-------------------------------------+--_Highways and Highway Transportation

|Assumed Average

Classification of Vehicles |Weight in Tons.

------------------------------------+---------------

Ordinary cycles | 0.09

Motor cycles | .13

Motor cars (including motor cabs and|

any other motor vehicles) | 1.6

Motor vans (covered) | 2.5

Motor omnibuses | 6.0

Motor lorries (rubber tires) | 6.0

Trailers to rubber tired lorries | 5.0

Motor lorries (steel tires) | 10.0

Trailers to steel tired lorries | 5.0

Light tractors | 5.0

Trailers to light tractors | 5.0

Traction engines | 12.0

Trailers to traction engines | 8.0

Light vehicles (one horse) | 0.4

Light vehicles (two or more horses) | 0.6

Heavy vehicles (one horse) | 1.25

Heavy vehicles (two or more horses) | 2.5

Omnibuses (two or more horses) | 3.0

Tram cars (electric, steam or horse,|

as the case may be) | ....

Horses (led or ridden) | 0.5

Cattle | 0.3

Sheep and pigs | 0.1

Hand carts and barrows | ....

Horses drawing vehicles (to be |

calculated from number of vehicles) | 0.5

------------------------------------+---------------

The French unit of traffic is technically known as the “collar,” a

draft animal harnessed to a wagon being counted as 1.0. The metric ton,

1000 kg., is also sometimes used. The French, feeling that the dead

weight of a vehicle or animal did not truly measure its effect as to

wear on a road surface, classified the traffic and assigned importance

factors to the several classes. From 1882 to 1903 the classification

consisted of: 1st, Trucks and farm wagons, loaded; 2d, Public vehicles

designed for transporting passengers and their baggage; 3d, Light

vehicles, such as private vehicles, and empty farm wagons; 4th, Larger

animals, such as horses, mounted or not, mules, and large cattle;

5th, Small beasts, such as sheep, goats, and pigs. In 1903 motor

vehicles were separately listed; they were divided into five classes:

1st, Metallic-tired automobiles, “which in general are heavily loaded,

have a slow movement and produce the effect of wearing away the road

surface”; 2d, Elastic tired automobiles licensed to make a speed of

not more than 30 km. per hour; 3d, Automobiles whose speed was less

than 30 km. per hour; 4th, Bicycles or velocipedes propelled by the

feet of the rider; and 5th, Motor cycles, whether having two, three,

or four wheels. The report of the second international road congress

further states that “it is necessary to attribute to each element of

the traffic an importance which belongs to it from the viewpoint of

the destructive effect exercised on the road crust.” Consequently the

numbers of vehicles or animals in the several classes were modified by

multiplying them by importance factors arbitrarily assumed.

Importance

Classification factors

An animal harnessed to a loaded vehicle 1 collar

Loaded trucks and farm wagons 1

Public vehicles for transporting passengers 1

Light vehicles, and empty farm wagons ¹⁄₂

Harnessed horses to light vehicle or empty wagon ¹⁄₄

Mounted horses or with load on back ¹⁄₄

Unharnessed horses ¹⁄₅

Cattle ¹⁄₅

Small beasts (sheep, pigs, goats) ¹⁄₃₀

Automobiles with metallic tires, weight in metric

tons times 1¹⁄₄ = No. of collars

Automobiles with elastic tires

Motor cycles ³⁄₁₀

Vehicles licensed to make a speed over 30 km.

per hour 3

Vehicles licensed to make a speed of less than

30 km. per hour 1

From this it was possible to reduce all traffic to the unit “collar,”

which was used as a comparative measure of the use of the several

roadways. The tonnage was calculated by multiplying the numbers by

average weights obtained by weighing a sufficiently large number of the

units in each class.

Consideration was also made of the weight of the useful load as

separate from the weight of the vehicle itself. Animals not harnessed

were considered as a part of the useful load.

In Italy traffic censuses followed practically the same classification

and methods as in France.

In the United States some of the states have used coefficients of

reduction, or importance factors, while many others have contented

themselves with a count of vehicles only.

In 1910 Maryland used the following:

1. Ridden horse and one-horse vehicle 2

2. Two-horse vehicles 4

3. Three-horse vehicles 6

4. Four-horse vehicles 8

5. More than four-horse vehicles 12

6. Motor cycles 2

7. Motor runabouts 10

8. Four- or five-seat touring cars 20

9. Six- or seven-seat touring cars 40

10. Motor trucks or drays 20

The New York State Highway Department took a census in 1909 in which

the following classification and reduction coefficients were used:

Class of Traffic Relative

Weight

Horse-drawn traffic

Horses with vehicles 1

One-horse vehicle, light 2

One-horse vehicle, heavy 3

Two-horse vehicle, light 3

Two-horse vehicle, heavy 4

Three-horse vehicle, heavy 5

Four-horse vehicle, heavy 6

Motor vehicles

Motor cycles 1

Two-passenger cars 2

Three-passenger cars 3

Four-passenger cars 4

Five-passenger cars 6

Seven-passenger cars 7

Trucks, omnibuses, etc. 10

Miscellaneous

Traction engines 15

Two traction engines 30

Miscellaneous heavy traffic 5

upward

The Massachusetts Highway Commission, 1912 Report, say, “After all it

is not numbers which tell the story, it is weight, and it is not weight

alone, but the vehicle by which it is transported, whether by horses or

by motor.... All these considerations are probably not so important on

many road surfaces as the actual weight imposed upon the road per inch

width of tire resting upon the road.” There was used in this census the

following weights:

Motors Tons

Runabouts 1.43

Touring cars 2.23

Trucks 6.25

Horse-drawn vehicles

One-horse, light .36

One-horse, heavy 1.12

Two or more horses, light .54

Two or more horses, heavy 2.46

James and Reeves, with the United States Bureau of Public Roads,

recommend the ton-mile basis and give the following weights:

Tons

One-horse wagon, loaded, 0.88; unloaded 0.28

Two-horse wagon, loaded, 1.57; unloaded 0.47

Four-horse wagon, loaded; 3.88; unloaded 0.54

Pleasure vehicles, one-horse, 0.28; two-horse 0.47

Rubber-tired pleasure vehicle 0.28

Saddle horse 0.50

Motor cycle 0.20

Excessively heavy vehicle 3.94

Motor, runabout, 1.68, touring car 2.00

Motor dray, loaded, 2.43; unloaded 1.23

Draught horses 0.50

In a traffic census taken by the Borough of Brooklyn, New York, the

weights were reduced to traffic units per minute per foot width of

roadway which was called density. By this rule, “the number of vehicles

passing a given point in eight hours times the traffic unit divided

by 8 times 60 times the width of the roadway equals the density.” The

weights and traffic units used were:

Weight in Traffic

Rubber-tired vehicles tons value

Large automobile trucks, loaded 9 5

Large automobile trucks, empty 4 4

Small automobile trucks, loaded 3 3

Small automobile trucks, empty 1¹⁄₂ 2

Pleasure automobiles 1³⁄₄ 1

Carriages 2 2

Steel-tired vehicles ranged in weight from 1 to 7¹⁄₂

tons and in traffic value from 2 to 10.

A suggested form for a traffic census sheet presented by a committee

appointed to study the question of traffic censuses to the New Jersey

State Association of Roads is shown on p. 245. This sheet also bears,

for the use of the office, blanks for the tabulation of the traffic by

classes:

-------------------------+-----+------+------------

Kind of Vehicle | No. |Weight|Vehicle-Tons

-------------------------+-----+------+------------

Motor cycle |.....| 0.25| ..........

Light-horse, empty |.....| 1.25| ..........

Light-horse, loaded |.....| 2.00| ..........

Heavy two-horse, empty |.....| 3.20| ..........

Heavy two-horse, loaded |.....| 6.00| ..........

Light pleasure motor car |.....| 1.50| ..........

Heavy pleasure motor car |.....| 2.50| ..........

Light motor truck, empty |.....| 1.00| ..........

Light motor truck, loaded|.....| 2.50| ..........

Heavy motor truck, empty |.....| 5.00| ..........

Heavy motor truck, loaded|.....| 10.50| ..........

Specials: 10 tons |.....| .....| ..........

15 tons |.....| .....| ..........

Over 15 tons |.....| .....| ..........

Total |.....| .....| ..........

-------------------------+-----+------+------------

Tonnage per foot width of pavement ...............

Tonnage per foot width of roadway ...............

SUGGESTED FORM OF TRAFFIC CENSUS SHEET

Traffic Census Sheet County Number....... Station No...... County.....

State Highway Department of New Jersey........................ 192 ...

................................ Road at..............................

Exact location........................................................

Count taken.............from.......to.........from........to..........

--------------------+-----+------------+------------+-----------+

| +-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

| | | | | | | |

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

. . . . . . .

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+-----+-----+------+-----+------+-----+-----+

--------------------+------------+------------+

Time Count | Light | Heavy |

Was Taken | Motor | Motor |

| Trucks | Trucks |

|-----+------+-----+------+

| | | | |

--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

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--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

. . . . .

--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

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--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

--------------------+-----+------+-----+------+

--------------------+----------------------+------+------

Time Count | |Street|Hourly

Was Taken | | Cars |Totals

| Specials | |

|-------+-------+------+ |

--------------------+-------+-------+------+------+------

--------------------+-------+-------+------+------+------

--------------------+-------+-------+------+------+------

--------------------+-------+-------+------+------+------

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. . . . .

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Of above motor vehicles....carried foreign licenses as follows........

...................... Weather........................................

Type of pavement.................. Condition of pavement..............

Width of roadway....... Width of pavement....... Traffic... Narrow ...

Tires............ Special........ Inspector...........................

Notes.............................. Checked by........................

=Destructive Factors.=--From the above it appears that there is a

general opinion that there should be some common measure for the

destructive effect of vehicles upon road surfaces. As yet no unanimity

of opinion has crystallized. While density of traffic influences the

surface wear of the road crust--considerably in the case of earth and

gravel, less for macadam and asphalt, and still less for brick and

concrete--the actual weight of the wheel load seems to have a much

greater destructive effect. The impact due to speed and irregularities

of the road surface, the resiliency of the tires, the proportion of

sprung to unsprung weight, and the shoving forces of the wheels all

have their effects which are usually in some way connected with either

the weight or the speed, or both, of the vehicle. The many experiments

now being carried on by the United States Bureau of Public Roads, and

the several states may furnish data from which a practical measure will

some day be devised. Mr. Older, Chief Highway Engineer of the State

of Illinois, under whose direction the comprehensive investigational

and endurance tests under way in that state are being carried on,

recently stated to a party of visitors, of which the author was one,

that in his opinion weight, including impact, is the prime factor

in the destruction of a pavement. Wear is of very minor importance,

temperature and weather is of considerable importance.

Road surfaces must be considered as bodies acted upon by forces. Some

day the stresses produced by these forces will have been analyzed,

then will it be possible to standardize the importance of the several

vehicle loads. At present it is known that the weight of the load

and the weight of the pavement itself are under some circumstances

sufficient to produce cracks in the pavement and disruption of the road

crust. Bearing tests and bending tests are being devised to measure the

effects of such loads. Road crusts, earth, gravel, macadam, asphalt,

brick, concrete, are to varying degrees elastic bodies and when loaded

they give, as an elastic band stretches, a spring shortens, or a bow

bends, until the internal stresses reach a limiting point where the

crust is broken or permanently distorted. It is well known that the

effect on an elastic body of a suddenly applied load is twice as

destructive as the same load gradually applied. And when the action is

an impact the destructive effect may be very great indeed, depending on

the physical properties of the impinging bodies. But however the load

is applied, whenever the internal stresses reach the limiting strength

of the material of which the road crust is composed it will go to

pieces. The sudden application of the load by fast driving is a sort

of impact. The stresses produced by this impact are now being studied.

Much good is expected to come toward the solution of the problem of

destructive vehicle influence from these researches.

Another effect of speed is noted on the more or less viscous materials

of which road surfaces are composed. The pushing of the wheels against

the surface causes wrinkles which continue to grow until the wrinkles

become waves entirely across the pavement. Such waves may also be

produced by expansion and contraction due to changes in temperature,

but are probably always accentuated by wheel pressure. Side thrust of

wheels often produces longitudinal waves in viscous road crusts.

In the classifications given no one seems to have considered the

proportion of sprung and unsprung weight in the motor car. There can be

no doubt but that the resiliency of the springs relieves the pavement

of very much of the shock of impact. This is illustrated by an attempt

to drive a nail into a springy board. It can hardly be done because

the springiness of the board uses up, absorbs, the work of impact.

A mechanical statement is, the work of impact equals the change in

kinetic energy, or algebraically stated

_Wv_²

_Fs_ = -----

2_g_

when the entire energy has been absorbed. Here _F_ is the acting force

and _s_ the distance through which it acts, _Fs_, is the work done by

the force _F_. _W_ is the weight of the ram or moving body (vehicle,

wheel load), _v_ the velocity of impact and _g_ the acceleration of

gravity, a factor that enters the equation in the expressing of mass in

terms of weight. Solving this equation for _F_ there results,

_Wv_²

_F_ = -----,

2_gs_

which shows that the smaller _s_ is the greater the force of impact

_F_. When _s_ is made long by means of a spring the force _F_ becomes

smaller. This is illustrated by the old method of catching a baseball

without gloves--the hands were allowed to go backward so that the work

of stopping the ball was spread over a greater distance, the impact

force thus becoming so small it did not sting the hands.

The effect upon the road, and also the vehicle, is like that of the

hammer which hits a nail on the anvil. The nail is flattened, pounded

to pieces very soon. But if the nail were not placed upon the solid

anvil but upon a slab of springy steel, it might be pounded all day

without doing it much harm, the spring at all times absorbing the

shock. So with the weight of the vehicle largely sprung the damage

to the roadway is comparatively small. Therefore, it would seem, as

though a fair classification would take into account the springs of the

vehicle.

The pneumatic tire, and the cushion tire and wheel, each act as springs

and shock absorbers in varying degrees. In some of the censuses,

pneumatic or solid tires were noted, and very many of the earlier noted

whether rubber or steel tires were used.

Just how far all these things should be taken into account is

questionable. Whether or not just as good results would not come for

even a simpler classification is not yet determined. It might be that

only the heavy loads and their frequency is all that need be considered

if the destructive effect of traffic alone is aimed at.

The great amount of pleasure riding and the tremendous desire for such

riding should be considered in laying out a system of roads and in the

selection of a type of road, therefore all passenger cars and motor

cycles should be counted and given an influence number.

=Other Methods of Estimating Amount of Traffic.=--The amount of road

traffic may be roughly estimated from the area served by the highway.

Upon a map is outlined the tributary territory and its area measured by

any one of several means. The area may be divided into small squares

of known size and the number of squares counted; it may be divided into

strips and the length of the strips measured with a scale and thence

the area computed, or a planimeter may be used. Having found the area

the unit tonnage is estimated from a knowledge of the character of the

crops raised and the industries in the territory from which the haulage

is calculated. The average haul may be determined, if desired, by

finding approximately the center of gravity of the area and measuring

its distance from the market. If the market place is at the center of a

circle surrounding it and the products are uniformly distributed over

the circle the mean distance is two-thirds the radius of the circle.

The tonnage, arising from farms, which is transported over the roads

varies with the kind of crop, the fertility of the soil, the amount of

stock fed, or kept for dairying, and numerous other local conditions.

Studies made by various authorities[179] indicate that the marketable

products vary from ¹⁄₁₀ to ¹⁄₂ ton per acre. If a circular area with

market place at the center is served by six uniformly distributing

radial roads a mathematical analysis will show that the tonnage upon

each one of these roads, one-sixth that from the whole circle, will be

_T_ = 335.12_qr_²

where _T_ = total tons per year,

_q_ = yield of marketed crops in tons per acre,

_r_ = maximum haul-radius of the circle.

Dividing _T_ by the number of working days per year (usually taken as

300) gives the average daily haul into the market. The average length

of haul may be taken as ²⁄₃_r_. The haul over any zone whose edges are

concentric with the circle is considered to be all that originating

in the area outside the zone plus that originating within the zone

times the mean distance from the inner edge of the zone. The result of

the analysis gives this equation, for the haul over any zone having an

outer radius _a_, and an inner radius _b_,

_H_ = _T__{_r_} - _T__{_a_} +

2_a_² - _ab_ - _b_²

-------------------(_T__{_a_} - _T__{_b_}),

3(_a_ + _b_)

where _T__{_r_}, _T__{_a_} and _T__{_b_} represent the tonnage

originating on the sectors of radius _r_, _a_ and _b_ respectively.

For the first mile,

_a_ = 1, _b_ = 0.

_H_ = _T__{_r_} - ¹⁄₃(_T__{_a_}).

For the eighth mile,

_a_ = 8, _b_ = 7.

_H_ = _T__{_r_} - _T__{8} + ²³⁄₄₅(_T__{8} - _T__{7})

THEORETICAL AVERAGE TONNAGE OF SIX UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED MARKET

ROADS[180]

-----+-----+--------------------------------------------------------

| | UNIFORM YIELD PER ACRE OF

| +-----------------+------------------+-------------------

| | One-tenth Ton | One-fourth Ton | One-half Ton

| +-----+-----------+------+-----------+------+------------

| |Total+-----+-----+ Total+-----+-----+ Total+------+-----

mum | age | per | 1st |8th | per |1st | 8th | per | 1st |8th

-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+-----+-----+------+------+-----

1 | 0.67| 33 | 0.07| | 84| 0.17| | 168| 0.34|

2 | 1.33| 134 | 0.40| | 335| 1.00| | 670| 2.01|

3 | 2.00| 302 | 0.96| | 754| 2.40| | 1,508| 4.80|

4 | 2.67| 536 | 1.74| | 1,340| 4.36| | 2,681| 8.71|

5 | 3.33| 838 | 2.75| | 2,094| 6.87| | 4,189| 13.74|

| | | | | | | | | |

6 | 4.00|1206 | 3.98| | 3,016| 9.95| | 6,031| 19.90|

7 | 4.67|1642 | 5.43| | 4,106|13.58| | 8,211| 27.15|

8 | 5.33|2145 | 7.11| 0.85| 5,362|17.76| 2.13|10,724| 35.52| 4.25

9 | 6.00|2714 | 9.00| 2.75| 6,786|22.51| 6.88|13,572| 45.02|13.75

10 | 6.67|3351 | 4.13| 4.87| 8,378|27.82|12.18|16,756| 55.63|24.35

| | | | | | | | | |

11 | 7.33|4056 |13.47| 7.22|10,138|33.68|18.05|20,279| 67.35|36.10

12 | 8.00|4826 |16.04| 9.79|12,064|40.10|24.48|24,128| 80.20|48.95

13 | 8.67|5663 |18.83|12.58|14,158|47.08|31.45|28,316| 94.15|62.90

14 | 9.33|6568 |21.85|15.59|16,420|54.63|38.98|32,840|109.25|77.95

15 |10.00|7540 |25.09|18.83|18,850|62.73|47.08|37,700|125.45|94.15

-----+-----+-----+-----+-----+------+-----+-----+------+------+-----

The table shows the theoretical average tonnage on each of six

uniformly distributed radial roads. It is taken from Bulletin 136, U.

S. Department of Agriculture. Since roads do not run in practice in

this manner the results can only be used for comparison in confirming

estimates.

Mr. E. W. James, of the Bureau of Public Roads, U. S. Dept. of

Agriculture, makes an analysis of the distribution of traffic over

the roads of a township located along the section lines of the United

States land survey. The market place is taken at the center of the

township.[181]

[Illustration: Graphic representation of distribution of traffic on

roads located along section lines.]

His analysis assumes the lay of the country makes all roads equally

traversable and that the traffic seeks the nearest highway thence to

the main traveled road east and west or north and south through the

market center. This analysis shows that 4.8 per cent of the total

mileage carry 39.3 per cent of the traffic; that 9.5 per cent of the

roads carry 71 per cent of the traffic. In his opinion this analysis

corroborates the observation of engineers to the effect that 20 per

cent of the roads carry 80 per cent of the traffic. Of course the most

important roads, measured in traffic, are the ones nearest the market,

15-22, 15-16, 16-21, 21-22. Following these naming only one of the four

symmetrical roads, in the order of importance are 14-23, 14-13, 13-24,

13-x, 14-15, 11-12, 12-x, 12-13, 1-x, 11-14, and 1-12.

------------+----------

Road between| Relative

Sections |Importance

------------+----------

15-22 | 100

14-23 | 60

14-13 | 25

13-24 | 20

13-x | 15

14-15 | 13

11-12 | 7

12-x | 7

12-13 | 2

1-x | 2

11-14 | 1

1-12 | 1

------------+----------

The same objections to this method hold as to the preceding. Local

conditions always affect the travel on roads; hills, valleys, soil,

drainage, nearness to other cities, railways, streams, and location of

farmhouses, schoolhouses, churches, and factories, all enter into the

estimate. A reconnaissance and the good judgment of the observer must

supplement any method of formal procedure.

=The Selection of a Suitable Type of Road.=--The highway plan should,

if it has been carefully and scientifically made specify the type

of roadway as well as the location of the highway. However, when

the improvement is to be paid for by a special tax on the abutting

land, it is customary to allow the taxpayers to have something to

say about the type. Road engineers often object to this as being

unscientific and unsound, on the theory that the layman is ignorant of

the properties and behavior of road materials and that only an expert

can make the proper selection. The author’s observation is, however,

that hard-headed business men and farmers who have passed through the

experiences of rough knocks are no more likely to make a mistake in

the selection of a road type than is the young engineer fresh from the

halls of college, or the engineer whose experience has prejudiced him

in favor of particular types of road surfacing. The best and fairest

of engineers cannot agree, then why not give the man who must pay the

fiddler an opportunity to dance?

It will be well, nevertheless, for the engineer to suggest a type,

or types, of roadway with his reasons for its or their suitability.

If he can show that one type is superior to another the tax-payer

will usually follow his advice, and agree to the type suggested.

The final decision must rest with the road officials. They should

know the requirements of the road, whether, for example, it is to be

largely commercial or used largely for pleasure; whether durability

or noiselessness is a determining factor; or whether a pleasing

appearance and convenience to the inhabitants living along the way are

of greater importance than directness and low grades. The decision must

be made after taking all things into consideration even to the whims

of the property-holders. The best road for a given location is the

one which at a reasonable cost will give over a long period of time a

service which is most satisfactory to the majority of its users. What

is a reasonable cost and what is satisfactory service are debatable

questions and usually must be compromised to a greater or less extent.

An ideal road is one that is cheap to construct and maintain, one that

is durable, presents light resistance to traffic but is not slippery,

is comfortable to travel and not annoying to users or dwellers along

its side, and one that is easily cleaned and is sanitary. No road can

contain all these qualities to the same degree, neither are they all of

equal importance, but each should be given some weight in the selection.

Perhaps the first and most important item to be considered is the

economic one of cheapness in construction and maintenance. In making

a decision between two types of pavement the first cost will probably

have more weight than will the ultimate cost. The fact that a higher

priced article will last longer and in the end prove to be a saving

has little charm for the man who has not the ready money to pay for the

article. He will content himself with the cheaper until he can afford

the better. If a community cannot pay for a certain type of road, no

matter how desirable that may be, that type cannot be used. Types of

roads must be selected which will utilize the materials most available.

It would seem to be unwise for brick to be shipped from the Middle West

to New England, or granite blocks from New England to the Middle West.

Gravel, being plentiful in many states, is being used, and rightly so,

more than any other road material notwithstanding the durability of a

gravel roadway is less than that of many other types.

Durability is an important factor from an economical standpoint, as

it enters vitally in the long-run cost of a pavement. It is also of

importance on account of the infernal nuisance of having a roadway full

of pot holes and rough places, to say nothing of the inconvenience to

users of frequent repairs. Road officers are no more given to regarding

the adage “a stitch in time saves nine,” than are other people,

consequently non-durable roads are usually more or less out of order.

Durability depends upon the materials used in construction and their

manipulation, proportioning, and other treatment; the character weight

and density of traffic; system or lack of system in making repairs; the

opening up of pavements for water, gas, and sewer or other purposes;

building operations along the street; cleanliness; the absence or

presence of street-car tracks; climate and possibly other factors.

=Materials and Design.=--The physical properties of materials--their

tensile, compressive, and shearing strengths, their elasticity,

brittleness, etc.--while important elements in the durability of

pavements, the design of the pavement, its thickness, the proportioning

and mixing of parts, the laying, as well as the subgrade and its

treatment are all elements that count very much also. No matter

how good a material it can easily be spoiled in the handling. Some

materials like vitrified brick and stone will last indefinitely on a

little-used street while others like asphalt and creosoted wood block

are much better for considerable wear. The use of definite and often

meticulous specifications is to insure good materials and proper

manipulation of the same, while the plans are carefully prepared ahead,

so that durability and satisfaction may result.

[Illustration:

GIVING A MACADAM ROAD AN APPLICATION OF TARVIA BINDER

This is Followed by a Coat of Screenings and then the Road is Rolled

Again.]

[Illustration:

A ROAD OF MIXED ASPHALT AND CONCRETE BEING TESTED OUT]

The effect of character, weight, and density of traffic has been

frequently mentioned and will again be referred to in what follows.

There is no doubt a relationship between materials and design and

the character and amount of traffic. A cinder road may be perfectly

acceptable for a park drive where the traffic is light, but absolutely

worthless under heavy commercial trucking.

Resistance to traffic varies with different road surfaces. A smooth

hard surface offers a very great deal less resistance than does a

rough or soft surface. To illustrate, a horse is said to be able to

pull directly on the traces one-tenth his own weight without being

overworked. With a resistance of 100 pounds per ton (earth road in

medium condition) a team of horses weighing 1200 pounds each could draw

over a level road

2 × 1200

-------- = 2.4 tons.

10 × 100

On a concrete, asphalt or brick pavement having a tractive resistance

of 30 pounds per ton the team could draw

2 × 1200

-------- = 8 tons.

10 × 30

In other words the load that can be drawn is inversely as the tractive

resistance. Here speed was not considered. It was the natural walking

gait of the horse about three miles per hour. If the speed is greater

the load must be cut down proportionally. With a truck the direct pull

is the effective power of the engine in foot-pounds per minute divided

by distance in feet per minute; and the load that can be drawn is the

direct pull times the tractive resistance. Thus if a truck may exert

_h_ effective horse power = 33,000_h_ foot-pounds per minute, and the

speed is v miles per hour, the load _T_, in tons, that may be hauled

on a road having a tractive resistance of _t_ pounds per ton, is

33,000_h_ 375_h_

_T_ = ------------- = ------.

5280_v_ _vt_

------- · _t_

Therefore a truck of 20 effective horse-power will haul over a road

whose tractive resistance is 100 pounds per ton at a speed of 10 miles

per hour a load of

375 × 20

_T_ = -------- = 7.5 tons;

10 × 100

and on a smooth road with a tractive resistance of 30 pounds per ton at

the same speed, 25 tons, or the same load 7.5 tons may be drawn at a

speed of 33¹⁄₃ miles per hour.

It must be remembered that when the speed is increased the tractive

resistance is likewise increased. The air resistance is in about the

ratio of the square of the velocity, so that 33 miles per hour would be

too great in the last case.

Experiments to determine the tractive resistance due to the surface

vary considerably, for it is impossible to secure like conditions of

surface smoothness and cleanliness, to say nothing of hardness. The

tractive resistance will with some materials vary with the temperature.

That of sheet asphalt, for example, may be twice as much in summer as

in winter. The tractive resistance may not be directly proportional to

the load although it is customary to express it in pounds per ton. It

is conceivable that a heavy load because it sinks into the road crust

may require a greater number of pounds to move it than a light load

that does not greatly sink in. This also leads to the effect of width

of tire and diameter of wheel. Many experiments have shown the tractive

force to be less with wide than narrow tires, due, no doubt, to the

unequal sinking into the road crust. Likewise wheels ought, for the

same reason, to show less resistance for large diameters; in fact some

engineers give it as varying inversely as the diameter of the wheel.

The results of tests, while varying much, show in a general way, the

direct pull necessary to draw a load at slow speed on the level in

well-lubricated wagons to be approximately as follows:

----------------------------------------+------------+---------------

| |μ = coefficient

|Lbs. per Ton|of Resistance

----------------------------------------+------------+---------------

Upon Steel rails | 10 | ¹⁄₂₀₀

Sheet asphalt, good condition | 20 | ¹⁄₁₀₀

Asphaltic macadam or concrete, good| |

condition | 20 | ¹⁄₁₀₀

Concrete, good condition | 20 | ¹⁄₁₀₀

Brick, good condition | 20 | ¹⁄₁₀₀

Broken stone water-bound macadam, | |

good condition | 30 | ³⁄₂₀₀

Gravel, good condition | 30 | ³⁄₂₀₀

Sand clay, good condition | 60 | ³⁄₁₀₀

Earth, best condition | 67 | ¹⁄₃₀

Earth, medium condition | 100 | ¹⁄₂₀

Earth, poor condition | 300 | ³⁄₂₀

----------------------------------------+------------+---------------

=Resistance Due to Grade.=--The resistance due to grade is just as

marked as that due to surface. The work necessary to draw a load up an

inclined plane is the same as that of drawing on a level along the base

of the plane and lifting it directly up to the height of the plane. A

mathematical analysis[182] based upon this fact leads to the formulas:

For a horse-drawn load,

_t_ - _g_

_L_ = ---------_H_. (1)

μ + _g_

For a tractor,

_P_

_L_ = ------- - _T_. (2)

μ + _g_

For an automobile or truck,

_P_

_L_ = -------, (3)

μ + _g_

where _L_ = weight of load drawn, including weight of vehicle

(subtract weight of vehicle for net load);

_H_ = weight of horse;

_T_ = weight of tractor;

_P_ = effective tractive force exerted (available engine

effort);

μ = coefficient of road resistance;

_g_ = grade (gradient) = tangent of angle of incline, nearly the

same for small angles as the sine of the angle of incline,

that is, the height of the incline divided by its length;

_t_ = the direct pull of the horse divided by the weight of the

horse;

_h_ = horse-power = work of 33,000 ft.-lb. per minute.

_v_ = velocity in miles per hour.

Equation (3) indicates that the load, including its own weight, that

a truck or an automobile can draw varies directly as the horse-power

exerted effectively, and inversely as the velocity. Also it decreases

as the coefficient of road resistance, μ, and the gradient _g_

increases.

The resistance coefficient, μ may include axle or internal resistance

of the vehicle plus road surface resistance plus air resistance. The

axle resistance is nearly a constant, the road resistance likewise, but

the air resistance depends upon the speed _v_, varying approximately as

the square of the velocity. W. S. James, in the _Journal of the Society

of Automotive Engineers_, June, 1921, uses the formula

_F_ = _CAV_²

where _F_ = the wind force in pounds;

_C_ = a constant, varies from .003 to .004;

_A_ = frontal area of automobile in square feet

approximately 26;

_V_ = velocity in miles per hour.

His researches show that the available engine effort _P_ of equation

(3) or horse power _h_ is not quite constant but varies with the speed.

His table follows:

---------+-----------------------+---------------------------

|Available Engine Effort|

Car Speed| Per 1000 lb. of Car |Air Resistance Per 1000 lb.

m.p.h. | Weight, Lbs. | of Car Weight, Lbs.

---------+-----------------------+---------------------------

15 | 107.3 | 4.9

16 | 105.2 | 6.8

20 | 107.6 | 8.8

25 | 106.0 | 13.4

30 | 103.9 | 19.2

35 | 101.2 | 26.0

40 | 98.0 | 34.1

45 | 94.1 | 43.4

50 | 86.8 | 53.8

---------+-----------------------+---------------------------

Returning to Equation (3) which has been plotted in two different ways

on page 260, it may be seen that the load that can be hauled up a grade

decreases with the per cent of grade very rapidly for the roads having

a small coefficient of resistance and very much less rapidly for larger

resistances. For example, on steel rails, resistance 10 pounds per ton,

μ = ¹⁄₂₀₀, a 1 per cent grade reduces the load to one-third the load

that may be hauled on the level, and a 5 per cent grade reduces it to

less than one-tenth of the same load. With a good asphalt, brick or

concrete road, resistance 20 pounds per ton, μ = ¹⁄₁₀₀, a 1 per cent

grade reduces the load to one-half, while a 5 per cent grade reduces it

to about one-sixth the load that can be drawn on a level road. While

for an earth road in bad condition or a dry sand road, 300 pounds per

ton resistance, μ = ³⁄₂₀, a five per cent grade only reduces the level

grade load by one-fourth. This shows clearly that the better the road

surface the less the grade must be in order to benefit by it. The plots

on page 260 show the same thing in different ways, and also that the

maximum load that can be hauled with a given force at a constant speed

is greater, no matter what the grade, on the better types of roads than

on the poorer, but that the very great advantages due to hard roads

come with the better type of roads. Incidentally this plot shows that

the load that may be hauled, other things being equal, on steel tracks,

is very much greater than that that can be hauled on the best hard

surfaced road with same power, therefore it will never be possible to

haul loads on highways as cheaply as on railways unless the operating

expenses on the highways can be made materially less than on railways.

[Illustration: Graphical representation of the effect of grade on the

load that can be drawn.]

[Illustration: Graphical representation of the effect of road

resistance on the load that may be drawn.]

=Slipperiness.=--Road surfaces which become slippery not only decrease

the tractive effort of horses and motors but are very dangerous also.

Non-slipperiness ought then to be given weight in the selection of

the type of roadway. Observations in London in 1873 by Heywood on

slipperiness of pavements indicated granite-block most slippery,

then asphalt and wood-block. Greene, in 1885, analyzing a series

of observations made in the principal cities of the United States,

gave the order of slipperiness as wood-block, granite-block, and

sheet-asphalt.

Slipperiness increases with grade. A special committee upon road

materials of the American Society of Civil Engineers[183] recommend the

following maximum grades for various kinds of pavements:

--------------------------------+-------------

|Maximum Grade

Kinds of Roadway | Per Cent

--------------------------------+-------------

Gravel | 12

Broken stone | 12

Bituminous surface | 6

Bituminous macadam | 8

Bituminous concrete | 8

Sheet asphalt | 5

Cement concrete | 8

Brick, cement grout filler | 6

Brick, bituminous filler | 12

Stone-block, cement grout filler| 9

Stone-block, bituminous filler | 15

Wood-block | 4

--------------------------------+-------------

This would indicate that in the belief of the committee slipperiness is

about in the inverse ratio of the grades. Those on which the steepest

grades are allowed being the least slippery.

Climatic conditions affect slipperiness. Roads which are non-slippery

in dry weather may be very slippery in wet weather. Pavements having a

small amount of clay or earth on them are quite slippery when dampened,

but after a hard rain may be much less slippery. Earth roads that have

been thoroughly dragged are much more slippery immediately after a

small shower than after a hard or soaking rain. Stone blocks and brick

are worse after they have worn turtle-backed. Ice and sleet render all

pavements slippery, but some more than others.

=Sanitariness.=--The sanitariness of a road is the measure of the

effect it has on the health of its users and the dwellers along its

side. A dusty road is ordinarily an unsanitary one because of the

germs of disease carried on the dust particles and which may be widely

spread by the wind. An earth or gravel road when not dry or dusty is

a sanitary road. A concrete or asphalt pavement when clean is very

sanitary, but because dirt and debris brought upon it soon becomes

ground into dust may become more unsanitary than an earth road. Mud,

when clean, if that expression may be allowed, is sanitary, but when

mixed on the road with the droppings of animals, sputum and other

unclean things may become very unsanitary.

=Noisiness.=--Noisiness is a real source of disease, especially mental

disorders. The less noisy types of pavement are usually laid in front

of hospitals.

=Acceptability.=--The acceptability of a roadway depends in addition

to the things mentioned on its looks, appearance, esthetics; on the

degree of heat and light which it reflects; upon its springiness and

comfortableness to travel over as well as its easiness upon horses’

feet and rubber tires.

[Illustration:

CROWNING A CALIFORNIA DIRT ROAD WITH TRACTOR DRAWN GRADER]

=Some Types of Roads and Their Qualities.=--_Earth Roads._--The good

qualities are: low first cost, not slippery, noiseless, easy on horses’

feet and on rubber tires, comfortable when in first-class condition.

The poor qualities are: high tractive resistance, not durable, high

cost of maintenance when traffic becomes dense, requiring constant

attention to be kept in good condition, difficult to clean, muddy in

wet weather, dusty in dry weather, choppy when dust blows away, rut

easily, wear down rapidly under heavy traffic especially in windy

localities, uncomfortable except when in prime condition. Adaptability:

Satisfactory for light or medium traffic when properly drained and

constantly maintained. It will probably pay to put in better roads when

the traffic amounts to more than 400 vehicle-tons per day.

_Sand-clay Roads._--The good and poor qualities are about the same as

for earth roads. In fact they are earth roads with a selected mixture

of sand and clay. They are more durable, harder and smoother than the

ordinary earth road. They are appropriate for a light or medium traffic

and are especially adaptable for sandy stretches or over clay or gumbo

soils. The cost will depend upon the availability of materials; the

cost of maintenance should be no more or very little more than earth

roads. They should be good up to 800 vehicle-tons per day.

_Gravel Roads._--The good qualities are: moderately hard, compact,

and smooth, not slippery, noiseless, easy on horses’ feet, and not

very hard on tires, not muddy, are comfortable, and low in first cost.

Poor qualities: rut rather easily and require constant attention to

keep them in first-class condition, dusty in dry weather. Gravel

sometimes becomes loose on top and rolls under fast moving vehicles,

causing skidding. When not thoroughly compacted gravel roads have high

tractive resistance. They are particularly well adapted to country

roads under medium traffic, especially where gravel may be obtained

at a reasonable cost near at hand. At the present time more miles of

gravel roads than of any other type of surface are being constructed in

the United States. This is because of their low first cost and general

satisfactory character for medium traffic.

_Macadam Roads._--Moderate first cost and when well compacted smooth

but not slippery. They require new dust continually to keep the stones

cemented together. Under rubber tires the dust is not worn off the

stones and what little there is on the roadway is picked up and spread

to the winds. If covered with tar or asphaltic oil the stones cement

together and form excellent roadways under medium traffic, where there

are no extremely heavy trucks to cut through the surface. Traffic up to

1200 vehicle-tons per day is accommodated well by these roads.

_Bituminous macadam roads_ are ordinary macadam roads impenetrated

with bituminous materials. When well made they are excellent roadways,

and unless extremely heavy trucking comes upon them ought to prove

satisfactory for medium to moderately heavy traffic.

_Bituminous Concrete Roads_ are made of broken stone mixed with a

bituminous cement before laying and rolling. They, like bituminous

macadam, are smooth, non-slippery, easy riding, have small tractive

resistance and the first cost and cost of maintenance are moderate.

Such roads have proven very satisfactory where the traffic is dense but

not composed of real heavy units. On account of their dustlessness and

general sanitary character as well as for their durability they are

deservedly popular.

_Brick Roads._--Vitrified paving brick give a hard durable surface,

reasonably smooth and not slippery. The cost of maintenance is low and

the appearance is good. Brick roads are expensive as a heavy concrete

foundation is necessary, and they are noisy. They are well adapted for

heavy hauling.

_Concrete Roads._--This type of roadway is rapidly forging to

the front. With the exception of gravel it leads in mileage of

hard-surfaced roads. When made of good concrete sufficiently thick

it has proven itself to be durable, hard, smooth, of small tractive

resistance, comfortable, and not particularly expensive in first cost

or maintenance.

With horse-drawn iron-tired vehicles it is doubtful if it would prove

as durable as some other types but for rubber tired motorized vehicles

it seems to be extremely well adapted. There is no doubt but that this

type will continue to be popular. It has a tendency to crack under

the action of temperature and moisture. It is customary to fill these

cracks with tar, pitch or asphalt, giving an appearance which some

people think not pleasing. The pavement is rigid and noisy, therefore

objectionable for some localities.

_Creosoted Wood Block Roads._--Wood blocks treated with creosote to

preserve them from decay make an excellent pavement. They are smooth,

durable, noiseless and sanitary, have small tractive resistance and

are comfortable to ride upon. The principal objection is their habit

of “bleeding” in the summer time. The sticky oil tar that oozes out

is very objectionable, as it adheres to shoes and is tracked into

houses. The first cost is considerable, but maintenance is low for many

years after laying. Wood block roadways seem well adapted for bridge

floors, for stable and shop floors, and for heavy teaming when placed

on a substantial concrete foundation. They seem to last better for a

moderate or semi-heavy use; when left idle they are more subject to

decay.

_Asphalt Block Roads_ have proven satisfactory for both country and

city roads where the traffic is reasonably heavy. They are laid on both

cement concrete and asphaltic concrete bases. They are smooth, easy

riding, have light tractive resistance, are not very noisy, and are

sanitary. The dark color is rather pleasing.

_Sheet Asphalt Roads and Streets_, considering their cost, durability,

smoothness, ease of riding, low tractive resistance, and general

acceptability, are among the most popular roads. What has been said

of sheet asphalt will apply to asphaltic concrete of the Topeka

specification and bitulithic types. The road is better for use. The

asphalt and sand surface has the habit of swelling and cracking when

not used. The proportioning and laying of a sheet asphalt surface is

a particular job and requires a person of technical knowledge and

experience to do it properly. Sheet-asphalt pavements seem well adapted

for city streets and roads where there is a medium or dense traffic.

With a firm foundation it stands up well under the heaviest traffic.

Its popularity is truly deserved. The pavement under some conditions of

moisture is inclined to be slippery but when dry is not. Neither is it

very noisy.

_Miscellaneous._--There are numerous other types of roads that have

their proper uses in many localities. Burned clay, shell, furnace slag,

coal slack, cinders, plank, corduroy, hay, bagasse, and possibly other

materials have and will continue to be used with more or less success.

The proper places for their use will depend upon local conditions which

every good engineer always takes into account before deciding upon a

type of roadway.

=Comparison of Roads.=--In order to compare the relative merits of

different types of roads weights are usually given to the different

qualities entering into the roadway that they may be compared with

a predetermined ideal. It must be remembered that such tables apply

only to the particular road for which they are made out. No two can be

exactly alike.

Here is one adapted from the author’s work on “Highway

Engineering.”[184]

COMPARATIVE TABLE OF SEVERAL TYPES OF ROADWAY FOR SOME PARTICULAR

LOCALITY

-----------------------+----------+-----+----+------+-------+-----+

-----------------------+----------+-----+----+------+-------+-----+

Low first cost | 20 | 20 | 16 | 16 | 15 | 10 |

Low cost of maintenance| 20 | 15 | 15 | 10 | 8 | 9 |

Ease of traction | 10 | 1 | 4 | 6 | 8 | 10 |

Non-slipperiness | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 8 |

Noiselessness | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 1 |

Healthfulness | 10 | 5 | 5 | 6 | 8 | 9 |

mud | 10 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 |

Comfortable to use | 10 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 8 |

Appearance | 5 | 2 | 3 | 3 | 4 | 3 |

+----------+-----+----+------+-------+-----+

Total | 100 | 61 | 63 | 63 | 66 | 69 |

-----------------------+----------+-----+----+------+-------+-----+

-----------------------+--------+-------+---------+----------+-------

| | | | |

-----------------------+--------+-------+---------+----------+-------

Low first cost | 12 | 10 | 8 | 14 | 13

Low cost of maintenance| 8 | 8 | 10 | 8 | 10

Ease of traction | 10 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 10

Non-slipperiness | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5

Noiselessness | 1 | 2 | 4 | 2 | 2

Healthfulness | 9 | 9 | 8 | 9 | 9

mud | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9

Comfortable to use | 8 | 9 | 9 | 9 | 9

Appearance | 4 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5

+--------+-------+---------+----------+-------

Total | 66 | 66 | 67 | 70 | 72

-----------------------+--------+-------+---------+----------+-------

Tilson gives the following weights for city pavements having heavy

traffic:[185]

--------------------+----------+-------+-----+-----+-------+----------

--------------------+----------+-------+-----+-----+-------+----------

Cheapness | 14 | 8 | 8 | 13 | 14 | 12

Durability | 21 | 21 | 16 | 12 | 15 | 15

Easiness of cleaning| 15 | 10 | 14 | 15 | 14 | 14

traffic | 15 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 11 | 12

Non-slipperiness | 7 | 7 | 4 | 6 | 5 | 6

Ease of maintenance | 10 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 6 | 6

travel | 5 | 2 | 5 | 3 | 4 | 4

Sanitariness | 13 | 9 | 13 | 10 | 12 | 12

+----------+-------+-----+-----+-------+----------

Total | 100 | 80 | 82 | 80 | 81 | 81

Less cheapness | | 72 | 74 | 67 | 67 | 69

--------------------+----------+-------+-----+-----+-------+----------

The Forest Service of the U. S. Department of Agriculture presents the

following table:

--------------------+----------+-------+-------+------+-------+-----

--------------------+----------+-------+-------+------+-------+-----

Cheapness | 14 | 4 | 6¹⁄₂ | 7 | 14 | 4¹⁄₂

Durability | 20 | 20 | 10 | 12¹⁄₂| 6 |14

Ease of maintenance | 10 | 9¹⁄₂ | 7¹⁄₂ | 8¹⁄₂| 4¹⁄₂ | 9¹⁄₂

Ease of cleaning | 14 | 10 | 14 | 12¹⁄₂| 6 |14

traffic | 14 | 8¹⁄₂ | 14 | 12¹⁄₂| 8 |14

Non-slipperiness | 7 | 5¹⁄₂ | 3¹⁄₂ | 5¹⁄₂| 6¹⁄₂ | 4

travel | 4 | 2¹⁄₂ | 4 | 3 | 3 | 3¹⁄₂

Acceptability | 4 | 2 | 3¹⁄₂ | 2¹⁄₂| 2¹⁄₂ | 4

Sanitary qualities | 13 | 9 | 13 | 10¹⁄₂| 4¹⁄₂ |12¹⁄₂

+----------+-------+-------+------+-------+-----

| 100 | 71 | 76 | 74¹⁄₂| 55 |80

--------------------+----------+-------+-------+------+-------+-----

Crosby gives three sets of ideal crusts for country roads: _V_ for main

roads, carrying a fairly heavy mixed traffic, _W_, secondary roads

carrying moderate traffic, and _X_ on minor roads with light farm

travel almost wholly.[186]

-----------------------+-----------+-----+--------+----------+--------

+---+---+---+ | Cement |Bituminous| bound

|_V_|_W_|_X_|Brick|Concrete| Macadam |Macadam

-----------------------+---+---+---+-----+--------+----------+--------

First cost, cheapness | 15| 15| 15| 8 | 10 | 10 | 15

Maintenance, cheapness | 25| 25| 20| 25 | 20 | 20 | 10

Durability | 7| 7| 7| 7 | 5 | 5 | 3

Ease of maintenance | 8| 10| 10| 7 | 8 | 8 | 10

Cleanliness | 5| 5| 5| 3 | 3 | 5 | 2

Low tractive resistance| 10| 5| 5| 5 | 4 | 4 | 4

Non-slipperiness | 10| 10| 10| 4 | 7 | 5 | 10

Sanitariness | 5| 5| 5| 4 | 4 | 5 | 3

Noiselessness | 5| 5| 5| 3 | 3 | 5 | 4

Acceptability | 5| 5| 8| 2 | 3 | 4 | 5

Favorableness to travel| 5| 8| 10| 3 | 5 | 6 | 8

+---+---+---+-----+--------+----------+--------

Total |100|100|100| 71 | 72 | 77 | 74

-----------------------+---+---+---+-----+--------+----------+--------

Anderson gives the following economical table to assist in arriving at

a proper type of surfacing:[187]

METHOD OF MAKING ECONOMICAL COMPARISON OF ROAD SURFACES

-----------------------------------------+---------------------------

|Possible Types of Surfacing

Item +--------+--------+---------

| _A_ | _B_ | _C_

-----------------------------------------+--------+--------+---------

Estimated life of surface with proper | | |

maintenance, years | 4 | 8 | 12

Original construction cost per mile |$ 8,000 |$15,000 | $30,000

Annual charges for interest, depreciation| | |

and resurfacing | 2,364 | 2,528 | 3,797

Cost of maintaining surface per mile, | | |

average, annual | 1,000 | 750 | 200

Total cost per mile at end of 12th year, | | |

period | 40,368 | 39,336 | 47,964

Value of road surface per mile at end of | | |

12th year period | .... | 7,500 | 12,000

Net outlay per mile of road | 40,368 | 32,836 | 35,964

-----------------------------------------+--------+--------+---------

The choice of selection here is evidently between _B_ and _C_, with

the figures so close together that the one with the least number of

uncertainties would probably be adopted if economy is the determining

factor.

Another method of making economical comparisons is shown in the table

and plot following:

---------------------+------+------+----------+--------+

| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 |

---------------------+------+------+----------+--------+

First cost per mile |$1,000|$5,000| $10,000 |$20,000 |

per cent | 50| 250| 500 | 1,000 |

Annual Maintenance | 250| 250| 500 | 100 |

Life of surface, yrs.| 0| 5| 10 | 20 |

Cost of resurfacing | $ 0|$2,500| $ 5,000 |$15,000 |

3¹⁄₂ per cent | 0| 466| 427 | 530 |

Annual Total Cost | 300| 966| 1,427 | 1,630 |

Daily Cost, per mile | 0.82 | 2.74 | 3.90 | 4.45 |

---------------------+------+------+----------+--------+

---------------------+----------+-------+-------

| 5 | 6 | 7

| | |

Item | Sheet | Brick |

| Asphalt | Stone | Wood

|Bitulithic| Block | Block

---------------------+----------+-------+-------

First cost per mile | $30,000 |$40,000|$50,000

Annual Interest, 5 | | |

per cent | 1,500 | 2,000| 2,500

Annual Maintenance | 100 | 50| 50

Life of surface, yrs.| 20 | 25| 25

Cost of resurfacing | $15,000 |$25,000|$35,000

Annual Sinking Fund | | |

3¹⁄₂ per cent | 530 | 884| 899

Annual Total Cost | 2,130 | 2,934| 3,449

Daily Cost, per mile | 5.84 | 8.03 | 9.46

---------------------+----------+-------+-------

[Illustration: _Plot showing cost of several types of roads under

varying traffic density. When the traffic density of road No. 1 (Earth

and sand clay) becomes greater than 300 or 400 vehicles per day the

curve would turn up because the maintenance costs would be increased.

Similarly for Nos. 2 and 3 for 1600 to 2000 vehicles per day._]

SELECTED REFERENCES

“American Civil Engineers’ Pocket-Book,” Sec. 15, Art. 4, John Wiley

& Sons, New York.

“American Highway Engineers’ Handbook,” p. 1360, John Wiley & Sons,

New York.

American Society of Civil Engineers, _Proceedings_, 1918, p. 2327.

ANDERSON, ANDREW P., “Modern Road Building and Maintenance.” Hercules

Powder Co., Chicago.

_Automotive Industries_, “The Motor Bus Field as a Market for

Trucks,” Vol. XLV, pp. 627-628, Sept. 29, 1921; “Weight of Trucks,”

May 18, 1922.

BLANCHARD AND DROWNE, “Textbook of Highway Engineering,” Chap. II,

John Wiley & Sons, New York.

BULLARD, GENERAL ROBERT LEE, “The Motor Truck’s Importance on the

Battle Front of France,” National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, New

York.

CHATBURN, GEORGE R., “Highway Engineering--Rural Roads and

Pavements,” pp. 22-28; John Wiley & Sons, New York.

COLLINS, J. A., “Transportation Surveys for Rural Express Routes,”

_Good Roads_, March 17, 1919.

Cornell Agricultural College Bulletin No. 205; Ithaca, New York.

CRISSEY, FORREST, “Our New Transportation System,” _Saturday Evening

Post_, December 16, 1922, p. 14.

CROSBY, W. W., “The Scientific Selection of Pavements,” _Municipal

Journal_, May 29, 1913.

DALTON, JAMES C., “Highways Must Be Made Self-supporting,”

_Automotive Industries_, May 25, 1922.

_Good Roads._--“Benefits of a National Highway System,” A committee

report of the American Road Builders Association, Jan. 19, 1919.

HAYDOCK, WINTERS, “The Pittsburgh Traffic Count,” _Proceedings of the

Engineering Society of Western Pennsylvania_, Vol. XXVII, pp. 477-513.

HIRST, A. R., “Laying out Wisconsin Trunk Line Highways,” _Good

Roads_.

HORINE, M. C., “Economics of Motor Transport,” _Journal of the

Society of Automotive Engineers_, May, 1922.

JAMES, E. W., “Distribution of Traffic on a Rectangular System,”

_Engineering Record_, Vol. LXXIV, p. 439.

JOHNSON, A. N., “The Traffic Census,” _Public Roads_, Dec. 1920,

Appendix; also p. 16.

“Traffic Census and its Use in Deciding Road Width,” _Public Roads_,

July, 1921, p. 7.

JADWIN, COLONEL EDGAR, “Relation of the War Department to Improved

Highways.” Bulletin No. 25 of the Texas Engineering Experiment

Station, Agricultural and Mechanical College of Texas, May 1, 1922,

p. 40.

MACDONALD, “Classification and Uses of Highways,” _Engineering

News-Record_, Vol. LXXXIII, pp. 984-985, 635.

Massachusetts Highway Commission Report, 1912.

SIMONDS, FRANK H., “History of the World War,” Vol. I, p. 118, Vol.

V, p. 115. Doubleday, Page & Company, New York.

New Jersey State Highway Commission, Committee Report on Traffic

Census--_Engineering News-Record_, Vol. LXXXVI, p. 338.

TAYLOR, COLONEL B., “Similarity of Military and Commercial Motor

Transportation,” National Automobile Chamber of Commerce, New York.

United States Bureau of Public Roads, “A Study of the California

Highway System,” _Public Roads_, pp. 124, 136-138, 196-197, 200-209.

United States Census Reports.

United States Department of Agriculture, Bureau of Statistics

Bulletin 49. Bureau of Forestry Bulletin.

FOOTNOTES

[173] Highway is sometimes used in the sense of greater importance

and road in that of less, as in the expression “highways and roads.”

Baker in his “Roads and Pavements” uses roads to indicate unpaved

highways.

[174] See _Engineering News Record_, Vol. LXXXIII, p. 985.

[175] “Economies of Motor Transport,” by Merrill C. Horine, Engineer

International Motor Company, New York City, in the _Journal of the

Society of Automotive Engineers_, May, 1922.

[176] See Simonds’ “History of the World War,” Vols. I and V.

[177] “Am. Civ. Eng’s. Pocketbook,” Sec. 15, Art. 4, Wiley & Sons, N.

[178] Report of Third International Road Congress, 1913.

[179] Bulletin 205, Cornell Agricultural College; Bulletin 136, U. S.

Department of Agriculture; Bulletin 49, Bureau of Statistics, U. S.

Dept. of Agr. Reports of the 1910 U. S. Census.

[180] From Bulletin 136, U. S. Department of Agriculture.

[181] _Engineering Record_, Vol. LXXIV, p. 439.

[182] See “Highway Engineering,” by G. R. Chatburn, pp. 22 to 28,

Wiley & Sons, New York, publishers.

[183] Am. Soc. C. E. Proceedings, 1918, p. 2327.

[184] “Highway Engineering--Rural Roads and Pavements,” by George R.

Chatburn, John Wiley & Sons, New York.

[185] “American Highway Engineers’ Handbook,” p. 1360, Wiley & Sons,

New York.

[186] “The Scientific Selection of Pavements,” by W. W. Crosby, in

_Municipal Journal_, May 29, 1913.

[187] “Modern Road Building and Maintenance,” by Andrew P. Anderson.

CHAPTER IX

EFFECT OF EASE AND COST OF TRANSPORTATION ON PRODUCTION AND MARKETING

The creation of economic utilities by the application of the mental and

physical powers of man to the materials of nature is called production.

Grass grew abundantly for thousands of years over the great plains

of the Mississippi valley, but there was no production until it was

utilized by the hand of man for economical purposes. Just so far as

change came to that grass through the application of labor, physical

or mental, or stored up in capital, there was production. Productive

activities may be classified as those which have to do with: (1) a

change in form, (2) a change in place, (3) a change in the potential

time of use. Productive activities add to the materials as received

other values, namely, form utilities, place utilities, and time

utilities. The farmer through the processes of sowing, cultivating

and harvesting, is instrumental in changing the elements of nature

into grain, of adding form utility; it is transported over the roads

and railways to elevators, thus is added place utility; it is there

stored until needed thereby the third or time utility is attached. In

the illustration just given wheat stored in the bin is considered the

finished product. But a finished product of one productive activity may

be the raw product of another. For instance, the wheat is taken from

the bin and ground into flour, the flour transported to the place of

storage, and held as a finished product until it is wanted by another

productive activity in which the flour is the raw product. The baker

takes the raw product, flour, molds and bakes it into bread, which is

held by the merchant for sale. The wheat thus has passed through the

three productive processes three different times. Other things may have

passed through more before the final consumptive process occurs.

Production is very commonly thought of as being only the first one of

the three operations, but the changes brought about by the transporter

and the merchant are productive of economic wealth through the

application of human physical and mental efforts hence are as truly a

part of production as is the first operation.

The factors which enter into production are by some economists given as

nature and labor, by others as land, labor, and capital. Under nature

or land are included all natural elements, external to man, such as the

forces of cohesion, gravitation, of moving air and water, and also the

stored-up riches of nature. Under labor are placed all those things or

utilities which have been added by the application of human endeavor,

either mental or physical. Physical strength in and of itself is not

sufficient, for the productive output increases with mental strength.

The ox or the horse is capable of exerting greater physical force

than is man, but without the guiding, directing force of man’s mind

it would produce nothing. Moral qualifications are also placed under

the general heading “labor” as they affect production. Temperance,

dependability, prudence, frugality, etc., have in them productive

elements of importance the same as the intellectual qualifications of

quick perception, alertness, imagination reason and judgment.

Capital has been frequently defined as stored-up labor. It is the

finished product of some previous effort, but as wheat and flour may

be considered as intermediate products between nature and bread,

so capital may be looked upon as an intermediate product between

nature and more labor necessary to produce anew. “Its own origin,

its existence, its subsequent action are nothing but stages in the

continuous working of the true elements, nature and labor.”[188]

Capital--raw materials, tools, machines, buildings, equipment, means

for transportation and selling, stored products--is absolutely

essential to more production, hence may be considered as an independent

factor, although it may have been the product of previous labor allied

to natural powers.

From what has been said it will be readily seen that transportation

and marketing (selling) are a part of the process of production.

Transportation can be divided into two classes: primary, transportation

upon the public roads; and secondary, transportation on railroads,

canals, steamboats and steamships. Marketing is likewise divided into

two classes: wholesaling and retailing. The wholesaler buys goods in

quantity from the manufacturer and sells them to the jobber who in

turn sells them to the retailer. The jobber usually divides the larger

purchased quantities into smaller or job lots in any quantity suitable

to the retailer. The wholesaler and the jobber may be combined into one

individual or firm. The jobber will, usually, not sell directly to the

consumer; he sells only to retailers. The retailers frequently have a

sort of “gentlemen’s” agreement with the jobber not to buy directly

from the producer. This sort of complicated machinery often involves

more expense than direct trading. After each of the transactions

mentioned there is usually a change of place and a waiting in store.

=Grain Exchanges.=--In the grain business there has been developed a

great system of selling through commission merchants, that is, the

selling agents take commissions on the sales for their remuneration.

A limited number of the commission merchants of a particular city

organize themselves into incorporated bodies for the purpose of

providing themselves with houses and facilities for doing business and

establishing rules for the transaction of the same. Such organizations

with places of doing business are known as Grain Exchanges or Boards of

Trade. The Board of Trade of Chicago, the most noted grain market in

the world, was established in 1846.

Mr. Vincent of the Omaha Grain Exchange explains the matter as

follows:[189]

Suppose that a group of twenty-five mule breeders in Missouri came to

Omaha to sell several hundred mules, and buyers assemble from several

states. The mule dealers find a vacant lot in a convenient locality

and secure permission to use it temporarily. It is the mule market,

or mule exchange. The buyers and sellers meet and dicker, each trying

to secure the best bargain he can. Every purchase or sale is an

individual transaction--between one seller and one buyer. The vacant

lot or “mule exchange” has nothing to do in the transaction--it

occupies no place in the trade. It is simply the location where the

traders gather for their own convenience. If the traders hire a clerk

to act for all in settling the trades and collecting the money, it

is simply because the clerk has the knowledge of a technical nature

not possessed by all traders and his employment is a convenience to

all concerned. He represents the individual traders and not the mule

market.

Now translate mules into cars of grain and the “vacant lot” into

a board of trade building erected for the convenience of traders

engaged in a permanent business. The transactions held on the board

of trade are the individual trades between the individual seller

and buyers, just the same as in the mule market. The board of trade

is simply the location where buyers come to meet sellers (or their

agents the commission men.)

Vincent’s theory that the board of trade is the “location where” is

hardly inclusive enough, for only a favored few who have “purchased

seats” or are stockholders of the incorporation are privileged to buy

and sell on the board of trade, that is, are a part of an organization

known as a board of trade. His own pamphlet states that he is a “Member

of the Omaha Grain Exchange.”

Vincent defines a commission merchant as “the agent of men (1) who do

not have enough grain to sell so they can afford the time and expense

to come with the grain so as personally to make the sale, and (2) who

would be meeting strangers and who would not know which of the buyers

might want the particular kind or grade he might have for sale.” He

contends that it is not only an economy to the seller to employ the

services of the commission merchant but that it is necessary to have

the selling done by some one “who knows who the buyers are in the

various lines--corn, oats, barley, and wheat of the different kinds

and qualities,” and who knows “the inspection rules and sees that the

grain is properly graded--in short” one who “does for his employer, or

principal, all those things that he would do for himself if he were in

the central market and acquainted with the buyers.”

Vincent upholds the custom of dealing in futures, as it furnishes a

sort of insurance to the legitimate dealer in grain. When the local

dealer buys, say, 10,000 bushels of wheat which by ordinary methods

of business may require from two to four weeks to get to the terminal

marketing point, he at the same time sells on board of trade 10,000

bushels for future delivery, thus “hedging” the purchase. If wheat goes

up he gains on the actual wheat in transit but loses on his hedge. If

wheat goes down he loses on the 10,000 bushels in transit, but gains on

his hedge; thus, either way, the one transaction balances the other so

there is no gain, and no loss, except the cost of the hedge, and hence

no speculation. Hedging is, in short, a sort of insurance that protects

the dealer should the price of grain fall between the time he purchased

it and the time of selling it at the terminal. The process of hedging

when honestly carried on is a stabilizing operation and according to

Vincent “effects the commercial transfers of grain from farmer to

miller at a less expense than is involved in the marketing of any other

product of human endeavor--at less expense than would be possible if

grain merchants alone carried all the risk--the speculation.”

=Coöperative Marketing.=--Coöperative marketing associations and the

intermediate dealer, that is a man who buys directly from the producer

and resells to other purchasers, are said to have two points of

superiority over the commission merchant: (_a_) The care and solicitude

of the owner replaces the zeal of the agent; (_b_) by combining the

products of many they are able to handle large quantities and thus

secure better shipping rates, and take advantage of other benefits

of quantity business. The farmer or local dealer, or coöperative

association, ships to the commission merchant only in carload lots.

The freight charge, nowadays, no matter what the custom may have been

in the past, is the same whether one or a dozen cars are shipped at a

time. There may be some favoritism in the securing of cars when asked

for by the large shipper. The inspection charges are fixed by law. The

commission merchant’s fee is a percentage of the sale and thoroughly

regulated by custom and the rules of the grain exchange. The commission

merchant being acquainted with buyers can usually place all grain the

day it is received, so the advantage, if any, of an intermediate dealer

are more in name than in reality.

With the idea of eliminating some of the cost of marketing coöperative

associations have sprung up over the whole country. While there are

many advantages of coöperation, such as by pooling interests, larger

quantities can be handled in one bulk, thus getting any advantage that

might come in freight rates. Also where large quantities are collected

it is practically always possible to take care of buyers; or, the

agency may know where to find buyers when an individual would not. The

buyer for overseas exports wants to get his grain in as large lots

as possible to reduce handling charges. The association usually has

facilities to examine and separate the grain or other commodities into

the several grades, and the buyer can rely on the grade being as stated

by the seller. In the case of some perishable goods, such as fruit, the

association advertises freely, spreading the cost over many raisers,

and creating a desire on the part of consumers for the association’s

named brand of fruit. “Sunkist” lemons and oranges and “Sun Maid”

raisins are household words due to extensive advertising by their

respective coöperative associations. Coöperative associations purchase

from non-members and profits on these purchases go to the association

and in due time are distributed to its members. The California Fruit

Growers’ Exchange advertises itself as “A non-profit coöperative

organization of 10,500 growers.” The object of all such associations is

two-fold: (1) To decrease the cost and trouble of marketing, and (2) to

increase the common desire for their products. Both of which will tend

to increase the grower’s profits.

The grain merchant, whether in business as a dealer for himself, or a

coöperative concern must have an elevator, or place, where the grain

may be collected and prepared for the larger market. Fruit dealers

have houses for the collection and care of the fruit. Since these

commodities are collected a little from one, a little from another, or

for ripening, grading, or other purposes, they must be kept usually

several days before the car is loaded. After it is loaded there is

quite a little time before it reaches its destination. During this

time there is money invested in these products, that is, capital

is required. The local banker is called upon to help finance the

purchases. The elevator company or fruit company has some capital, he

depends upon borrowing for more. The banks when commodities are freely

moving are frequently severely taxed to furnish the required money

for the movement of crops. The banks at the terminal markets are also

stressed for they are furnishing money to the buyers there, and the

export commodities are paid for by money from abroad. So that many

financial institutions are intimately interested in the crop movement

capital.

Whenever a local dealer consigns a car load of wheat to a responsible

merchant he can deposit the bill of lading with his banker and draw

upon the merchant for some 90 per cent of the value of the grain,

providing the dealer has hedged so that there is no chance of loss.

The banker will honor the dealer’s checks and hold the credit of the

merchant as collateral.

When grain or other food commodities have been stored the warehouse

receipt is considered the best possible collateral for bank loans.

Mr. Forgan, president of the National City Bank of Chicago, is quoted

as saying:[190] “I have seen the time more than once when high-class

stocks and bonds, and even government bonds, could not readily be

sold, but I have never seen the time, nor do I ever expect to see it,

when anything that has to be eaten could not be sold.” The warehouse

receipts, therefore, above alluded to, constitute a collateral which

is always available for the payment of debts. Furthermore, if the

grain or provisions represented by the warehouse receipts are sold for

future delivery, that fact adds a great element of strength to the

loan, because there is a third party obligated to take the grain at a

certain time for a given price.... The sale for future delivery--the

‘hedge’--is the final link in the chain that makes such loans the best

in the world.”

It has been shown that in the production of grain or other farm

commodities the three elements, change in form, change in place, and

potential change in time enter; while the factors entering are, nature,

labor, and capital. These all must be present no matter which method

of procedure is followed in the marketing. The cost of marketing must

always be counted in the cost of production. A decrease in the cost of

any element or factor will of course have its effect on the cost of the

whole process. For example, it is claimed by grain merchants that where

there is an opportunity to hedge there is less risk and consequently

the profits of the middlemen may be less thus decreasing the cost of

production.

To get a concrete example of what part transportation bears in

marketing the following analysis is made:

_Elements Entering into the Cost of Marketing Wheat Grown in Kansas or

Nebraska_

Farm Expense Cents per bushel

Loading 0.25

If sacked, add about 5 cents per bushel.

Highway Haulage

A bulletin of the Bureau of Crop Estimates, U. S.

Department of Agriculture gives the cost at 30 cents

per ton-mile when horses are used and 15 cents per

ton-mile by motor-car, the average distance being

9.4 miles, rough average, say 6.00 6.25

-----

Total cost of getting to local market 6.25

Local Elevator

Unloading, storage, cleaning, and mixing, shrinkage.

Overhead--interest on investment, taxes, insurance,

office expense, depreciation, repairs, hired help,

etc., and profit 3.00 3.00

-----

Total cost up to the commission merchant 9.25

Freight

Terminal and hauling charge 16.00

Inspection and weighing at terminal .25

Profit of commission merchant 1.25 17.50

-----

Total cost up to the exporter 26.75

Exporter’s cost

Elevation, loading into boat, etc. 1.25

Ocean freight (very variable), say 6.00

Insurance, leakage, etc., in transit .75

Overhead expenses of exporter 1.00

Profit of exporter 1.25 10.25

-----

Total to Liverpool market 37.00

The above would indicate that if all wheat were shipped to Liverpool

the local price in Nebraska or Kansas should be about 27 cents per

bushel below the New York price and 37 cents below the Liverpool price.

As a matter of fact the Omaha and Kansas City prices are frequently

equal to or exceed the New York prices because there is quite a large

local demand for wheat from the mills of the Middle West. It is said

nearly one-half the Kansas wheat is milled in that state.

=Highway Transportation from Farm to Local Market.=--The table

indicates that the highway transportation amounts to about 6 cents

per bushel. Had the cost been based on all team hauling it would have

been 8¹⁄₂ cents; on truck hauling, 4¹⁄₄ cents. The grand total cost of

production would be the

Cost of growing;

Cost of transportation;

Cost of marketing.

Taking up only the transportation from the farm to the local market

point, the question arises, what, if any, effect would a change in it

have on the character and amount of farm production?

Let there be considered a zone around a local market point; suppose

the width of this zone limited the distance from the market at which

wheat can be grown profitably when the hauling is all done by horses.

Since it can, according to government authority, be hauled at half the

cost by motor truck, other things being equal, the zone of profitable

productions would be widened to twice its former width with no greater

expense to the wheat grower. Or, looking at it another way, the size

of the farm could be somewhat lessened and the farmer still make the

same gross sum on his crop. This latter would allow a few more people

to live in the same territory as formerly. If again by means of paved

roads the cost was further reduced one-half the zone could again be

doubled; it is then four times its original width. Also, since a living

could be made on smaller farms the tendency would be to increase the

rural population. But it is not likely that all farmers under increased

advantages would continue to raise wheat. Other crops, more perishable

but more profitable, would venture forth.

Such perishable crops as vegetables, head lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers,

cantaloupes, watermelons, etc., require dependable marketing

facilities. They must be harvested and put on the market at just the

right time or they deteriorate in quality and price very rapidly. Crops

that could be hauled by team only 4 or 5 miles could be hauled by truck

over a hard road easily 20 miles. Near the large cities truck gardeners

by virtue of the truck and the good roads have been able to go out 15

to 20 miles and secure land at a very much lower rent, or purchase

it on an amortization scheme at no more annual expense for double or

treble the amount of land than they formerly paid in rent near the city

for the smaller tract. According to Norton outside the large cities of

the East market gardening extends back 25 to 30 miles. That it is not

uncommon to haul vegetables to market in trucks 40 miles, and that a

New Jersey fruit farmer was accustomed to make a 65-mile trip daily to

market his fruit in New York City.[191]

Likewise small fruit farming. One acre of land highly cultivated this

year, 1922, produced more than $1000 worth of strawberries, which were

brought to the railway station every day on a small truck a distance

of 15 miles. Raspberries and blackberries will give almost as good

returns. Vegetables of all kinds, and cantaloupes and watermelons in

favorable localities, will probably bring larger returns. Even potatoes

sometimes give a gross return of from $100 to $300 per acre.

It should be remembered that in every case there must be a keen, avid

market and adequate transportation facilities. The market, since

more than half the people of the United States live in the cities,

is likely to be sufficient if the marketing machinery is ample and

properly functioning. Horse-drawn wagons may answer the purpose in some

places, in others the motor truck, but other crops cannot be marketed

without access to the steam railway. For instance, could trucks carry

cantaloupes from the Imperial Valley in California to New York City?

This requires the steam railway and refrigerator cars drawn in rapid

trains. The trucks will greatly widen the zone of cantaloupe culture

near the shipping point. The same may be said of citrus fruits from

Florida and California, tomatoes and watermelons from Texas, plums

from Idaho, apples from Washington, grapes from New York and Michigan,

and, indeed, some product from nearly every state of the Union, to say

nothing of the non-perishable products.

=Stock Raising.=--Marketing facilities and road transportation is

greatly changing the character of stock raising. Not so very many years

ago the great western plains were covered with large herds of cattle

whose owners and caretakers were known as ranchers. The ranch usually

consisted of the owner’s residence, which he also used as an office,

sleeping and eating quarters for the cowboys, a corral or two for the

horses and possibly cattle during the round-up and branding season,

though this latter was usually on the open. The cattle ranged and fed

upon the wild grass, the cowboys riding around the bunch daily in

order to keep track of them. The round-up was held in the late summer

while the calves were still running with their mothers and could be

identified. The cattle of several ranches ran together and at branding

periods had to be cut out--separated. Then the unbranded calves and

mavericks were roped, thrown and branded; the bull calves were altered

and the herd again turned loose upon the prairies. A little later in

the fall they were again rounded-up and those to be sold selected and

cut out. These were driven to the nearest railway track and shipped

to market, sometimes a train load from one shipping point. During

the winter season and in violent storms there were many hardships as

well as loss of cattle. The cowboys also had to be on the lookout for

“rustlers”--thieves who stole the cattle outright, branded unbranded

mavericks they knew did not belong to them, or mutilated brands by

placing their own over the rightful one.

Meat from these more or less wild, grass-fed animals was seldom

better than second class, and never brought on the market the equal of

corn-fed cattle. However, they did furnish a reasonably cheap food and

kept down the price of meat.

Along with better roads and markets came a demand for other products;

land that furnished the open range was fenced in, and later subdivided

into farms upon which were raised grain, hogs, poultry, and perhaps a

few cattle. Dairying in many places took the place of stock raising.

No longer were the animals driven to market on the hoof. They were

fattened upon grain and hay and carried to market in wagons and trucks.

Hogs replaced cattle. The turnover is more frequent and they do well

on maize, requiring no hay or straw except perhaps a very little for

bedding. The corn fed to hogs usually brings about twice as much a

bushel as that sold to the dealer.

Since about 12 to 15 miles is the greatest distance hogs may with

profit be hauled to market in horse-drawn wagons on dirt roads, there

grew up at every small railway station a stock market. The railway

company provided stockyards, a series of pens with a chute for loading.

The dealers bought from the farmers and placed their animals in the

railway pens until a car load was obtained, when they were sent on

to the packing house located in one of the large cities. Therefore,

between the farmer and the packer there were at least two middlemen,

the local dealer and the commission merchant at the terminal stock

yards which are nominally under a different corporation than the

packing houses.

With the good roads and the motor truck has come much marketing

directly by the farmer at the packing-house yards. The Firestone Ship

by Truck Bureau, a subsidiary organization of the Firestone Tire

and Rubber Company of Akron, Ohio, made a careful study of the use

of the truck in marketing live stock, and in 1921 issued a bulletin

thereon.[192] A detailed showing of the marketing of animals at

St. Joseph, Omaha, Cincinnati, and Indianapolis is given. From that

bulletin will be copied some statistics and other information that may

be of interest. Those wishing the full discussion should write for the

bulletin.

Tables are given which “show that at each yard the driven-in receipts

during the years 1918, 1919, and 1920 were very much in excess of

those of 1917. Of the total receipts (the tables give them each month

of the four years) of driven-in hogs at the St. Joseph yards in 1917

approximately 10 per cent were hauled to the yards by motor truck.

While the driven-in hog receipts at the same yard during 1918 were

twice those of 1917, 40 per cent of this total was driven by truck.

In 1920, 60 per cent of driven-in hog receipts were truck hauled. The

St. Joseph figures clearly indicate that the truck movement commenced

about 1917 and that each of the following years have witnessed decided

increases.

“At Omaha truck-hauled receipts appear to have commenced earlier than

at St. Joseph; for during the years 1917 and 1918 the best estimates

placed the truck-hauled receipts about 90 per cent of the total

driven-in receipts, while the year 1919 amounted to 95 per cent of the

total driven-in receipts. In 1920 virtually all driven-in receipts were

truck-hauled.

“At Cincinnati in the year 1918 more than 90 per cent of driven-in

receipts were truck-hauled while in 1919 at least 95 per cent of all

stock delivered at this yard other than by freight car came on motor

trucks. In 1920 driven-in receipts which were not truck-hauled were

negligible.

“Indianapolis has shown the most conspicuous increase in truck

delivered stock of any yard in the country. During the last year more

than 95 per cent of all driven-in hogs to this yard were delivered by

motor truck. It is seldom that team equipment is seen at this yard.

At both Cincinnati and Indianapolis on an average day 100 trucks can

be seen coming into the yards, while as many as 300 trucks have been

counted at Cincinnati in one day, and as many as 450 at Indianapolis.”

From tables given in the Bulletin are extracted the following data for

the Omaha and the Indianapolis yards:

OMAHA YARD

----+------------------+--------------+---------------------

| | |Percentage, Driven-in

Year|Driven-in Receipts|Total Receipts| to Total

----+------------------+--------------+---------------------

1916| 46,542 | 3,116,820 | 1.47

1917| 65,922 | 2,796,596 | 2.36

1918| 188,417 | 3,429,533 | 5.38

1919| 179,036 | 3,179,116 | 5.64

1920| 181,946 | 2,708,482 | 6.67

1921| ....... | ......... | ....

----+------------------+--------------+---------------------

INDIANAPOLIS YARD

----+------------------+--------------+---------------------

| | |Percentage, Driven-in

Year|Driven-in Receipts|Total Receipts| to Total

----+------------------+--------------+---------------------

1912| 110,624 | 1,824,260 | 6.06

1913| 90,821 | 1,994,624 | 4.04

1914| 96,521 | 2,099,787 | 4.58

1915| 136,441 | 2,435,319 | 5.61

1916| 173,191 | 2,576,611 | 6.74

1917| 271,994 | 2,350,730 | 7.84

1918| 462,313 | 2,749,976 | 16.8

1919| 709,584 | 2,936,493 | 23.7

1920| 787,100 | 2,896,894 | 27.2

1921| ....... | ......... | .....

----+------------------+--------------+---------------------

A graphical representation shows the continuous increase of driven-in

to the total receipts. The table of percentages and the graphical

representation are not given in the bulletin. They show very clearly

what happened when the motor truck began to function in 1917. The

truck has made a very much more effective showing at Indianapolis

than at Omaha. No doubt this is because (1) the average haul at Omaha

is longer; Omaha draws from a more sparsely settled country and from

longer distances; (2) the roads adjacent to Omaha are nearly all, as

yet, earth-surfaced. Only a few hard roads have been built; (3) many of

the farms in the Omaha territory are large and sell so many animals at

a time that they can easily fill one, two, or three railway cars at a

shipment. The percentage of truck-hauled stock will no doubt continue

to increase until practically all hogs within the economic radius of

truck operation are marketed by motor. When the time comes, if it ever

will, when abattoirs are established at distances no farther apart

than 100 to 150 miles, making the maximum haul 50 to 75 miles, the

percentage of stock handled by the railroads to these abattoirs will

be very small indeed. The larger packing houses with the advantages of

great quantity production will still be able to reach out into the more

remote districts and secure that proportion of animals necessary to

keep them going which can not be obtained locally.

[Illustration: Showing the increase of truck-delivered hogs at

Indianapolis and at Omaha.]

That there is still an opportunity for increases of motor-hauled stock

a further quotation from the Firestone Bulletin will show:

“The territory served by trucks in marketing live stock is principally

within a 50-mile radius of the market center. In the course of

investigation the longest haul which came under observation was 140

miles. The average haul on the days the investigators were at the

markets was about 30 miles. The following table gives some idea of the

length of hauls at the four different yards:

------------+--------+-------+--------+-------

| No. of |Longest|Shortest|Average

| Trucks | Haul, | Haul, | Haul,

Yard |Observed| Miles | Miles | Miles

------------+--------+-------+--------+-------

St. Joseph | 48 | 100 | 9 | 27

Omaha | 62 | 75 | 6 | 28.2

Cincinnati | 40 | 72 | 3.5 | 28.9

Indianapolis| 40 | 97 | 7 | 32.5

------------+--------+-------+--------+-------

“While the average haul is 28.95 miles, most of the trucks observed

in the course of investigation use solid-tire equipment. This type of

equipment had a tendency to restrict the mileage.”

The bulletin also is authority for a statement that 91.3 per cent of

the hogs within a 50-mile circle about the Indianapolis yards are

carried by trucks, but that only 18.3 per cent at Omaha move that way,

and at St. Joseph 10.8 per cent, which indicates to them that there are

still great possibilities for the truck, especially as the truck has

not come into as extended use at many other packing centers as at the

four places treated in the bulletin.

There is no doubt but that pneumatic-tire equipment, and to a lesser

extent, the cushion-tire equipment will extend the average haul to 50

miles. Hard-surfaced roads will again extend it 25 to 50 miles, making

a haul of 75 to 100 miles not uncommon.

A further effect of the truck and the ease of marketing which it will

bring about is that hogs will be marketed in smaller quantities but

oftener. The farmer instead of turning off his marketable animals twice

a year will send them in four times a year, possibly monthly. The

tendency will be to stabilize the market over the several seasons. As

yet, the stabilizing, influence of the truck is hardly noticeable.

[Illustration: Average number of driven-in hogs marketed at

Indianapolis each month; years 1917, 1918, 1919, and 1920 being

averaged.]

[Illustration: Average number of driven-in hogs marketed at Omaha each

month; years 1917, 1918, 1919, and 1920 being averaged.]

Diagrams on pages 290 and 291 show the average monthly number of

hogs received at the yards of Indianapolis and Omaha by truck; the

years 1917, 1918, 1919, and 1920 being averaged. At Indianapolis,

where the roads are good the year around, the receipts from June to

December are much larger than those from December to June, the peaks

occurring in December and June. In Omaha, on the contrary, the greater

number of driven-in hogs came in the other half of the year the peaks

occurring in January and July. These may be partially accounted for,

in the West, on the theory that January 1st and March 1st are regular

settlement days and farmers arrange to meet their obligations then by

selling off a batch of hogs. They also plan to reduce the number of

their hogs to the minimum during the months of May, June, and July,

so as to have few fat hogs to carry through the hot weather. In the

Eastern states the farmers seem to work on a different basis. If the

selling of live stock could be spread out uniformly over the year

prices would be more uniform. An analysis of prices on the Chicago hog

market shows that they are usually highest during the summer months,

from April to August, the months when the fewest numbers are sold. The

advantage which those crops which can be stored without deterioration,

such as grain, cotton, wool, and lumber, is manifest. The price of meat

is less fluctuating than that of live stock because meat can be kept

indefinitely in the cold storage houses at a very small expense. It is

quite likely that more good roads and a more extensive use of the truck

will tend to a better distribution of live stock marketed throughout

the several seasons of the year.

One of the principal advantages of marketing by truck is the less

liability of losses in transit. Dealers and owners often crowd too

many hogs into a freight car and as a result some smother. Or, if

hogs from different farms are placed together in a car there may be

fighting, which unduly heats up the hogs with equally dire results. It

is reported that at the Chicago yards in 1918 there were removed from

cars 24,785 dead hogs and in 1919, 28,356. To be sure many of these

cars came from a distance and were, perhaps, several days on the way.

But a fat hog is a delicate animal and a stream of cold water from a

hose on a hot hog will often kill him instantly. Government figures

state that one out of every 319 hogs shipped died in transit; of cattle

one out of every 998; of sheep one out of every 936. Losses by motor,

because the animals are not crowded so many together, because they are

acquainted and do not fight, because the distances traveled are usually

such that only three or four hours elapse between the times of loading

and unloading, and because the driver is always at hand to quell

disturbances and to see that there is no undue crowding, are said to be

negligible.

The local buyer at points near packing houses has almost become

extinct. These men formerly bought from the farmers and held the stock

until they had sufficient number to fill a car. Since they would often

have to hold them several days they had to buy on a wide margin to

insure themselves against loss, from ³⁄₄ to 1¹⁄₂ cents a pound. Even

where the farmer does not own a truck he can get the hogs hauled at a

cost of ¹⁄₂ to ³⁄₄ cents a pound, or a saving of about $15 per truck

load. If a return load is to be had, such as lumber or feeders the

saving will be greater. One difficulty about the return load is the

necessity of thoroughly cleaning the truck body. A shovel, a hose with

a fair pressure of water, and a hard floor upon which to stand the

truck while it is being cleaned are necessary.

Incidentally it may be mentioned that the local stockyards in the way

they are often kept are very unsanitary and certainly a nuisance as far

as bad smells are concerned as well as a menace to health.

=Shrinkage.=--The argument that there is less shrinkage in motor-hauled

hogs than in rail-hauled may be as a general rule true, but, according

to the Firestone Bulletin, will not net the farmer much, because buyers

base the price they are willing to pay on the dressed weight and not

the live weight. It is stated that the buyer from long experience is

able to estimate with considerable accuracy the weight at which a

hog will dress, and that he makes his price offer accordingly. The

percentage loss of weight in dressing is, of course, greater for thin

than for fat hogs. By grading the hogs into classes the buyer is

enabled to discount the price paid enough to take care of the “fill,”

which is said to range from 3 to 5 pounds per hundred weight. But

notwithstanding this the fact that the animals are fresher and livelier

must have some effect on the mind of the buyer. This may be the reason

for the rapid increase of hogs received by truck at the packing houses,

being as many as 6800 in a single day at Indianapolis.

=Dairying.=--The use to which the motor truck has been put in other

industries is fully as important. Many industries use several hundred

trucks in their work. Creameries have already been mentioned. The very

fact that trucks make regular trips along designated routes is an

invitation to the farmers to do more dairying. If John Jones can draw

from $50 to $75 a month from the creamery for a few hours’ work each

day, Henry Smith living on the next farm is anxious to do likewise.

Many good farmers find it to their advantage in the long run to allow

the women folks to have all the poultry and creamery money while the

men content themselves with the returns from grain, livestock, woodlot,

and hay land. Thus is created a division of labor which if carried out

to the limit will interest every member of the rural family in some

particular part of the farm work.

Without going into detail it may be said that from raising beef on the

natural grass of the plains region to the raising of stock for butter,

milk and cheese may seem a far cry, but with adequate markets and

dependable transportation this is rapidly coming to pass. Dairying has

already reached enormous proportions, and since it is estimated that

dairy products should constitute for the sake of health and economy

about one-fifth the average diet, it can easily be seen that dairying

always will be of great importance. Over $18,000,000 a year is now

received for milk and cream by Nebraska farmers, and Nebraska is not a

leader in this line. No doubt with better roads and better marketing

facilities that will be doubled or trebled in a few years.

=Poultry.=--We have just mentioned the Nebraska income from milk and

cream sold by the farmers. It may be surprising that the sum received

from the humble hen is nearly twice as much (given by state authorities

as $35,000,000 from the fowls and eggs produced each year).

But the only way this can be successful is by quick and adequate

markets. Dressed fowls and eggs are highly perishable products and

must be put into the cold storage warehouses at the earliest possible

moment. The motor car and the rural express, with their necessary

accompaniment good roads, make this possible and thus increase the

returns to the poultry industry as well as widen the territory over

which it will pay to keep fowls for commercial purposes.

As an illustration of the efficacy of the motor truck in the poultry

business this quotation from the _New York Times_, June 8, 1920, is

given:[193]

At 6 o’clock one morning a motor truck was loaded at Lancaster, Pa.,

with 18,000 eggs in crates, and 1000 chicks a day old, and started

for New York City, one hundred miles away, says the writer. At the

same time a similar shipment was sent to the consignee by railroad.

It took the truck twelve hours to reach New York. Four of the little

chicks were dead and nine eggs were broken when the goods were

delivered at the door of the consignee.

The train shipment was four days in reaching Jersey City. It took

another day to send a notice to the consignee that the shipment had

arrived. He was then compelled to send his own truck to Jersey City

for the shipment. When it reached his door thousands of the eggs had

been smashed and half the chicks were dead.

=Diversified Farming.=--Before leaving the farm it might be well to

say that easy marketing makes for diversified farming. All eggs are

not put in one basket, and in case of a failure or partial failure

in one crop the effect is not felt so much because there are others

from which returns will be received. Often drought will injure a wheat

crop but later rains will “make” the corn crop; or, earth soaked by

winter snows will mature a wheat crop while the corn may, due to a few

days of hot dry weather, be a partial failure. While chinch bugs may

get the wheat, it is possible to kill potato bugs by spraying. And

the year the potatoes die by blight may be excellent for alfalfa and

timothy. Diversified farming also allows of the rotation of crops,

thus conserving the fertility of the soil. And it all can be done over

a wide range from the market place because of good roads and easy

marketing facilities.

=Forestry.=--Realizing that the lumbering methods in vogue in this

country since its earliest settlement are most wasteful and are

destructive of the future usefulness of the timbered regions the United

States Government has set aside as forest reserves several hundred

thousand square miles. A forest crop is like any other crop. It must

grow from the seed and at maturity be harvested. Those trees that

have reached the point in life where years do not add materially to

the lumber content are marked for cutting. So that each year brings a

harvest. New trees are planted or allowed to spring up where the old

were cut so that there is a continuity. It is estimated that there yet

remains some 550,000,000 acres of forest land unsuited for agriculture.

The older lumbering methods meant that a company gained control of

a tract of timber land, sometimes they had not purchased it, it was

really government owned, and cut and slashed all the trees that were

upon it. No attempt was made to utilize any of the tree except the

bole; the limbs, containing thousands of cords of good wood, were left

with the slash to become the prey later of fierce fires, which often

got beyond the bounds of the cutting and destroyed millions of acres

of growing timber.[194] At a still earlier day the trees were cut so

that they would fall with their tops together, then they were burned in

order to clear the land for farming purposes. The only reason settlers

did not go to the great prairie lands of the Middle West where such

wanton destruction was unnecessary, was the lack of means for rapid

transportation, and communication.

Even the loggers and lumbermen were often isolated from all

civilization except their own party or neighboring parties of like

kind, with no roads but the trails of their own making. The highways

of commerce were the streams and rivers to which the logs were rolled

or snaked by oxen, mules, or horses, and down which they were floated

in the spring when the flow was sufficient to carry them. When they

reached the larger rivers they were often bound into rafts and

floated hundreds of miles to the mills for sawing, a cheap means of

transportation.

As the timber was cut off near the streams it was necessary to go

farther back for logs. Then developed the logging railways. Usually

narrow gauge lines with small locomotives which brought logs down

from the forests to the streams or to other lines of railway. But as

yet scientific means of lumbering had not been adopted. Not until

the government by making large forest reserves and by insisting that

loggers should clean up and burn the slashes in such a manner as not to

injure standing timber, and leave the ground in such a condition that

new trees of good varieties would spring up to take the places of those

cut, did there come any real advancement along these lines.

[Illustration:

A MILK TRUCK

Equipped with both Cans and Tank]

[Illustration:

A LUMBER LOG TRUCK

Used in the Northwest]

In order that the better methods of lumbering and forest management

could be successfully carried out it became necessary to supply roads

of such a character that transportation would not be unduly burdensome.

If the trees to be cut were to be selected hither and yon, getting the

logs and wood from the tops would be a much more expensive process than

the mere rolling of boles to the stream and leaving the slash to decay

or burn. The Government, realizing this, is now expending millions of

dollars on the forest roads making them usable not only by teams but by

trucks and automobiles.

The truck and trailer have rapidly made their way in the logging and

lumbering industries. By the use of the trailer and the Government-made

good roads the truck is able to haul logs of almost any length down

from the logging grounds. Trucks and tractors are utilized in the

forests, too, for snaking logs and pulling stumps. In places where

the grades are steep or on the interior where the roads have not yet

penetrated causeways have been built of timber; these usually being

cross-ties, and under trussing across draws, with lengthwise planks for

the wheels to run on and side planks or logs to keep the machine on

the track. Down this causeway by means of a two-wheeled semi-trailer,

immense logs are transported. As they are sometimes very steep, chains

on the wheels are necessary to prevent slipping and assist in braking.

The average load that a logging truck and trailer will haul is from

3000 to 5000 feet. Larger loads are hauled over snow on sleds, but

when distance and time are considered the truck is claimed to be more

efficient. F. W. Fenn states that a lumber camp truck to be efficient

“must have maximum traction, ample clearance, and proper service and

care and be stout enough and strong enough to stand the severest

strains.”[195] He further claims that the truck is replacing the

older means of transportation, dragging by horses and oxen, skidding

down mountain sides, rafting upon rivers, not because it is cheaper

but because the great stands of timber are gradually decreasing and

the modern method of cutting only properly developed trees is coming

into vogue. “Thus the logging industry has developed from one of

independence to almost total dependence upon improved transportation

facilities, with its consequent problems and expense.”

The hauling of logs down to the water edge by trucks upon natural earth

roads and upon specially prepared skidways is said to be cheaper than

the narrow-gauge railways formerly in use in the state of Washington.

One of the types of trailers worked out has four wheels, 44 inches in

diameter for the front and 46 for the rear with a 10-inch tread all

around. The trailer is fastened to the truck by a long pipe coupling.

The most satisfactory trailer, according to Fenn, is the two-wheeled

rubber-tired with wheels 40 to 44 inches in diameter. Roads which

theoretically require steel tires for ironing out ruts would better be

planked or otherwise hard surfaced.

Proper attention and routing will greatly prolong the life of the

truck. A longer smoother road is rather to be preferred to a short

rough one. The depreciation of the truck is figured on a basis of

100,000 miles as its minimum life.

=Other Uses of the Truck.=--But the use of the truck in the lumbering

industries is not limited to logging. About the saw mills it is used

for getting the logs to the saw and taking the sawed lumber away. And

at yards, all over the country, for taking the lumber from the railroad

tracks to the storage piles and for delivering it to customers. Special

loading devices save much time. A gantry or other type of crane will

pick up and handle an entire load of lumber at one time.

=Amos Log Loader.=--The Amos log loader is described as an efficient

loading machine in which a friction drive takes power directly from the

drive shaft of the motor truck and by means of a worm gear transmits

it to a long winding shaft, or small diameter drum, which extends the

length of the truck bed, being mounted parallel to it just under the

bed. Loading chains are attached to this drum either at the ends or

middle as the driver wishes. The movement is regulated by means of a

lever just over the truck step. By a small movement of his foot the

driver has control of the friction drive while his hands are free to

operate the engine. He can raise or lower the log or stop it at any

point. Stopping it if desired so he can leave his position to make

needed adjustments of the log, chains, or skids. The small diameter

of the winding drum insures steady strong pull. It may also be used

for skidding logs into position for loading. It is claimed the truck

driver soon becomes very expert as he realizes the possibilities of the

loading device. After the logs are loaded the loading chains are used

to bind them to the truck.

=In the Yards.=--After the logs are sawed the lumber is stacked up in

yards either at the point of sawing or elsewhere. It must be hauled

to the shipment point and from the cars to the yards. Trucks are

applicable for all these purposes. When it comes to delivering the

lumber to the consumer a wagon known as a dolly is of great assistance

for collecting materials to load on the delivery truck. Most retail

yards now deliver their lumber by truck even to a distance of 15 or 20

miles. When an order for mixed grades, sizes, or kinds of materials

is received, a light wagon or cart having a dolly upside down for

its floor, the whole known as a “dolly,” is used in the loading. The

dolly has a roller placed cross-ways of the wagon bed and the lumber

is piled directly upon it, care being taken that some long pieces are

used for the bottom of the load. The dolly is pushed by hand from

place to place in the yard until the order has been filled with the

various pieces desired. The truck, which may be out during the time

the selection is being made, is backed up to the end of the dolly, the

floor of the truck body passing under the lower boards; then by turning

the cross roller with a crank the whole load is conveyed to the truck.

To facilitate the action another roller is placed in the floor of the

truck near its rear end. Both rollers may be turned at the same time.

The dolly may have two or four wheels.

A short truck is often arranged for a semi-trailer which may be loaded

in a manner similar to the dolly. With two or three of these trailers

a busy yard will keep the truck and driver on the road practically all

the time at a considerable saving in expense over waiting time if the

lumber is loaded directly upon the truck.