HIGHWAY BONDS. 27 
If it is assumed that a 15-foot bituminous-macadam road costs 
$10,500 a mile, and the corresponding 15-foot brick road $18,500 a 
mile, with annual (absolute) maintenance for the bituminous road at 
$600 per year and strict maintenance! for the brick road $300 per 
year, the necessary items for the total cost for 20 years may be stated 
as follows: 
Bituminous-macadam: 
Cost of construction ($10,500) under 5 per cent serial bond with inter- 
Gai POIe Al) ViGAE Stace nate 215 be REN EAD) dere Bede BEE eee nes tee $16, 012. 50 
Cost of annual repair and maintenance ($600) for 20 years.......-.--- 12, 000. 00 
otaltcostelor 20! years Sasa! the SPs eee ate Senne eens eRe 2 28, 012. 50 
Brick: 
Cost of construction ($18,500) under 5 per cent serial bond with inter- 
CS AOR AO Viears Ao ume Se 0 ohare eae else cere opted Meee artes $28, 212. 50 
Cost of annual repair and maintenance ($300) for 20 years........--- 6, 000. 00 
sRofalkeastrion 2O0syearsi2.4 552 ste See ea se eeeee Sea sea 34, 212. 50 
On the assumption made there is not as much difference in the total 
costs of the two road surfaces as would appear from the first costs. 
It is not known that $600 per mile per year will absolutely maintain a 
bituminous-macadam road nor that $300 per mile per year will 
strictly maintain a brick road, and the relative value of the two road 
surfaces at the end of the 20-year term is still to be determined. 
The above analysis indicates a method of estimating the total cost 
of roads and of required bond issues. The total cost of a 15-foot con- 
crete road, for example, may be compared with the above total costs, 
assuming a construction cost of about $1.35 per square yard or 
$11,880 a mile and an equivalent annual repair and maintenance 
charge between that of brick and bituminous-macadam. 
EXPEDIENCY OF ISSUING HIGHWAY BONDS. 
Legal restrictions on bond issues.—Nearly all States restrict 
the total amount of municipal bonds which may be issued to a fixed 
percentage of the assessed valuation. In other cases there are legal 
restrictions governing the amount of taxes which may be raised for 
highway purposes. These are examples of legal restrictions which 
must be clearly understood before the issue is made. The question 
frequently arises regarding the authority of the districts of a county 
to issue bonds. In a number of States the law allows the creation of 
highway districts or the issuance of bonds by the legal subdivisions 
of a county. Care must be exercised to determine to what officers 
the authority for such issues belongs. Instances have arisen where 
district road boards have undertaken the issue of bonds legally voted, 
but where the law provided that the county authorities and not the 
district authorities must issue the bonds. 
1 See Bulletin No. 48 of the Office of Public Roads, p. 8. 2 Use Table 11, p. 18. 
