ROADING-PROBLEMS

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LXIII, Issue 19042, 16 June 1936, Page 11

ROADING-PROBLEMS

TRAFFIC DEMANDS

STRESSES ON HIGHWAYS

PROGRESS IN AUSTRALIA

"With increasing motor traftie, ■heavier stresses are being imposed on the roads, necessitating continual vigilance on the part of the. engineers to ensure that the highways are built up to. a standard capable oi ! carrying the increased traffic,and adapted to suit the-vehicles using them," statos Mr. W. T. U. McCormnck, chairman of the Victorian Country Roads: Board,Melbourne. ''This' is being done on economical, lines, arid the highways of to-day, constructed on the low type system, and strengthened from time to time as traffic demands, arc giving excellent results. With the increasing and ever-changing traffic conditions of- recent years, marked changes have been developed in thejmothods of con- , struction and maintenance."

In any comprehensive system of improving* rands.'.he.-points out, the first stop is the construction of the arterial and -trunk roads, and in this work good progress has been made, the major part of the declared State highways and'main roads: having been adequately surfaced for present requirements. With, !tho .development of traffic,: how;ever, many of these roads now require widening and strengthening from time to time,! arid by the: proeess Of.stage construction .which the board- has , adoptwl, i .roads.:, are:.-.being: built 1 o a standard capable, ofmeeting the. grow •ing.tranic.'demands. ■ A much .wider use of; mathematical and scientific.investigation iof road and bridge design problems, and 'the development of new methods have resulted in costs of struction and maintenance being largely reduced. "The-generally good condition of the State * highways -'throughout Victoria has led.many who frequently traverse them: to assume that the- bulk of the roads, have been constructed, and that the highways are examples of the condition - of the subsidiary or lateral roads. .Actually the State highways, which, form the--backbone of the' A ictprian: road system, constitute only a small proportion of the total rand mileage of the State, namely, 2.25 peri «ent. The. urgent necessity of providing- roads lending -from the- State highways to main roads to serve settlement and give improved means of . transporting -marketable produce Avas-stressed-by '-the* Victorian Country Boads!:Board in its last annual irepart.

WHERE NEW-ZEALAND SCORES .iWhilst: the .Australian main high.ways, as a -whole:;are;much ahead of those in -New/'Zealand, the fact, remains that :tht> rural roads of .the;'Dominion:, are, generally 'speaking;, in a better condition." This opinion, forued by. a; Herald representative,-during a recent visit to.Australia,.was cesantuicd by Mr.TL'E/Toogood, rhe..widl-.kno\vri Wellington civil -engineer, who rem fitly returned 'from the Commonwealth. Whilst, holding high admiration, as visitors must; do, for the. admirable work which was carried out on ;the State highways, he considered Jhe secondary roads of the 'Dominion in a .more favourable condition. Mr. A. E. dull, formerly M.P. for-Waipatva, and a prominent couuty authority, he recently noted great progress* [in arterial road construction South Wales and Queensland, but iho secondary .roads in Australia were not to be compared-with those in New Zealand.

"The striking .changes-.which have taken place in the character of motor vehicles, particularly in regard to tyre equipment, 'improved suspensionfi and springing, .and- body design," .-states Mri McCorttKiiCk, ''<*■ have been favourable ;to, v the. develop ment of.thei Jigh tor -.tjpc>?of. sealed road in Ifche. irnral. ureas of 'riierStstte. i.lt has'been found that roads ofHhisieltrss nre.x»pabloof.car.rying>'lfioG .vehicle?'per,.day,and.'that t.he •sjeiedfrion- of. various -.types, of '•const i tictioririn -accordance-- witu the volume of :traffic sound." - &U€OEBSr:OPcNEW SYSTEM

.'following.on ;the experimental work carried with by the, Yictpriau Ooiuntry :Raadst:Baarcr•during* H 133-34,.; a considerable amount-of isurface,treatnie.nt was completed•;• by, 1 the roadiinix ;..dr,ng seal 'i'.method.'. during ithe;..past : . year. Homo yearsiago and 'subse.quently;sealpfl with: bitumen,:! althqugliiiitti a sound condition- as-far ns,;i'ttuudations> were had become rough and -ip urgent: need ;oi':improvoment. Llßy th'e application of-iJherxoad-mix: drag seal method 240' ,and h remarkableimprovcmentin :thc riding qualities of tWpavement effected. The -application of : this process had: been made possible, and. proved highly cessful, by the Utilisation of equipment designed by .the board. • Eor a pavamen t »18ft. wide 'the cost, was approximately £3OO .per. mile. \Qwing to the progress in priming and,sealingt the highways;,3fl2 miles of which were treated during Iho past year, it was decided to insti-tute-more motor truck patrols to replace horse and dray patrols, with a view to effecting savings in the cost of maintenance, and making available funds for reconstructing additional sections. A number of men displaced by -.the new system were re-employed oil-road, works in other localities. P,y establishing.truck patrols an estimated saving ot" £24s■:per annum would be effected on one section of the Western highway alone. An anual saving «rf &506 in maintenance also had been made on a section of Prince's highway west, representing tin amount greater than the purchase price of the patrol truck. FALSE ECONOMY

Another interesting point emphasised by the Country Koads Board chairman is the necessity, for 'adequately maintaining roads. "Municipal councils generally;" he states, "are more alive to the importance .of adequate and systematic maintenance. They have realised the improvement effected where the sysiem of regular maintenance, has been adopted. I'mgineors 'have now awakened to the fact that orgauised methods are more economical than the spasmodic efforts practised by them in the past, and that a well maintained system of roads promotes economic utilisation of the roads. - : "That it is uneconomical and wasteful to effect extensive repairs after the road has been allowed to deteriorate over a lo.rig period is being gradually recognised. The resultant waste from these methods is well known to the board to far exceed the amount necessary to keep the road in good order by regular and organised maintenance. . It.has been proved beyond dojibtc-fchat pn vWMiauQUs,

maintenance, is profitable on every typo of road and that neglect of: maintenance is false economy," IMPROVING THE VISIBILITY ''

"Motorists generally are seized with the danger of driving at night on Intumen roads, especially during rain, when the visibility is very poor. This problem does not apply to New Zealand alone. It is-interesting,-there-fore, to find that measures have been adopted in Victoria to improve the visibility on ihese roads. "Bond-mix seals were originally developed in, order to reduce the roughness of iiuuiy.old macadam pavements without the necessity for costly resheating," remarks Mr. L. P. Lodor, 'chief engineer to the board. "Other advantages, however, have boeom'e apparent, and in many cases are id' more importance than the improving of the riding qualities. The non-skid nature of a road-mix seal was appreciated iu the early stages, and with the increase in touring speeds this property has developed considerable importance. "During the past wot winter, two Other advantages became apparent. The more important of these advantages was that of night time visibility. On wet nights the ordinary 'slick' bituminous seal coat has very poor visibility indeed. With the roadmix seal, however, exposing a surface of angular fragments to the rays of: headlights, the surface appears a light, grey in colour instead of black, and the' visibility of the piivcnieln is markedly increased. "The second point, while not, of considerable importance, is worthy of mention, and that is tho 'reduction in noise when travelling over a road-mix seal compared to the constant hissing noise when travelling on a wet slick bituminous surface.

"Some experiments 'carried out by the Victorian Country Roads Board throe yours ago have indicated that tar bitumen mixtures, consisting of (50 per cent.of bitumen with 40 per cent of tar pitch retain reasonable ductility as a,, surface seal, and it is proposed next season to use this material for a large percentage of the first seal work Oft; the. .lieayier.'pa.Y.emeht3.''