The San Francisco call., 1898-08-13
A Bald Effort to Pay Favorite
 Contractors Three Prices :.=. for Repairs.
LoWest Responsible Bidder Gently Turned **.:: Down for Not Being on the Inside >#.".. Track.

streets for a period of two years. The same clause existed In these speciaca- tions as in the former ones, making the commtttee the judge of the amount oi work to be performed by the contractor
 in repairing and maintaining streets fol a fixed sum of money. The bidder was also compelled to be the owner of a plant at the time of presenting his bid. More 1 over he was to do all of the repavine within ninety days to the full satisfaction Of the committee, Superintendent Am | brose and Expert Sullivan. 1 having discovered that the blocks and crossings already designated should be repaved, the work covering altogether 294 600 square feet.
 Following in the footsteps of MT. Sullf-
 van, so to speak, The Call has had an experienced man carefully go over the ground and make an estimate of the ac- tual repaVing needed. It was discovered that there were very few blocks, or cross i ings, where 1t was necessary to remove all material. Some of the paving was bad Other portions were cracked somewhat
 but by no means so badly as to need re- moval, the cracks not extending through to the rock base. Large sections In other localities exhibited scarcely any flaws, be- ing good for years of service.
 Supervisors Smith and Lackman, who also looked into the matter, took similar view.
 When the bids were opened 1t was found
 that the City Street Improvement Com
 pany had bid $S7,7g7 for the work com plete and that J. H. Bingham had bid $23,- UOO TOT the TGpdlEluB duu Sz2 CSlALS PSA square foot for the repaving necessary with guarantee of five years on all re- paving.
 that Bingham's s bid was the lowest, as he offered to do all of the repair work for $2S 900 and the city need not do much repaving under his s12 cent proposition, as the streets did not need 1t. Of course, ii the whole of the streets mentioned 1n the specifications were relaid, then Bing- hams bid would rise to the high figure oi | $50, ,930
 Supervisor Britt contended valtantly for
 the City Street Improvement Company 1 favoring their bid. The matter Is still l hanging fire, but will come before the 1 RoaTd Of Supervisors next Monday after noon.
 | It has been suggested that one reason
 the street committee IS so anxious t1aetl -e. e | laid at this time is to remove the eVf' l dences of former bad contract work | The shiftless manner in which some ol 1 against the use of bitumen in other cities | which had sent inspection committees l here to see how the pavements looked l Tn this way the people working the pltu- men industry were hurt, so were the l railroads that made money by hauling | it. What Is more natural than that | interested parties should have used their l eloquence on the committee, or the street expert to have these unsightly evidences
 The following table will show the quan- tity of work actually necessary to be done on streets, which have been scheduled Tor complete or partial repavng:
 Ellis street, Fillmore to Steiner, repairs nec-
 7F'It Franklin. California to Sacramento 125 Fra Franklin Sacramento to Clay. 1s5 square feet.
 Franklin. Clay to Washington, l15 square rect
 Franklin and Washington crossing none.
 Franklin, Washington to Jackson 1Z5 square
 Washington and Cough crossing, IS square feet. ,, ,ooo .
 Fulton, Frederick to Baker. 1000 square feet.
 Scott Oak to Page. 250O square feet
 Scott and Page crossing, 800 square feet
 Scott Page to Haight, 800 square feet
 Hagh HHaighh' Pierca to Steiner, 155 square feet
 Haght and Steiner crossing In good condi- Steiner. Hayes to Fell. poor material. but California and sansome crossing, repairs nec-
 California and Battery crossing repairs nee essary, 2500 square feet. ,,-
 California and Front crossing. basalt blocks
 Golden Gate avenue, from Franklin to La gllna and Golden Gate avenue from Scott to Devisadero need 10000 square feet of repaying.
 Bartlett Twenty-fourth to Twenty-stXth, 31. .968 square feet Of repaving. -, oo,,
 Capp and Twenty fourth, street crossing, 364C square feet of repaving-
 Third, Mission to Howard. 5000 square feet
 of repairs.
 
 feet. At the price which the represe enta- tive of the City Street Improvement Com pany said before the committee was the | basis of their bid-7 cents per foot-the work of repaving necessary ought to cost S673S 48 as against $20, ,5S0 for the 294, ,00C feet advertised, in the specifications. The records show that for three years i the average cost of all repairs, at the 1 price of 12 cents per square foot, has been ] SS382 per year for all bituminiZed work. ! Yet the street committee recommends the 1 acceptance of the City Street Improve
 ment Companys bid of s37, ,797, which large ] amount of money will do nothing toward 1 repaving the worst blocks in the city | which have been accepted and yet re- | main as an eyesore and a disgrace. Supervisor Sheehan made the statement 1 at the meeting of the street committee | that MT. King, superintendent of the ] Merchants Association, had recommend i ed the repaving of all the streets men. | tioned in the specifications. MT. King i informs The Call that neither he, nor the i Merchants Association. have taken any action in the matter. They are interested just now in securing the removal of the
 unsightly cobble stones.
 It seems hardly possible, in view of the light now thrown upon the matter that the Supervisors will find 1t neces- sary flor the cfty's interests" to make an
 award until better stipulations are pro- Vided.