Page:Walter Renton Ingalls - Wealth and Income of the American People (1924).pdf/168

146 Mileage Built Mileage

Class of road 1914 1915-20 1920

Brick........ 0.2 ccc cece cee cee 1,593 2,000 3,593 Concrete..........0 0.0. c cee eee 2,348 9,800 10,148 Bituminous macadam............... 10,499 6,580 17,079 Macadam.............. 2200s eee eees 64,898 9,800 74,698 Gravel......... 0... 116,058 35,000 151,058 Sand and clay....................05 44,154 5,800 49,954 Miscellaneous...................25- 17,738 2,100 19,838 Totals...... 0... ccc cece 257,288 71,080 326,368

The cost of road construction increased from 1914 to 1917 and very greatly from 1917 to 1920. According to the report of the chief of the Bureau of Public Roads for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1920, a comparison of the costs of the common types of roadways in the fiscal years 1917 and 1920 showed an average increase in the cost of brick roads from $33,000 to $55,000 per mile; concrete from $21,165 to upward of $40,000; gravel from $4,535 to $7,250; earth from $2,160 to $4,100; sand-clay from $2,460 to $4,100. We may take normal, pre-war costs of the several types of roads at approximately the following figures: Brick, $28,000; concrete, $20,000; bituminous macadam, $12,000; macadam, $10,000. With these factors we may estimate the total cost of these roads as they stood in 1914 and 1920 as follows:

Class of roads 1914 1920 Brick......... 000.0. c cece cee es $ 44,604,000 $ 100,604,000 Concrete.......... 00.00 cece cee 46,960,000 196,000,000 Bituminous macadam............. 125,988,000 204,948,000 Macadam...............0.0. 00005 648,898,000 746,980,000

Totals......... 0.0... cece cee $866,450,000 $1,248,534,000

The total value of the roads at any given time, may be estimated at about 60 per cent of the cost. Upon