Arizona republican., 1913-11-27
SPECIFICATIONS MEAN
 BETTER SIDEWALKS
City Engineer HoInquist Tells of Benefits of New Method of
 Construction

l In order to clear up the false i'm 1 rressions regarding the sidewalk l specifications recently drafted by the 1 city engineers department, City En- gineer F. R. Holmquist yesterday submitted the following statement to The Republican, enclosing the letter l from M. l.. VieuX OF the same sub 1 ject. The communication is gladly published for the information of all l taxpayers interested now in the con struction of sidewalks.
 Because of a prevailing opinion among property owners in the city of Phoenix that sidewalks built ac- COrding to the new specifications for the city of Phoenix will be very eX- Hcnsive, the city council has author ized me, as city engineer, to have constructed d sidewalk on the east side Of the city hall plaza to be done according to these specifications. and hy force account to find out as near Gs possible what the cost of such sidewalks will be The new specifi- cations are believed to be decided improvement over the old and in sPectOrs are now provided by the city to see that the specifications are en-
 
 sured of the best quality of side walks and will also have the assur- ance that they ale built according to city regulations.
 We are now keeping cost data or all sidewalk work which is being done and these records have con vinced me that sidewalks built ac- Cording to these specifications are but little, if any. more expensive than those built according to the old spec ifications provided the old specified tiGns were followed.
 After our sample piece of walk has been built, the information re- garding it's cost will be made public end the property owners will be able to get reliable data concerning the cost of such work
 M. l.. VieuX has just completed lob of sidewalk on the west side Of Central avenue extending from Roosevelt street south 15O feet and n response to request from me as to the cost of this walk. he sent me the following letter. This walk was built under rigid inspection and is representative of thie type of walk
 "F. N. HOLMQUIST.
 City Engineer"
 Phoenix. Arizona, Nov. PC. I913 MT. Fred \. Holmquist.
 City Engineer. City of Phoenix
 Phoenix, Ariz.
 Dear Sir: Bearing in mind the recent specifications approved b. yourself in regard to the laying of cement sidewalks within the corpor- ate boundaries of the city Of Phoe- uIN. I have laid 150 feet linear. six feet in width. of such cement side walk, and in doing so conformeI strictly with the said new specified plan as drawn up and approved b. you.
 T beg to report, after a thorough and rigid test under my personal supervision. that such cement walks can be constructed at a cost of 13I. ure l stand ready to accept any and all contracts for the laying of said cement sidewalks.
 'I might mention in this cOnncc- ton that the plans and specifications G@ drawn up and approved, if com piled with shall give to the City of Phoenix the best grade of sidewalks obtainable al any figure. and mucn superior to any so far constructed therein. You are to be commented fer your action in this direction It is a step in the right direction. and fully consistent with all previous acts Of your administration.
 Very truly yours,
 M. l.. VIEUX
 Box 192. City"