ROAD MILEAGE, EEVENUES, SOUTHEEjST STATES^ 1914. 15 



DELAWARE. 



Delaware has an area of 1,965 square miles. It has only three 

 counties, of which Sussex is the largest, having an area of 913 square 

 miles, and New Castle is the smallest, having an area of 435 square 

 miles. In 1910 tho State had a total population of 202,322, of which 

 87,411 were in tho city of Wilmington. 



Each county in Delaware conducts its highway work as a distinct 

 unit. In New Castle County there is a State highway commissioner 

 appointed by the governor for the one countj^, and a county road 

 engineer appointed by the levy court, but the same man may hold 

 both offices. In the other counties the levy court is the governing 

 body, and a county engineer is appointed by the court. The legis- 

 lature each year appropriates $30,000 for highway purposes, each 

 county receiving $10,000 as its share. 



REVENUES APPLIED TO ROADS AND BRmCES. 



In 1914 a total of $511,628 was applied to road and bridge work in 

 Delaware. Of this amount, $118,628"was derived from county taxa- 

 tion, $31,000 from State-aid appropriations and $362,000 from bond 

 issues. In 1904 the total revenues applied to roads and bridges 

 amounted to $90,803, thus showing that during the 10-year period, 

 1904 to 1914, the expenditures increased $420,825, or 463 per cent. 

 Table 9 shows the rates of taxation, the amounts derived from taxa- 

 tion and the amounts received from the State and applied to roads 

 in 1914. 



ROAD AND BRIDGE BONDS. 



On January 1, 1915, the total road and bridge bonds outstanding 

 amounted to $1,280,000 for Kent and New Castle Counties only. In 

 1914 New Castle voted and sold $150,000 of bridge bonds. During 

 1914, $362,000 were expended by the counties from road and bridge 

 bonds issued that year and previously. The total bonds outstand- 

 ing on January 1, 1915, the bonds issued in 1914, and the expenditures 

 from bond funds in 1914 are shown by counties in Table 25. 



ROAD MILEAGE. "" 



At the close of 1914 Delaware had 3,674 miles of public road, of 

 which 243.5 miles, or 6.62 per cent, were surfaced. Of the surfaced 

 roads 161.5 miles were macadam, 35.5 bituminous macadam, 21 

 gravel, and 25.5 sheU. In addition to the surfaced roads, 270 miles 

 were graded and drained earth roads. The mileage figures for Dela- 

 ware are shown in Table 39. 



Comparing the mileage figures of 1914 with similar data collected 

 for 1909 shows that the mileage of surfaced roads increased 57.1 miles 

 in the five-year period. The percentage of roads surfaced in 1909 

 was 6.22. 



