UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 



J&7*&SU 



BULLETIN No. 284 



Contribution from the Office of Public Roads and Rural 

 Engineering, LOGAN WALLER PAGE, Director 



f^Lru 



Washington, D. C. 



September 17, 1915 



CONSTRUCTION AND MAINTENANCE OF ROADS AND 

 BRIDGES FROM JULY 1, 1913, to DECEMBER 31, 1914. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 



Introduction 1 



Work of the Division of Construc- 

 tion 2 



Object-lesson roads 2 



Superintendence of county roads. 23 



Experimental road work 50 



Post-road work 52 



Bridge work 53 



Page. 

 Work of the Division of National 



Parks and Forest Roads 53 



Work done in National Forests- 54 



Survey work 54 



Construction work 55 



Work done in National Parks__ 57 

 Work of the Division of Mainte- 

 nance 58 



INTRODUCTION. 



Owing to the fact that the active field work of the office accords 

 better with the calendar year than with the fiscal year, it has been 

 thought best to report herein the work of the Divisions of Construc- 

 tion, Maintenance, and National Park and Forest Roads for the past 

 18 months, and in the future to have the reports cover the calendar 

 years. This bulletin takes up the field work of the above three 

 divisions where Department Bulletin No. 53 (Object Lesson and Ex- 

 perimental Roads, and Bridge Construction, 1912-13) left off. These 

 three divisions have been formed from the one division of engineer- 

 ing since Bulletin 53 was issued, and the records of work divi'ded 

 accordingly. 



As mentioned in Bulletin No. 53, the Office of Public Roads and 

 Rural Engineering is empowered by a provision of the agricultural 

 act to expend a portion of its appropriation " for investigations of the 

 best methods of road making and the best kinds of road-making mate- 

 rials, and for furnishing expert advice on road building and mainte- 

 nance." 1 In the interpretation of this clause the desire of the office 

 has been to demonstrate in a practical way. the need for good roads, 

 as well as the benefits derived from them, and at the same time to 



i Agricultural act, 1914, Public No. 430, 62d Cong., 3d sess., approved Mar. 4, 1913, 

 38°— Bull. 284 — 15 1 



