TRANSPORTATION ON LAND BY VEHICLES -THE ROADS 35 



PARAGRAPH IX. 

 TRANSPORTATION ON LAND BY VEHICLES:- THE ROADS. 



(A) USE, NOMENCLATURE, AND FACTORS influencing tine construction of forest roads. 



I. "Forest roads" are routes of travel for locomotives, cars, sleds, waggons, &c., engaged in the trans- 

 portation of vvoodgoods. it might be said that forest roads are the only all-comprising means of trans- 

 portation, and for that reason superior to any other. 



Forest roads are more independent of weather conditions than any other means of transportation ; 

 forest roads are therefore the most reliable means of transportation. 



Roads are used for: — 



(a) Transportation of forest products from the forest; 



(b) Transportation of camp supplies and logging supplies into the forest; 



(c) Protection against fires, storms, insects, and trespass, the road acting as a fire lane, as a severance 

 cutting, and as a means to keep possession; 



(d) Yarding places for forest products; means to increase the farm value of the country contiguous 

 to the road; lines of compartments or blocks. 



il. According to the amount of traffic for which a road is used, there may be distinguished :- 



(a) "Main roads" devoted to continuous, general use, including haulage of supplies; 



(b) "Spur lines," forming feeders of main roads and built at a smaller e.xpense; used temporarily, 

 not continually, for transportation of forest produce, and left unattended after being used. 



ill. According to the character of the road surface, there may be distinguished: — 



(a) Earth surfaced roads; 



(b) Ice and snow surfaced roads; 



(c) Stone surfaced roads (Macadam, Telford, gravel, shell, and Koltz roads); stone pavement; asphalt 

 and bitulithic pavement); 



(d) Wood surfaced roads (brush, fagots, corduroy, pole roads; wooden rail railroads; sawdust roads; 

 wood pavement); 



(e) Steel surfaced roads (railroads; steel troughs). 



The surfacing of a road might extend over the entire face of a road or merely over the routes used 

 by the wheels (e. g., railroads, Koltz roads). 



Steel rails are the only kind of surfacing which allows of transfer from one road line to another. 

 IV. The investment in roads is governed by the following factors: — 



(a) Topography; 



(b) Situation of market or of point of delivery; 



(c) Volume of forest produce to be conveyed; 



(d) Wages of manual and team labor; 



(e) Price of raw material required for road building. 



It is evident that the amount of money to be invested on roads is controlled by forest-financial 

 considerations:- That sum of money must be spent for road building which will bring the investments 

 made (soil, timber, farms, mines, orchards) to the highest state of relative productiveness, with the result 

 that the highest and safest annual surplus dividend is secured from the aggregate investment. 



A road system must be so planned and built that it increases the value of the forest estate by more 

 than the actual cost of the road. A road system is often meant to last for a number of years. For that 

 reason it is necessary to anticipate, when building it, the requirements of the future. A road system should 

 be planned invariably with the help of a topographic map. 



The unwillingness of the average forest owner to sink additional capital into permanent betterments 

 is one of the main hindrances to the development of conservative forestry in America. 



