PUBLIC EOAD MILEAGE AND REVENUES, 1914. 21 



PENNSYLVANIA.! 



Pennsylvania, with an area of 44,832 square miles, has 2.22 miles of 

 road per square mile of area, and a population, according to the 

 census of 1910, of 7,665,111, which makes her the second largest State 

 in the Union in point of population, while there are 33 other States 

 having larger areas. It has 67 counties, varying in size from Center, 

 the largest, with an area of 1,146 square miles, to Montour, the 

 •smallest, with an area of 130 square miles. Pennsylvania's topogra- 

 phy is quite diversified, about one-fourth of the area being covered by 

 hills and mountains. It has a number of large rivers, among which 

 are the SchuyUdU, the Susquehanna, the Monongahela, and the 

 Allegheny. 



Pennsylvania has a highly organized highway department, with 

 offices located in the State capitol at Harrisburg. The organization 

 of the department is as follows: Commissioner, first deputy, second 

 deputy, chief engineer, construction engineer, auditor, statistician, 

 automobile division registrar, chief clerk, engineer of tests, engineer 

 of bridges, and chief draftsman. There are 15 assistant engineers in 

 charge of the 15 districts into which the State is divided. 



The State highway department is at present operating under what 

 is known as the "Sproul Act." Under this act, 375 routes, containing 

 approximately 10,200 miles, are designated as State highways. Toll 

 roads included in State highways are purchased by the State. Con- 

 tracts are awarded by the State highway department on plans and 

 specifications prepared by the department. All State highways are 

 improved to a width of 12 feet. The maintenance of the roads 

 improved as State highways is taken care of by the State highway 

 department, except that under certain conditions boroughs and in- 

 corporated towns through which State highways lie pay 50 per cent 

 of the cost of maintenance. 



Railways, railway crossings, gas or water pipes, and electric con- 

 duits are not allowed to be laid on State highways without permits. 

 Neither may telegraph, telephone, electric light, or power poles be 

 erected on such highways without special permission from the State' 

 highway department. 



The department also is required to give aid in the improvement of 

 certain roads which are not included in the State highway system. 

 Under this provision of the law, counties and townships, by applica- 

 tion, may receive from the State not to exceed 50 per cent of the cost 

 of improvement of roads within the hmits of such counties or town- 

 ships, and for maintenance of such roads thereafter. The basis of 

 apportionment of State aid to counties and townships is the mileage 



* W. R. D. Hall, the statistician of the Pennsylvania highway department, rendered valuable 

 assistance in this connection. 



