PRACTICAL PAPERS—COUNTRY ROADS. 
293 
the roads the amount and quality of the work executed would 
be more than double, and the actual tax required less than 
. under the prevailing system. 
COST OF ROADS AND EXPENSES OF REPAIRS. 
According to all returns from different states, the average 
cost of construction of gravel roads is $2,241 per mile, and the 
average annual cost per mile for repairs is $103. It appears, 
from the reports, that only a very few of the roads are 
improved by a gravel bed, and neither the width of the beds 
so improved nor the quantity of material applied is given. We 
may reasonably infer, however, that neither is greater than 
is absolutely required, and yet we find the cost of construction 
per mile to range from $700 to $4,000, and to average $2,241. 
The annual outlay per mile varies from $4 to $200, the 
• average being as above stated, $103. 
By reference to the table showing the cost of repairs to 
common roads per mile throughout the country, we find it 
to vary from $1 to $59, and the general average is $18.11 per 
mile. 
The returns show that the average cost of construction of 
macadamized roads per mile is $3,290, and it varies in the 
different states from $500 to $6,336. The average annual 
cost per mile for repairs of macadamized roads, as reported, is 
$40, varying from $10 to $100 per mile. 
The average cost of construction of plankroads^per mile is 
reported to be $3,000, and the average annual cost of repairs 
' per mile is $550. * * -jf * 
BRIDGES. 
The writer has observed in various parts of the country 
common errors in bridge construction, which he proposes to 
notice, with remedial suggestions. At the present comparative 
prices of wood, stone and iron in all districts, except perhaps 
on extensive prairies, where the former two are very scarce, 
wood and stone are considered so much cheaper than iron 
that they are generally used. Where good quarry stones and 
