File:Annual report of the Massachusetts Highway Commission (1912) (14756424732).jpg

Identifier: annualreportofma1912mass (find matches)
Title: Annual report of the Massachusetts Highway Commission
Year: 1893 (1890s)
Authors: Massachusetts. Highway Commission
Subjects: Roads Highway law Automobiles Telephone Telegraph
Publisher: Boston, : Wright & Potter Printing Co., state printers
Contributing Library: UMass Amherst Libraries
Digitizing Sponsor: Boston Library Consortium Member Libraries

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Text Appearing Before Image:
he traffic census showed that in the last three years the travelon the State highways increased over 40 per cent, and the auto-mobile travel over 121 per cent. In some places there were 70to 75 motor trucks a day. This traffic will in the future require the resurfacing of manymiles of road with some more permanent material than water-bound macadam, and undoubtedly many miles will require recon-struction at a large expense, as the upper 3 inches, at least, shouldconsist of some bituminous macadam. It is probable that with this increase in travel many cornerswill require widening, and that, wherever possible, the presentmacadam should be widened from 15 to 18 feet on all the mainthrough lines. It is absolutely necessary to-day to apply some form of dust-layer or bituminous binder to macadam roads, either by a sur-face application or by incorporating it with the upper 3 inches ofbroken stone. If this is not done the roads will shortly be de-stroyed by the high-speed motor vehicle travel.
Text Appearing After Image:
No. 54.) BRIDGES AND CULVERTS. 17 Bituminous Materials used. As the commission has previously stated, the increasing auto-mobile travel makes it absolutely essential that the roadways onall main through routes should be treated with some bituminousbinder to prevent the roads from raveling. The application ofsuch binders under pressure has been found to produce moreuniform results than were formerly secured by the so-called grav-ity method. Something over 2,000,000 gallons of bituminous material wereused on over 280 miles of State highways in 1912, including morethan 21 miles of road constructed or resurfaced. At the presenttime, of the 920 miles of State highway laid out, nearly 730 mileshave been treated with some bituminous material, either in con-struction or maintenance. Condition of State Highways. While it is true that many miles of State highways need recon-struction with a more permanent surface, it is also true that theState highways are in better condition than they w^ere th

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