But best of all, it fairly compensates the contractor as well as allows the contract administrators the ease of ordering additional traffic control devices or services without the hassle of arguing with the contractor about what was bid in the lump sum. The traveling public will certainly be the overall winner. Surveillance Iowa also reports that they are using 24-hour surveillance and emergency services as contract requirements on critical Interstate projects. If the oil and chemical industries operated their oil refineries and chemical plants the way the street and highway system is operated, they would have long ago been blown off this earth along with the surrounding communities. Many work zones have only vague contract requirements concerning what type of and how often surveillance is needed.
Statistics show that work zone dangers are greatest at night.
It is also commonly known that injuries and deaths occur on the weekends in the early morning hours when the bars close. Therefore, nighttime and weekends should be when work zone surveillance is most vigilant. Instead, there appears to be little nighttime surveillance and construction projects are often abandoned on Friday afternoon and the contractor's personnel do not reappear until Monday morning. So when the traffic control is knocked down or vandalized, as can often occur in urbanized areas, there will probably be no remedy until Monday morning. The safe operation of work zones during all hours of the day and week is vital.