Bridges and Culverts.
—Many road accidents can be attributed to poor and poorly located bridges and culverts. Wooden bridges and culverts soon decay and become so weak that a heavy vehicle will break them down. Often culverts of the best type are not cared for as they should be or there is no abutment protection with the result that a freshet will wash under and about them so that they are real sources of danger. Frequently the damage is not visible to the driver and the first warning is when his vehicle goes down.
In order to shorten them and thus lessen the cost, bridges are often built straight across the stream or draw, but at a skew to the roadway, thus requiring a sudden turn to get on to them. Very frequently, too, bridges and culverts are built too narrow with no guard rails or markers leading up to them. Notwithstanding the fact that thorough bridging constitutes a considerable portion of the expense of road construction, the best plan is to put in substantial structures, wide as the traveled way, and straight with it, thus lessening a grave source of danger.