208 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



tire cost to one company alone. This permits efficient 

 exploitation and development of the resources of an area 

 and should mean increased economy for the general pviblic. 



3. Highway Construction. 



Federal and State governments are spending hundreds 

 of millions of dollars each year in road building and these 

 projects call for a mass of detailed information. Where 

 accurate detailed topographic maps are not available, 

 costly preliminary surveys must be executed. 



A member of the Wisconsin State Highway Commis- 

 sion estimated that a complete topographic map of Wis- 

 consin would be worth more than its entire cost just for the 

 road building program. The Association of State High- 

 way officials considers that the saving in highway funds 

 alone would be greater than the cost of making these Topo- 

 graphic maps. 



The chief engineer of the Iowa State Highway Commis- 

 sion estimated that 50% of 6000 miles of a primary road 

 system might have to be modified to secure proper grades 

 and alignment because no topographic survey was avail- 

 able when the roads were first planned. In our own State, 

 road building may average as high as $35,000 or $40,000 

 per mile. Hence our increased annual appropriation rep- 

 resents the average cost of only one mile of highway con- 

 struction. 



Maryland has a complete topographic map of the State, 

 and the chief engineer of the State Roads Commission es- 

 timates the saving on road work to exceed the entire map 

 cost. 



For initial and maintenance use of State Highways, the 

 value of such maps has been estimated to be worth at least 

 $250.00 per mile. This figure applied to Illinois maps 

 makes the first cost appear insignificant. 



^. Transportation Needs. 



Transportation problems involve the construction and 

 use of railroads, highways and waterways, and are greatly 

 facilitated by topographic maps. If adequate topographic 



