Editorials

ARIZONA HIGHWAYS

Published in the Interest of Good Roads by the ARIZONA HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT

CIVILIZATION FOLLOWS THE IMPROVED HIGHWAY

R. C. STANFORD, Governor of Arizona ARIZONA STATE HIGHWAY COMMISSION SHELTON G. DOWELL, E. C. SEALE, Chairman, Douglas Commissioner, Prescott J. W. ANGLE, JACOB BARTH, Vice-Chairman, Tucson Commissioner, St. Johns C. E. ADDAMS, C. C. JARRETT, Commissioner, Phoenix Secretary, Mesa A. R. LYNCH, Assistant Attorney General, Special Counsel SID SMYTH. GENERAL OFFICE T. S. O'CONNELL, State Highway Engineer Deputy State Engineer D. B. HUTCHINS, Vehicle Superintendent R. A. HOFFMAN, Bridge Engineer E. V. MILLER, Engineer of Plans J. W. POWERS. Engineer of Materials. W. L. CARPENTER, Superintendent of Equipment SWAN A. ERICKSON, Engineer of Certification J. R. VAN HORN, Manager, State-Wide Planning Survey.

J. S. MILLS, Engineer of Estimates. H. C. HATCHER, Statistical Engineer W. M. MURRAY, Superintendent of Stores M. L. WHEELER, Chief Accountant C. R. MEDOWELL, Patrol Superintendent A. C. SIEBOTH. Right-of-Way Agent W. F. FRERICKS, Purchasing Agent GEORGE B. SHAFFER, District Engineer District No. 1 F. N. GRANT, District Engineer District No. 2 FIELD ENGINEERS R. C. PERKINS, District Engineer District No. 3 W. R. HUTCHINS, District Engineer District No. 4 PERCY JONES Chief Locating Engineer

HIGHWAY INDUSTRY FAR-REACHING

Few forms of construction activity give work to as many men, for the same amount of money spent, as road building and maintenance. More than 75 per cent of the money spent for roads finally goes to labor. Not only does the actual work provide employment on each project started, but it is estimated that for every worker on the roads, two men are kept busy furnishing materials and equipment.

A recent estimate of all available data shows that 5,065,000 persons in the United States are employed directly or indirectly in the many phases of highway transportation. This figure represents 12 per cent of all persons gainfully employed. To bring the present major highway system to a point where they will provide safe travel for today's traffic with its speed and volume, to provide extensions of existing systems where traffic justifies, and to develop the secondary system consistent with traffic needs in an economical and sound manner will continue to furnish employment to these millions of workers and will provide employment to others.

Modernizing existing highways to make them safe for today's volume and speed of travel consists of elimination of sharp curves and dangerous grades, widening of highways, super-elevation of curves with widening where necessary, increasing sight distances, and replacement of narrow bridges with travelway at least as wide as the roadway.

Most of the large metropolitan areas are faced with the problem of building or improving arterial and bypass highways and eliminating grade crossings.

Of the 3,040.000 miles of rural highways in the country, only 165,000 miles have been improved with high-type surfacing; an additional 735,000 miles have been improved with the lower types. This leaves about 2,000,000 miles of rural roads which have received no improvement other than the hand-method, make-shift type of work that is done by individuals and communities directly concerned. This unimproved mileage is being reduced by less than 2 per cent annually.

Large quantities of materials requiring a large number of employes in their manufacture and distribution are used annually in highway construction. 76,000,000 tons of crushed stone or nearly half of that produced by commercial quarries, and 41,000,000 tons of the commercial production of sand are used for building highways. Road construction also consumes 60,000,000 tons of gravel or nearly half of the commercial output. Of the 127,000,000 barrels of cement shipped, 70,000,000 barrels are used for road-building operations. The 200,000,000 gallons of road tar consumed represents a large percentage of the annual tar production. About 25 per cent more paving brick was used in highways in 1936 than in 1935.

Asphalts and asphaltic oils used in highway work amount to 50 per cent of the total annual production of 5,000,000 tons. About 15 per cent of the total tonnage moved by railways consists of road-building materials and machinery. The annual expenditure for road-building machinery is around $50,000,000.

Employment in a variety of industries, trades, crafts, services and occupations is contingent upon the construction and

OUR COVER PICTURE

"Where no man goes today" would be an appropriate title for our cover picture. The scene is on the aspen-clad slope of the San Francisco Peaks in Coconino county, now wrapped in winter's mantle. Photo by Norman G. Wallace.

THE TRAFFIC SQUATTER

He believes in squat-ter's rights and once he gets settled in the groove of the unpaved country road he sticks to the finish. The other driver, he figures, will always move over-in which case he won't have to. He assumes that no motorist will be silly enough to crash into him head-on-in which assumption he is altogether correct. He is just another road hog; in his case it's whole hog or none. He'd look nice in the pen with the pigs, but unfortunately his presence in such an environment would quickly arouse squeals of protest from self-respecting porkers.