SCIENCE AND INDUSTRY. 
Scientific Road Making. 
NEED OF LOCAL RESEARCH. 
By GERALD LIGHTFOOT, M.A. 
Although no revenue is now derived directly from roads in 
Australia, they are, of course, of the greatest value and importance to 
the community, and, next to railways and public lands, they form the 
most valuable item of national property. Statistics are not available 
to show the total expenditure by State Governments and local authorities 
on roads, but the expenditure by the New South Wales Roads Depart- 
ment and Road Trusts alone, from 1857 to 1917 inclusive, was nearly 
£25,300,000. ‘The expenditure on roads by State Governments from 
loan moneys in the year 1915-16 was £782,000. 
It has been stated publicly by a high authority in Australia that no 
expenditure of public funds has involved greater waste of money than 
that on roads. In several of the States the methods of construction 
and maintenance of roads usually vary according to individual ideas of 
practice, sometimes sound—too often not. There is frequently no 
scientific control and no standardization of method. ‘There is often 
an absence of knowledge of contemporary or past history of the develop- 
ments of road engineering in older, countries of the world, while very 
little research or experimental work is conducted on local road-making 
materials. Moreover, there is no adequate provision for the collation 
and dissemination of information or data of practical value to the road- 
builder. 
During a visit to the United States and England, in 1916, I had 
the opportunity of acquiring information regarding the work and 
organization of various institutions concerned in the scientifie control 
of road development, construction, and maintenance. This information 
I placed before the Executive Committee of the Institute of Science - 
and ‘Industry, which, after carefully considering the matter, concluded 
that, whilst valuable work is being carried out at State Departmental 
and University laboratories in Australia in connexion with the testing 
of road materials and cognate matters, there is urgent need for institut- 
ing systematie research work in connexion with road making. The 
Institute accordingly appointed a Special Committee to report on the > 
whole matter, and, if thought desirable, to formulate the outline of a 
scheme for the establishment of a Commonwealth Roads Research 
Laboratory. 
In the two following sections of this article some brief information 
is given regarding the scientific control of road construction and main- 
tenance in the United States and England respectively. In the last 
section, the outline of a scheme is given for the establishment of a Com- 
monwealth Roads Research Laboratory. : 
Tue Orrice or Pusric Roaps, Department or AGRICULTURE, 
Unirep Srares or America. 
The Federal Government of the United States of America long ago 
realized its responsibility in connexion: with public roads, and for the 
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