7Z 



What will be one of the largest reinforced concrete tests 

 carried on in this country, the State Highway Commission has 

 at present under way. We have built at the Southern Illinois 

 Penitentiary a 40-foot concrete bridge, which it is proposed 

 to investigate thoroughly and finally load to destruction. It is 

 perhaps one of the first instances of using convict labor for 

 purposes of scientific investigation. 



The construction of bridges involves the public safety as well 

 as the public pocketbook, and it therefore demands per- 

 haps more careful study than the matter of road construction, 

 where the pocketbook alone is concerned. The State Highway 

 Commission ofifers to local officials designs and estimates for 

 their bridges, to the end that they may have a safe structure 

 and also an economical structure. 



As a whole, the work of the State Highway Commission may 

 be considered broadly educational. Practical demonstrations are 

 made of the application of proper principles to road and bridge 

 construction. It is by this method alone that the people gen- 

 erally come to appreciate the practical value of having work 

 done in this manner. As a rule, but a few samples suffice for 

 a community to demand or endeavor to have the whole of their 

 work of a similar character, done in the same manner as out- 

 lined by the demonstrations. Thus it is that the actual work 

 done by the Commission is not a true measure of its influence, 

 which is much greater in extent. 



Better roads in the country are no small factor toward a 

 solution of some of the gravest sociological and economic 

 problems connected with country life, and the methods to be 

 employed to secure better roads, and the methods to be used 

 in their construction are well worthy the consideration of the 

 State; and money so spent is a good, practical investment that 

 in no great length of time will give a good return to people in 

 every section. 



