PUBLIC ROAD MILEAGE AND REVENUES, 1914. 21 
PENNSYLVANIA. 1 
Pennsylvania, with an area of 44,832 square miles, has 2.22 miles of 
road per square mile of area, and a population, according to the 
census of 1910, of 7,665,111, which makes her the second largest State 
in the Union in point of population, while there are 33 other States 
having larger areas. It has 67 counties, varying in size from Center, 
the largest, with an area of 1,146 square miles, *to Montour, the 
smallest, with an area of 130 square miles. Pennsylvania's topogra- 
phy is quite diversified, about one-fourth of the area being covered by 
hills and mountains. It has a number of large rivers, among which 
are the Schuylkill, the Susquehanna, the Monongahela, and the 
Allegheny. 
Pennsylvania has a highly organized highway department, with 
offices located in the State capitol at Harrisburg. The organization 
of the department is as follows: Commissioner, first deputy, second 
deputy, chief engineer, construction engineer, auditor, statistician, 
automobile division registrar, chief clerk, engineer of tests, engineer 
of bridges, and chief draftsman. There are 15 assistant engineers in 
charge of the 15 districts into which the State is divided. 
The State highway department is at present operating under what 
is known as the " Sproul Act." Under this act, 375 routes, containing 
approximately 10,200 miles, are designated as State highways. Toll 
roads included in State highways are purchased by the State. Con- 
tracts are awarded by the State highway department on plans and 
specifications prepared by the department. All State highways are 
improved to a width of 12 feet. The maintenance of the roads 
improved as State highways is taken care of by the State highway 
department, except that under certain conditions boroughs and in- 
corporated towns through which State highways lie pay 50 per cent 
of the cost of maintenance. 
Railways, railway crossings, gas or water pipes, and electric con- 
duits are not allowed to be laid on State highways without permits. 
Neither may telegraph, telephone, electric light, or power poles be 
erected on such highways without special permission from the State 
highway department. 
The department also is required to give aid in the improvement of. 
certain roads which are not included in the State highway system. 
Under this provision of the law, counties and townships, by applica- 
tion, may receive from the State not to exceed 50 per cent of the cost 
of improvement of roads within the limits of such counties or town- 
ships, and for maintenance of such roads thereafter. The basis of 
apportionment of State aid to counties and townships is the mileage 
1 W. R. D. Hall, the statistician of the Pennsylvania highway department, rendered valuable 
assistance in this connection. 
