Note 3 — Chapter XVIII · Logistics

The rehabilitation of roads presented problems as vexatious as those in airfield construction. In southern Leyte Valley, the road that ran from Dulag through Burauen to Dagami soon became impassable for about two miles on each side of Burauen. This section of the road was completely rebuilt by dumping approximately three feet of gravel over it. The remainder of the road was kept open most of the time by permitting only one-way traffic. The other roads were just as bad. After heavy rains the road in the Army Service Command area was frequently under at least two feet of water. The streets in Tacloban disintegrated so rapidly that much engineer effort was required to keep them open. Such maintenance was necessary to assure continued operation of the many supply and administrative facilities located in the city.3 The roads on the west coast were, if possible, even worse. Upkeep of the roads in general required a “profligate expenditure of engineer troops.” It was found that a battalion could accomplish no more in a month than a platoon could have carried out in a week under good weather conditions. The roads required a rock or gravel foundation one to three feet thick, whereas a road-metal surface of three to four inches on an earth base was normally adequate. Since priority was given to work on the principal roads and airfields, the construction of access roads, as well as hardstands for hospitals, depots, and other needed installations was greatly delayed. In this connection General Krueger stated: “This, in turn, greatly affected the supply situation, including construction materials, by lack of access to the depots, lack of storage space into which to discharge ships, and lack of facilities and spare parts to permit repair and servicing of engineer heavy equipment as well as other critical transportation and combat vehicles.”4