HIGHWAY BONDS. 27 



If it is assumed that a 15-foot bituminous-macadam road costs 

 ),500 a mile, and the corresponding 15-foot brick road $18,500 a 

 mile, with annual (absolute) maintenance for the bitu min ous road at 

 $600 per year and strict maintenance x for the brick road $300 per 

 year, the necessary items for the total cost for 20 years may be stated 

 as follows: 



Bituminous- macadam : 



Cost of construction ($10,500) under 5 per cent serial bond with inter- 

 est for 20 years 2 $16, 012. 50 



Cost of annual repair and maintenance ($600) for 20 years 12, 000. 00 



Total cost for 20 years 28, 012. 50 



Brick: 



Cost of construction ($18,500) under 5 per cent serial bond with inter- 

 est for 20 years 2 ... $28, 212. 50 



Cost of annual repair and maintenance ($300) for 20 years 6, 000. 00 



Total cost for 20 years 34, 212. 50 



On the assumption made there is not as much difference in the total 

 costs of the two road surfaces as would appear from the first costs. 

 It is not known that $600 per mile per year will absolutely maintain a 

 bituminous-macadam road nor that $300 per mile per year will 

 strictly maintain a brick road, and the relative value of the two road 

 surfaces at the end of the 20-year term is still to be determined. 



The above analysis indicates a method of estimating the total cost 

 of roads and of required bond issues. The total cost of a 15-foot con- 

 crete road, for example, may be compared with the above total costs, 

 assuming a construction cost of about $1.35 per square yard or 

 $11,880 a mile and an equivalent annual repair and maintenance 

 charge between that of brick and bituminous-macadam. 



EXPEDIENCY OF ISSUING HIGHWAY BONDS. 



Legal restrictions on bond issues. — Nearly all States restrict 

 the total amount of municipal bonds which may be issued to a fixed 

 percentage of the assessed valuation. In other cases there are legal 

 restrictions governing the amount of taxes which may be raised for 

 highway purposes. These are examples of legal restrictions which 

 must be clearly understood before the issue is made. The question 

 frequently arises regarding the authority of the districts of a county 

 to issue bonds. In a number of States the law allows the creation of 

 highway districts or the issuance of bonds by the legal subdivisions 

 of a county. Care must be exercised to determine to what officers 

 the authority for such issues belongs. Instances have arisen where 

 district road boards have undertaken the issue of bonds legally voted, 

 but where the law provided that the county authorities and not the 

 district authorities must issue the bonds. 



i See Bulletin No. 48 of the Office of Public Roads, p. 8. 2 Use Table 11, p. 18. 



