394 ILLINOIS STATE ACADEMY OF SCIENCE 



route. However, the topography of the region repels 

 rather than invites the great trunk routes, and they bend 

 to avoid it, leaving this section an island in the stream 

 of traffic which sweeps by on either side. As a result 

 the railroad service here is typical of branch lines — 

 second rate rolling stock and limited accommodations in 

 general. 



In the matter of highways, rough topography has 

 placed a heavy burden in the cost of construction, oper- 

 ation and maintenance as compared with the glaciated 

 counties immediately to the east.* By selecting items 

 of construction which bear intimate relations to topog- 

 raphy such as the cost of (1) surveying, (2) grading, 

 (3) bridges and culverts, and (4) guard rail, some idea 

 may be gained of how real an expense these communities 

 are put to in road construction. For the items named 

 the difference in cost of construction of the state aid 

 highways from 1914-1917 inclusive averages $1,531.73 

 per mile of road greater than in the level counties to the 

 east. This is added cost due, not to greater expense in 

 unit cost of materials, but to greater mileage of guard 

 rail, more bridges, more grading and greater difficulty 

 in surveying. The total additional cost for these 4 items 

 for the state aid roads built during this period was al- 

 most $25,000 for three counties. 



The absence of gravel in this region, so common as 

 mounds and ridges in glaciated sections, has resulted in 

 a large proportion of the roads remaining unsurfaced. 

 Of the state aid road constructed in this region from 

 1912-1917 (202 miles) about 1/3 (35%) was hard sur- 

 faced. The glaciated counties built in the same period 

 twice the mileage and hard surfaced over 9/10 of the 

 total.** 



Important as is this excessive initial cost, it is, of 

 course, in the time and energy required to transport 

 goods over such inferior roads as well as in the high cost 



* Grant, Iowa, and Lafayette counties in southwestern Wisconsin are 

 compared with Rock, Columbia and Jefferson counties, the nearest counties 

 on the east wholly glaciated. 



** Wisconsin Highway Commission Reports. 



