SCIENTIFIC ROAD MAKING. 
Proposats For A Commonwerattn Roaps Lasorarory. 
The Special Committee established by the Institute to consider the 
- proposal that the Commonwealth should initiate experimental research 
on road making consisted of Mr, W. Calder, M.I.C.E. (Country Roads 
Board of Victoria); Mr. J. M. Coane (Consulting Roads Engineer, 
Melbourne) ; Professor H. Payne (Engineering Department, Melbourne 
University); and the writer of this article. The Committee strongly 
supports the proposal, and, with a view to giving effect thereto, has 
made the following recommendations to the Institute :— 
(1) That there should be a central Commonwealth organization to 
collaborate with State and local bodies in the matters of forwarding 
the construction of good roads throughout the Commonwealth, of testing 
and advising on road-making methods, materials, and machinery, and 
of improving the facilities for the training of road engineers. 
(2) That such an organization should be linked up as a branch of 
the Commonwealth Institute of Science and Industry, and should consist 
of— 
(a) A small Committee of experts to supervise and direct the 
work generally. 
(b) A qualified engineer experienced in road design and con- 
struction and experimental physics. 
(c) A laboratory (as specified in the following paragraph) and 
such assistance as may be necessary. 
(3) That, in connexion with the Commonwealth organization, a 
central experimental laboratory should be established for research into 
the properties of road-making materials, and for work in connexion 
with the determination of standards for use in the Commonwealth. 
(4) That steps should be taken to secure co-operation between the 
Commonwealth organization and the existing State and University 
laboratories, which will, as a matter of course, continue to carry out 
and develop their present work. 
(5) That the Department of Defence should work in collaboration 
with the Commonwealth road organization, so that military require- 
ments may be efficiently met. 
_ (6). That every effort should be made to co-ordinate road construc- 
tion with any possible future requirements of aerial traffic. 
(7) That the main functions of the Commonwealth road organiza- 
tion should be as follows :— 
(a) The collation of literature relating to past and present 
experimental work on road construction and maintenance 
in Australia, Eurepe, the United States of America, and_ 
other countries. 
(b) Experimental research into the characteristics and suita- 
bility of road-making: materials. 
(c) The laying down of experimental sections in different types 
of materials and methods of construction, and the accurate 
recording of data connected therewith. 
107 
