58 BULLETIN 284, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
WORK OF DIVISION OF MAINTENANCE. 
The maintenance work of the office was separated and a division 
formed on February 16, 1914, with E. W. James as chief. At that 
time some experimental maintenance for purposes of securing cost 
data was being conducted on 8 miles of road in Alexandria County, 
Va., under a memorandum of agreement with the county authorities, 
and plans were being considered for maintaining the experimental 
roads built by the office in Montgomery County, Md. 
On the organization of the division the following lines of work 
were planned. They are all continuous projects within the limits 
noted. 
I. STUDY OF THE DETAILS OF ROAD MAINTENANCE AS CARRIED OUT BY STATE 
AUTHORITIES IN REPRESENTATIVE STATES. 
The work under this head will enable the office to draw from the 
experience of the most advanced and efficient highway organizations 
in the country the results of their experiments and endeavors, and to 
extend this information by correspondence and actual demonstration 
to those communities where improved roads have been built at large 
cost and are deteriorating more or less rapidly, because of lack of 
organization, information, and skilled supervision in matters per- 
taining to road maintenance. The studies are being made in a 
rumber of States having well-organized highway departments, such 
as M_ssachusetts, New Hampshire, Connecticut, New York. This 
work has so far been limited to short studies in the first and third 
divisions of Massachusetts, the first division of New York, the ninth 
and part of the sixth division of New Hampshire. 
Preliminary inspections were made covering general organization 
of maintenance force and the system of roads under maintenance. 
Some general details of average costs and general ae 
methods were included. The smaller and more intimate details 
the work will require personal studies in the field with cotistenseen 
gangs for a considerable period of time. 
II. STUDY OF THE DETAILS OF COUNTY MAINTENANCE IN SELECTED COUNTIES. 
To extend maintenance investigations into regions which have no 
State organization but still depend entirely on the county system 
of road administration certain counties are to be studied which have 
constructed improved roads on a large scale. No work has yet been 
done in this line, but plans are being made to do work in Allegheny 
County, Pa.; Montgomery County, Ala.; Hines County, Miss.; Hills- 
boro and Duval Counties, Fla. The Division of Road Beonoiiits 
