Daily globe. [volume] (St. Paul, Minn.) 1878-1884, 1883-01-26

10 INC DOGEu VI 1uDAlC " OfkS anu OOIQ-
mon Council:
GENTLEMEN: I have the honor to here
with present my report for the year end
ing December 81, 1882:
The past year has been one of unusual
activity in every department under my
charge. Improvements have been made
of al kinds, and in every part of the city,
and it has taxed the resources of the Office
to the utmost to keep pace with your
acquisitions. While the amount OF work
is about double that of any previous year
[ believe that the quality Of the work has
been good, and that it has been done in ac-
cordance with the plans and specifications.
This is due, in d great measure, to the
rigid system OF inspection of work and
material which it has been my effort to es-
tablish and enforce, for [ believe that to
prepare plans and specifications for public
works and not to provide for their being
carried out is simply to offer premium
for bad work and dishonesty, and would
soon result in driving honest contractors
from the field of competition.
AS a general rule the contracts have
been finished closely to the contract time.
When from neglect on the part of the con-
tractor the contract time has been exceeded
the cost of engineering und inspection for
this time has been deducted from the con-
tract price, The season has been favor
able one for contract work, extending to
the latter part of November, when all work
was suspended except on sandrock sewers.
The streets at the close of the seasons
work were left in better condition than
ever before.
OFErc1. WORK
The large amount of Office work that has
passed through my hands has been under
the direct supervision Of Mr.. W. A. Som
ers, assistant city engineer. 1t would re-
quire personal inspection to understand
the amount of this work, and the labor re-
Quired. There have been received from
the board of public works 240 orders, and
from the city council direct 80 orders re-
curing reports, plans, specifications,
maps and profiles, besides large amount
of miscellaneous work for assessments,
city attorney, records and house number
ing.
Three hundred and seventy five esti-
mates have been made and allowed for
contract work.
Thirty street opening plans have
| been sent to the Board of Public Works.
One hundred and nine preliminary esti-
| mates have been made.
Forty-four and one-half miles of levels
| have been run.
Sixty-six contracts have been let.
The total area now embraced within the
city limits is about twenty square
miles-12, 800 acres, the quarter part of
which is laid out into additions. These
| additions and subdivisions now number
| 334, OF which eighty-two were recorded
| during the past year.
The total number of streets in the city
| is 365. l find several with duplicate
names, and in few instances two names for
the same street in the different additions.
The total length of these streets is 365
| miles, of which forty-six miles
were added during the year.
The total length of improved streets
(graded or paved; is about fifty miles, OF
which eighteen and half were finished
this year.
Total number of lots now plated, $4,000
approximately; of these 1890 were recor-
ded this year.
Exhibit No. gives list of the employees
of the Office during the year, and the
amount paid each, giving total of $13,-
29O92.
Exhibit No. 8 contains list of the in
spectors employed, and the amounts paid
each, at the rate of So per day, amounting
in all to $6,046.63.
STREET CONTRACTS.
I There have been forty-nine contracts in
| progress for street Improvements during
lie year, the cost of the finished work
...nounting to $253, 643.S2, and requiring in
cons ruction 1926 cubic yards of masonry,
"a, SOB square yards of cedar block paving,
14.8O9 square yards of limestone cutters,
at an average cost of about $1.25 per
square yard; 23,437 linear feet of stone
CURLING, $500 square yards of macadam.
1873, 700 feet board measure lumber, and the
moving of 655, $50 cubic yards of earth
work.
The cost of engineering for this amount
of work has been $3,246.02, or one and a
quarter per cent of the total cost.
The cost of inspection has been $2,423,
| or one per cent. of the total cost.
The work has been under the supervision
of II. H. Fuller, assistant engineer; and a
detailed statement of the cost and charac-
| ter of these Improvements will be found in
exhibit No. 1.
A majority of these Improvements were
grading contracts. The streets were put to
the established grade, the best material
found on the street being used for surfac-
ing.
Ashland, Beaumont, Concord, Kent, Eau
quier, Grand, University, etc., were OF this
class. The cost of the work varied from
fifteen to thirty-fve cents per cubic yard,
according to the nature of the material,
length of haul, and quantity of work. The
average price paid was about twenty cents
per cubic yard.
A second class of these Improvements
would include the graveled streets, of which
Tilton, Lafayette avenue, Westminster, and
Sixth streets are examples.
The surface of these streets was finished
with one foot of gravel, which makes an
excellent roadway for light traffic. The
difficulty of obtaining good gravel in sutfi-
cient quantity within reasonable haul of
the streets where it could be best used, limit
this class of work to few localities. The
cost of the gravel surfacing has been
about twenty-five cents per square yard.
A third class would comprise the streets
where macadam surfacing has been tried.
Some of the streets, where the trat1c was
light, the roadway was finished with six
inches of limerick, broken into pieces two
inches in diameter, and covered with an
inch OF gravel or loan. Forbes street and
Il