DAMAGE TO ROADS

Sun (Auckland), Volume II, Issue 509, 12 November 1928, Page 11

DAMAGE TO ROADS

PROBLEMS IN MATAMATA What type of motor traffic does most damage to roads? This question is now exercising the minds of local body engineers as the result of a questionnaire sent out by the Public Works Department, following representations from the owners of heavy motor traffic for the abolition of the regulations which authorise local bodies to charge heavy traffic license fees. The Department particularly desired to know (1) whether the damage caused to roads by heavy vehicles was greater than that which would have been caused by a number of ordinary motor-cars using the same amount of petrol; (2) whether any heavier class of construction had been adopted than would have been adopted had there been no vehicles with a load weight in excess of three tons Replying to these questions the engineer, to the Matamata County Council, Mr. M. E. Fitzgerald, stated that to answer the first question accurately a large volume of facts supported by research was necessary. His conviction was that all cases examinated would be unfavourable to heavier individual loads. In other cases where maintenance costs were not increased by heavier vehicles it would be found that a higher first cost had been incurred. In regard to the section question the engineer held that averages would show that the larger the vehicle the greater the ton mileage obtained per gallon of petrol and therefore in using up a gallon of petrol the expenditure on the road wQuld increase with the increase in weight of the vehicle. Summing up, the opinion was expressed that full data would show conclusively that as a “single tax'* for the purpose of meeting road expenditure, a flat rate tax a gallon on fuel was not equitable in that the heavier vehicles did not pay their full share.