BOADS AND BKIDGES, JULY 1, 1913-DEC. 31, 1914. 59 



will cover details of organization in county road maintenance and 

 to that extent cooperate with this division. 



III. INAUGURATION OF MAINTENANCE ON POST ROADS CONSTRUCTED UNDER 



ACT OF CONGRESS OF AUGUST 24, 1912. 



On the maintenance of all post roads constructed under the act 

 of August 24, 1912, the office furnishes advice and where possible 

 exercises supervision. 



Maintenance under a county engineer is now systematic on the 

 Virginia post road in Spotsylvania County and on the completed 

 part of the Ohio post road. This work involves the keeping of 

 accurate costs to determine the annual cost of maintenance per 

 mile. Plans are being made to extend this maintenance to post 

 roads in Maine, Tennessee, Texas, and Alabama. 



IV. SUPERVISION OF MAINTENANCE ON A ROAD FROM WASHINGTON, D. C, TO 



ATLANTA, GA. 



Demonstration road maintenance is being conducted on the 

 Washington-Atlanta Highway from Petersburg, Va., southward. 

 The purpose of this work is principally to demonstrate maintenance 

 methods and the value of road maintenance in increasing not only 

 the number of days in the year that an earth or sand-clay road can 

 be kept in good condition, but the extent to which the wear of 

 gravel, macadam, and other types may be counteracted by ordinary 

 methods of maintenance. As the work continues, the demonstra- 

 tion is developing the following facts, which are here enumerated 

 without comment. It is expected that further work will provide 

 more corroborative data for very valuable observations with refer- 

 ence to local road administration. 



1. County boards, although having full administrative authority, 

 appear not to attach to their official action in road matters the 

 importance or legal effect which it should have. 



2. County boards do not generally have sufficient accounting con- 

 trol of road funds to know what is available for any particular proj- 

 ect — where funds have been, or where existing balances are to be, 

 expended. 



3. Lack of any systematic practice in handling road funds among 

 most counties makes it very difficult to carry out over even a single 

 year any persistent maintenance policy, because funds officially obli- 

 gated for maintenance purposes are not protected against sporadic 

 and irregular draughts for miscellaneous purposes. The greatest 

 likelihood consequently exists everywhere that there will be no bal- 

 ance in the maintenance fund in the last half or third of the year, 

 although only a part of the fund allotted may have been spent. 



