The Bridgeport evening farmer., 1914-02-11

Hartford Conn, Feb. IA plea. for
 a broader conception of the purposes
 of the state highway department by the citizens of the state was made by State Highway Connmissioner Charles J. Bennett today in addressing the Connecticut Society of Civil Engineers at it's second days session. The com
 missioner said that this conception of the subject should begin at once. It should be the idea of a state highway system to benefit, first. the state as whole and through thic the individual .component parts thereuf.
 The general idea of the public,
 said MT. Bennett, is that the high purpose Of developdng roads in difrer- ent towns with the view rather to the benefit of the town system of high ways than of a state system.'
 Benefit To Every One
 MT Bennett said that road develop ment is of vital importance to the state itself. To this end the highway department has been developed toes stablish asgeneral system Of highways 50 that, link by link. all parts of the state may be served with the greatest benedt to the greatest number Of peo-s pie. Road appropriations are made,
 first, for trunk lines, and second, for state aid roads. The law requires that all trunk highways shall be construct
 ed by the state alone The endeavor
 must be to connect these, highways SO as to secure as many continuous high ways as possible.
 State aid roads are to be built by the State with aid of the towns. The opera ton of this law is difficult, for each town. no matter how small a. portion of the money 1t may contrib ute to build the road, feels that it should have entire voice in the loca- ton of the road to be built MT. Ben nett said that, with rev exceptions, Eft is possible to convince the towns that the ultimate benefit to the state requires expenditure of money on cer- lstain roads which do not meet the towns approval. | MT Bennett described the organiza- ton of his department, namely: di- lsvision Of construction; division of re- pairs and division of accounts and lrecords. Each division is under a lshead who reports directly to the com ' snnissi oner. There is complete under Isstanding between the three depart
 naents, and information IS given to all departments through the medium of bulletins or notes issued by the com ! rnissioners These notes indicate the certain roads. the policy in certain
 towns and the points or expenditur kof all money.
 Work Is Systenatized
 Mir. Bennett detailed the ogga niza- ton of eachza division. For construc ton work under the deputy commIs- f sioner. the state is divided into eight
 divisions in which div1slona1 engineers
 make surveys and plans, supervise
 contract work and have charge of the inspectors. They make monthly re-
 ports The work of these division en- l gineers has broadened out the past
 year Practically no survey work has been done by outside engineers.
 When surveys were made by pri- vate engineers,s said HHr. Bennett,
 ssthere was a large amount Of slip fshod and poor work; plans which gave insufficient information for advertise
 ment and which we're incorrect in
 many instances When the man who makes the survey has to carry out 1 the work he will be more careful wi tn 1 his work and will g1ve information enough so that his estimates can be easily and correctly made.
 ..All the work Of hignways has been put on the unit system, that is, in stead of securing prices per foot for Iconstruction of roads, the work is now done by the unit, that is, cubic yard, square yard, ton, etc. The unit sys- Item has made it easier for the con | tractor to figure work; it also enables ! the engineer to modify lines or grades and to extend the work slightly with out making ngSSupplemenIary agreements
 changing the original specifications. Careful Inspection
 "A system of inspection is being built up whereby corps of inspec- tors is continuously employed.
 .sThe engineering department is or Eganized along engineering lines with monthly reports on progress and es- Climates Binder the repair division the state is divided into nine districts (which do not run on the same lines as l the engineering districts In this work
 it has been deemed wise to consider 1 the benefit of the wl1ofe state rather than the employment of local labor, and endeavor to build up system of repair gangs which shall be independ- ent of the local authorities and di- rectly under control Of the employees Of the highway department It is i'm possible to install any standard sys- | tenn of maintenance of all roads owing | to differing conditions.
 MT. Bennett said that the account ! ing department was the business side l of the department the bookkeeping system being modified 70 suit the con ditions of construction and nainte- nance of highways. On the first of l each month, a trial balance is made showing the exact condition of every contract, and the balance of moneys l for the departments and for contrac- l tons. Charts are also plotted to show