FIFTH ANNUAL YEAR BOOK — PART VI. 541 



Road culverts. Another important feature of road construction is that 

 of the culverts. Heretofore the rule has been in this State to construct 

 temporary structures of wood and large amounts of our road funds have 

 been wasted in this way. The price of lumber is constantly getting higher, 

 while, on the other hand, the cost of cement is constantly decreasing and 

 the time now seems ripe for the construction of permanent culverts of 

 masonary, even on our earth roads. While the first cost is greater these 

 masonary culverts should be practically indestructible and they are very 

 economical in the end. In this State we, as the State Highway Commission, 

 are preparing standard plans for concrete-steel culverts for free distribution. 

 Some of the model culverts which we have built are now being tested. In 

 this work we are co-operating with a committee of the American Society of 

 Civil Engineers and other prominent organizations which are now making 

 a sytematic series of tests of reinforced concrete and which has assigned the 

 culvert question to us. 



By reinforced concrete with steel we greatly increase the strength and 

 diminish the amount and cost of concrete required for the culverts. Figure 

 6, which is of a five-foot arch culvert near Jefferson, in this State, shows 

 what a handsome structure can be built in this way. 



Such bridges can now be built with perfect safety up to thirty feet of 

 span. At Waterloo, in this State, there are two twenty-four-foot spans on 

 the principal street of the city. 



There is a concrete-steel highway bridge built across Hardin Creek, 

 near Jefferson, Greene county, in this State. These structures cost more in 

 the first place than the ordinary steel truss but are much more durable and 

 economical in the end. The concrete-steel bridge at Waterloo cost no more 

 than the heavy steel structure which was considered necessary for the same 

 location. 



In conclusion I would say that there is a very intimate relation between 

 the road drainage problem in Iowa and the general drainage problem. To 

 obtain satisfactory drainage for our roads outlets are necessary, which can 

 only be secured through co-operation between the road officers and the 

 owners of adjacent private property. In such cases it will pay both the road 

 officers and private owners to co-operate in securing satisfactory drainage 

 outlets. Each should pay a fair proportion of the cost. Our laws should 

 be amended so as to give road.ofiicers the right to construct outlets, distrib- 

 uting the cost in proportion to the benefit where satisfactory agreements 

 can not be reached. I do not believe that this could be open to any constitu- 

 tional objection. 



DRAGGING ROADS. 



Wallaces^ Farmer. 



If a man has a drag there is no better use to which he can put his time 

 when the roads begin to dry off and the ground is still too wet for corn 

 planting than in simply dragging the road in front of his farm. This 



