HIGHWAY CONSTRUCTION IN MASSACHUSETTS 77 



England.* A modification of this system was adopted by Thomas 

 Telford about this time, which substituted a layer, or foundation, 

 of irregular broken stone, set up on edge on the subgrade. Nine 

 inches was the maximum dimension of these fragments. The 

 rough surface thus made was smoothed down by going over it 

 and breaking off the tops of the blocks with small hammers and 

 packing the pieces thus obtained between the large blocks. This 

 surface was then rolled as before. Telford built the celebrated 

 Holyhead road, extending from Holyhead through North Wales 

 to Shrewsbury a road that served as a model at the board of 

 inquiry appointed by Parliament in 1823. Each system had its 

 partisans, and to-day the best features of both methods have been 

 adopted under different conditions, dependent upon the character 

 of the ground over which the road passes. 



In 1892 the State of Massachusetts appointed a commission to 

 investigate and report upon the character of the highways of the 

 State, and to point out the trend that legislation should take in 

 the matter of framing laws appropriating a yearly sum of money 

 for the construction of State roads, and defining the powers of the 

 Highway Commission to be appointed under the same act. This 

 commission made its first report in 1893, and, on June 20, 1894, the 

 Legislature appropriated the sum of three hundred thousand dol- 

 lars for this purpose, to be used at the discretion of the Highway 

 Commissioners the ensuing year. This commission appoints its 

 own chief engineer, who has ultimate authority with the commis- 

 sion in the settlement of all questions that arise in connection 

 with the work. 



The laws enacted at this time do not place the initiation of 

 State roads directly in the hands of the commission, but make 

 the commissioners the tribunal to which all petitions made by 

 towns, cities, or counties of the State are referred for action. It 

 is a part of the policy of the commission not to allow a random 

 construction of isolated stretches of road, but to make all ways 

 constructed fit into a general scheme that shall have for its object 

 a system of thoroughfares traversing the State that shall benefit 

 the greatest number of municipalities and the State as a whole. 



The method of procedure, as defined by the statute of 1894, is as 

 follows : The selectmen of any town, the aldermen of any city, or 

 the county commissioners must first file a petition with the High- 

 way Commissioners, accompanied by a plan and profile of the 

 road. Plans are then prepared by the chief engineer and sub- 

 mitted to the commission for its approval. It is a part of the set- 



* Although one of the earliest pieces of work on a large scale that was ever attempted, 

 the report of the board of inquiry, referred to above, showed that similar roads had been 

 built in Sweden previous to 1823. 



