How much does a road cost?

[Henry]

From the looks of a general Googling, you could set the price at 1d20+6 million dollars per mile for four lane (heavy through traffic) type roads or 1d10+4 million dollars per mile for two lane (local traffic) type roads. Bridges should probably run about 1d3+3 million more per mile than their base road type for two lane or 1d6+6 million per mile for four lane.

The die roll is to determine the difficulty of the starting terrain, so if that's already decided, you could set that manually. You could also add modifiers for the Charisma and Wisdom of the person or people responsible for the project. And, of course, all of this is based on asphalt paved roads - brick roads would probably run about the same, dirt or gravel roads about 10% of the listed costs, and some royal nutbar might want streets of gold or some such, which I will leave to you to figure out.

As far as converting this to gold goes, and you're using PHB values, then $1 million = roughly 50,000 Gold, as close as I can tell.

While all these are a good starting point, I'd modify it as follows:

A typical medieval fantasy-style road is going to be much shoddier quality than a modern road. Even if said road is paved with cobblestones or brick, it will be cheaper simply because we build roads to last MUCH harsher environments than what a med-fantasy-style culture would have.

Inflation is also a factor. It would cost a fraction today to build the original Eisenhower Interstate system as it was when first constructed. Similarly, labor is cheaper the closer to a med-fantasy culture you go.

If a road cost 50,000 gold to build, there would be no roads except for the ones in the capital perhaps and even then much less of them. In med-fantasy, a typical "road" means cutting a smooth furrow and not letting grass grow on it at worst, and cobblestones at best.

EDIT: a web site on Roman roads

According to this, it was leveled (built in locations that drainage was accounted for), then paved with rock, then layered with sand, then topped off with pebbles or gravel, or sand if nothing else was handy.

 

[Hand of Evil]

While all these are a good starting point, I'd modify it as follows:

A typical medieval fantasy-style road is going to be much shoddier quality than a modern road. Even if said road is paved with cobblestones or brick, it will be cheaper simply because we build roads to last MUCH harsher environments than what a med-fantasy-style culture would have.

Inflation is also a factor. It would cost a fraction today to build the original Eisenhower Interstate system as it was when first constructed. Similarly, labor is cheaper the closer to a med-fantasy culture you go.

If a road cost 50,000 gold to build, there would be no roads except for the ones in the capital perhaps and even then much less of them. In med-fantasy, a typical "road" means cutting a smooth furrow and not letting grass grow on it at worst, and cobblestones at best.

EDIT: a web site on Roman roads

According to this, it was leveled (built in locations that drainage was accounted for), then paved with rock, then layered with sand, then topped off with pebbles or gravel, or sand if nothing else was handy.

You also have to note in the early days of the car there were a number of plank (wood) roads in the US.

 

[haakon1]

Making up answers is why Gary made us DM's

My rough, spur of the moment invention:
- Dirt Trail = free
- Graded Dirt Road, suitable for use in inclement weather = 500 gp per mile to create, 100 gp each spring to maintain
- Corderoy (split log) Road = 1000 gp per mile to create in forest terrain, 500 gp each spring to maintain
- Gravel Road = 2500 gp per mile to create in terrain with rocks available, 200 gp each spring to maintain
- Paving Stone Road, like Inca fitted stones or cobblestones = 4000 gp per mile to create in terrain with good stone quarries or ports (for ballast stones), requires skilled labor, 200 gp each spring to maintain
- Roman Road, with trench filled with gravel, capped with paving stones and good surveying = 6000 gp per mile, requires skilled labor, 100 gp each spring to maintain
- Wooden Bridge = 3000 gp, 300 gp each spring to maintain
- Stone Bridge = 15000 gp, 300 gp each spring to maintain

 

[lukelightning]

I agree, undead just can't handle most task but I see zombies as a lift and carry, simple command... they are effect at repetitive functions.

True. You could make a giant computer/math machine out of skeletons...each one holding a bit of data.

 

[jgbrowning]

True. You could make a giant computer/math machine out of skeletons...each one holding a bit of data.

This is an awesome idea. Awesome.

joe b.

 

[jgbrowning]

A typical medieval fantasy-style road is going to be much shoddier quality than a modern road. Even if said road is paved with cobblestones or brick, it will be cheaper simply because we build roads to last MUCH harsher environments than what a med-fantasy-style culture would have.

This is the case for a medieval road (which was almost always just a dirt road), but it's not so for a roman roads. Some roman roads are still in use today. No surprise, considering that roads could often been 1 meter thick or more.

I believe our modern roads are actually made to be fairly easy to tear up and build over because we're accounting for a continual change in need. Modern roads pale in durability to a roman highway.

Here's another page http://www.battleoffulford.org.uk/ev_roman_rd_constrct.htm Check out the section on the right from Vitruvius.

joe b.

 

[Jupp]

According to this site:

http://www.camelotintl.com/romans/technology.html

A roman road could cost up to 10'000 sesterces per mile (if that page says the truth).

And according to the footnote on this page:

http://www.agnostic.org/BIBLEE-14.htm#P428_184572

you can calculate the exchange rate to the dollar (Sesterce to Dollar =1:0.15something if me brain works correctly). I admit it's not a scientific approach, but comparing an economy of today with one of 2000 years ago is not something very precise anyway

As a comparison, the annual salary of a roman soldier was about 1'000 sesterces.

 

[Henry]

I was waitin' on ya to show up, Joe. Nothing like Joe "Magical Medieval" Browning to give some good info. Thank you!

And thanks to Jupp for the 1,000 sesterces figure! Now there's something that puts a fine head on it. I do know that roads apparently cost more to build than I thought.

 

[Torm]

I do know that roads apparently cost more to build than I thought.

Maybe not. If you translate that through from sesterces to dollars, it's about $1565 a mile. Cheap! Probably a lot of savings from the Romans using slave or indentured labor? Dunno. Anyway, using my admittedly rough guide of 1 Gold = $20 (based on the idea that a "common" meal would be about $6, and a "good" one $10), that's only a little over 78 Gold/mile. Like I said, cheap.

 

[Jupp]

Maybe not. If you translate that through from sesterces to dollars, it's about $1565 a mile. Cheap! Probably a lot of savings from the Romans using slave or indentured labor? Dunno. Anyway, using my admittedly rough guide of 1 Gold = $20 (based on the idea that a "common" meal would be about $6, and a "good" one $10), that's only a little over 78 Gold/mile. Like I said, cheap.

AFAIK all major roads that were used for the military (and that was the case for all those well built roads with several layers of stone, gravel, sand, whatever) were built by the military. Not to say that they didn't also use slaves to build them

Perhaps that was the reason that building those roads wasn't more expensive