PUBLIC EOAD MILEAGE AND REVENUES, 1914. 9 



The East Jersey coast forms an almost continuous chain of resi- 

 dential sections and pleasure resorts. This vast playground is fast 

 becoming an all-year-round resort. As the surf bathing is one of the 

 chief attractions, many cities are built on the low bars of sand which 

 have been thrown up by the violence of the sea. Behind these bars 

 are swampy sections and inlets. Roads across these sections are 

 frequently built on fills many feet in depth, composed of material 

 dredged from nearby streams and waterways. In order to form a 

 sohd roadway the original work is quite wide and the amount of 

 material required to fill one of these roads is a mere conjecture. 

 The slopes are frequently protected by sod or are planted with tufts 

 of coarse grass. 



What are known as sand-clay roads in New Jersey are constructed 

 of second-quahty gravel, engine cinders, or some other local product 

 not listed in the standard specifications. These roads cost about 

 $1,000 a mile for grading and another $1,000 for surfacing, or about 

 $2,000 per mile. Many of these roads are only paved for a width of 

 12 feet. Gravel roads, however, are from 14 to 40 feet in width and 

 cost from $2,500 to $10,000 per mile. 



Macadam roads in New Jersey are seldom less than 12 feet in width 

 and 3 or 4 inches deep. In the wealthier districts they are 18 and 

 20 feet in width and from 8 to 12 inches deep, with 30 to 40 feet 

 graded carriageways. They cost from $5,000 to $20,000 a mile, 

 depending on the amount of grading and the depth of the pavement. 



Asphalt macadam is seldom less than 16 feet in width, and in some 

 cases it is as much as 60 feet in width. These roads cost from $18,000 

 to $125,000 per mile. 



Block and brick roads in New Jersey are practically all laid on con- 

 crete foundations, and as they are almost always constructed where 

 they are subject to the heaviest traffic, this class of road may be 

 figured to cost not less than from $40,000 to $50,000 -per mile. 



While it is impossible to estimate exactly the cost of roads in New 

 Jersey, the cost, based on the above figures, has^ however, been 

 roughly figured at a total of $140,000,000. 



EXPENDITURES. 



The total expenditure for road and bridge construction and main- 

 tenance, and for interest and redemption of road and bridge bonds, 

 for the year 1914 amounted to $7,208,287. Of this amount $3,542,572 

 was expended on State-aid roads for construction and maintenance, 

 of which the State's share was $1,306,596 and the share paid by the 

 local units was $2,235,976. State money available for expenditure 

 during 1915 for construction and maintenance of State-aid roads 

 amounted to $1,360,000. From 1891 to January 1, 1915, the total 



