GOOD ROADS AND BAD.

Bush Advocate, Volume XXI, Issue 131, 2 December 1908, Page 2

GOOD ROADS AND BAD.

m, r Tho recent International Road Congress in Paris was responsible for some remarkable statements about the economic importance •of good roads, and the destructive effect of the motor vehicle's wheel. Ono expert ' declared that at the beginning of the nineteenth century tho ' roads of France were in such a condition that three horses were required to do tlio work now done by two, consequently if the roads wero neglected to-day, more motive power would be required, and the expenditure this would entail was estimated at £12,000,000. The roads now. cost over £8,000,000 to maintain, and the differenco between this and £12,000,000 would have to be,- added to the cost of living. The same expert also gave an interesting explanation of tho effect of a motor car's wheel on a road. After a race roads had been observed to show all the effects of very vigorous sweeping. The road had been laid bare, the joints opened, the binding removed, and loose stones could be easily removed from their places. Every turn of the wheel tends to throw behind it some of the material of the road. Instances were given .of the off cot of the heavy motor vehicles employed by the sugar refinery of Say, in Paris, which , commenced using vehicles weighing 20 tons to convey goods to and from the station to the factory and stores. Eight of these mado about 50 journeys a day, and in 21 days the Rue Tolbiac and several other streets were practically ruined. The paving stones were scaled on their faces and split through, and were gradually being reduced to powder. In this respect, owing to the different way in which the wheels aro mounted, heavy motor waggons are far more destructive than horses. On the other hand, the difference to a motorist's pocket between a good road and a bad one is very great. An English delegate declared the difference in tho effect on tyres between a good road and even a middling road to be 100 per cent. That is to say, if a man can travel 2000 miles at a cost of £40 per pair of tyres, he can do twice the mileage for the same amount on a perfect road. The same gentleman said that no motorist dared tell his wife how much he spent on tyres.