Concrete Roads
and Their Construction
År: 1920
Serie: Concrete Series
Forlag: Concrete Publications Limited
Sted: London
Sider: 197
UDK: 625.8 Con-gl.
Being a Description of the concrete Roads in the United Kingdom, together with a Summary of the Experience in this Form of Construction gained in Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United States of America.
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CHAPTER V
THE GROWTH OF CONCRETE ROADS IN THE
UNITED STATES
AMERICAN ROADS AND THEIR DEVELOPMENT
UP TO 1920
At the close of the year 1909, there were six miles of concrete road
in all of the United States. At the close of 1919 there were 11,400
miles of concrete road. These mileage figures are based on the
actual yardage built, and since different roads are constructed of
different widths the usual road width of 18 ft. was used for the pur-
pose in hand. So the growth from practically zero to a mileage
that would span the continent from the Atlantic to the Pacific more
than three times shows how the popularity of these roads has in-
creased.
The study of the evolution of concrete roads cannot well be
carried on without at the same time taking note of the develop-
ment and use of the automobile. In 1909 there were 127,731
cars in the United States, whilst at the end of 1919 a total
of almost 8,000,000 was reached, with an annual production
of nearly 2,000,000 cars. It will readily be seen that the develop-
ment of concrete roads and that of the motor driven vehicle
have been side by side. Carrying the motor-car figures a little
further, it is found that in the United States there is one car
for every fourteen persons, and automobile manufacturers expect
production for 1920 to be greatly increased. Motor-cars demand
a smooth, rigid road. It was not so with roads when the horse
was the motive power. Horse-drawn travel compacts dirt and
gravel roads, while motor traffic disrupts these same roads. The
speed of trucks and automobiles is at least five times greater than
that of the wagon and surrey,* likewise the cost of driving intricate
and expensive motor vehicles is correspondingly more expensive
on poor roads.
It is particularly interesting, as we bear in mind that concrete
roads and automobiles have developed side by side, to notice another
fact. Detroit, Michigan, is the centre of the automobile industry,
* A four-wheeled pleasure carriage (commonly two-seated), somewhat like a
phaeton, but having a straight bottom.
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