper for a foundation in a series of years than 

 the best piling you can buy. Six years ago the people of New York had 

 their attention called to the fact that farm values in that state had 



