52 BULLETIN 387, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



ROAD AND BRroGE BONDS. 



It was impossible to secure information in regard to bonds out- 

 standing January 1, 1915, or bond funds expended in 1914. From 

 reports received it appears that the various counties and districts 

 voted $5,354,000 road and bridge bonds up to July 1, 1915. The 

 bonds outstanding on that date, so far as could be ascertained, 

 amounted to $1,303,000. 



The amount of bonds outstanding and the amount voted in each 

 county up to July 1, 1915, are shoMTi in Table 36. 



ROAD MILEAGE. 



At the close of the fiscal year 1914-15, West Virginia had 32,024 

 miles of pubhc roads, of which 1,064.97 miles, or 3.3 per cent, were 

 surfaced. Of the surfaced roads, 771.92 miles were macadam, 62.95 

 miles bituminous macadam, 121.1 miles brick, 18.5 miles concrete, 

 20.5 miles gravel, and 70 miles shale. 



In surfaced road mileage Jefferson County stands first, with 280 

 miles, or 82.4 per cent; Ohio County second, with 204 miles, or 80 

 per cent; Berkeley County third, with 145 miles, or 31.8 per cent; 

 Brooke County fourth, with 52 miles, or 29.2 per cent; and Mercer 

 County fifth, with 42 miles, or 10.4 per cent. Twenty-eight counties 

 had less than 10 per cent of the roads surfaced, and 22 counties had 

 no surfaced roads. In 1904 there were 44 counties that reported 

 no surfaced roads. 



In 1909, 591.4, or 1.84 per cent, of the total were surfaced. It 

 would seem therefore that in the period 1909 to 1914-15 a total of 

 473.6 miles were surfaced. The 1914-15 mileage statistics for the 

 various counties are presented in Table 52. 



