OBJECT-LESSON AND EXPERIMENTAL ROADS^, 1912-13. 31 



The equipment consisted of 1 road machine, 6 No. 1 drag scrapers, 2 plows, 

 picks, shovels, etc. The only work done consisted in grading and shaping the 

 road. 



The total length graded was 1,320 feet. The width in cuts was 27 feet and 

 in fills 24 feet. The total graded area was 3,960 square yards. The right of 

 way was cleared to a width of 66 feet. The roadway was given a crown of 

 three-quarters inch to 1 foot. In all, 745 cubic yards of earth was moved in the 

 excavation and hauled an average distance of 75 feet, with a maximum haul of 

 300 feet. The total cost of the road to the community was $238.50, which is at 

 the rate of $0.06 per square yard. The principal items of cost were : Excavation, 

 745 cubic yards at $0.20, $149 ; shaping with the road machine, 3,960 square 

 yards at $0,006 per square yard, $24.50 ; and clearing and grubbing the right of 

 way, $65. 



INSPECTION OF OBJECT-LESSON ROADS. 



The arrangement adopted last year for providing for systematic inspection 

 of work in progress and of projects submitted to this office by the local officials 

 was so successful in saving time and expense that it will be continued. 



A chief inspector has been appointed, and during the past year has reported 

 as follows: Inspections of old object-lesson roads, 3; inspections of work in 

 progress under field men, 14 ; and preliminary inspections of proposed work, 5. 

 Special assignments of a confidential nature were covered at Raleigh, N. C, 

 relative to the improvement of post roads in that State; at Elkhart, Ind., rela- 

 tive to county contract work in progress ; and at Knoxville, Tenn., relative to the 

 cost of macadam construction and a case at law involving contractors' antici- 

 pated profits. Special assignments were also covered at Letchworth Park, 

 N. Y., in connection with the creation of a system of roads within the park 

 limits; at Augusta, Me., for a study of the State highway system and a draft 

 of a proposed State law establishing a highway commission, etc. Special ad- 

 vice and inspections of a routine nature were made at Anaconda, Mont., Nappa- 

 nee, Ind., Gatesville, N. C, and Arcadia, Fla. 



The chief inspector also made nine general inspections in connection with 

 post-road projects under the Post Office appropriation act of August, 1912. 



UNFINISHED WORK. 



Object-lesson roads were begun at St. Johns, Ariz., Morgantown, N. C, and 

 Appomattox, Va., during the latter part of the last fiscal year and are still in 

 course of construction. These roads will be described in the report on the field 

 work of the Office of Public Roads for 1913-14. 



EXPERIMENTAL ROADS, 1912-13. 



The office conducted a series of experiments in road building at the following 

 places during the past fiscal year : Miami, Fla. ; Chevy Chase, Md. ; Rockville 

 Pike, Montgomery County, Md. ; and the Agricultural Department grounds, 

 Washington, D. C. These will be described in greater detail in the regular 

 annual progress report on experiments in dust preventives and road binders. 

 A brief description of each road is, however, given below. 



EXPERIMENTS AT MIAMI, FLA. 



On June 9, 1913, at the request of the board of county commissioners of 

 Dade County, Fla., an engineer was assigned from the Office of Public Roads to 



