The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1915-07-29

signs, taking especial care in designing
them to suit the conditions. Typical de-
signs for bridges have also been prepared
in the office for general conditions and
copies are furnished upon request. When
ever practicable, the office has furnish
ed, if requested, an engineer to inspect
a bridge site for community, and in
most cases designs prepared by bridge
companies have been reviewed for the
benefit of local officials.
Occasionally a community plans to
build road of more or less experimental
nature, perhaps with distinct object in
view, such as securing dustless road.
This may be difficult, particularly if the
materials available are not of the best.
Theiofice of public roads has co-operated
in a number of such instances, upon the
request of the local authorities, bringing
into use not only its engineering knowl-
edge, but its knowledge of the use of
chemical dust layers.
The office receives large number of
requests each year for assistance in
solving isolated problems which have
proved too much for local officials, and
which may be peculiar only to the re-
spective localities. AS rule this work
does not involve supervision of actual
construction work, but includes short
assignments of an advisory nature, such
as the location of a road, selection of
the type best adapted to the people s
needs, and SO on, until it may be advis-
able for the county or other road district
to apply to the Office for the assignment
Of an engineer to act as consulting ex-
pert.
This work, as carried out by the en-
gineers of the office, has been especially
valuable for those road districts which
are about to spend large sum of money
on their roads, through bonds or other
wise. They wish to make sure they shall
secure the greatest value possible, and
with an office engineer in charge, they
secure thorough report on existing
conditions with recommendations for i'm
provement. The engineer must prepare
mapiof the district, study it carefully. to
learn where are the best available road
m aterials, if any, and determine which
roads through the district are most i'm
portant, and therefore to be improved
upon first. He must then provide for
the location of each road so as to secure
the best possible drainage and grade. In
short, when the engineers report is
completed, the county road officials have
practically exhaustive study of their
DAD question from map to construction
and maintenance costs, and from the
best method of handling bond-issue
funds to the report of tests on road
gravel found in some remote corner of
the district
A recent line OF work which has prov
ed very satisfactory and productive of
good results has been the assignment of
all engineer to superintend the county
road work in certain counties for speci-
fled lengths of time. The entire system
of roads is inspected regularly, and
recommendations for improvements in
methods not only of road construction
but of road management, are made to
county, township and even to State
authorities. Where the county authori-
ties have started construction work, the
Office representative is in direct charge
of the improvements and it is his duty to
secure such important improvements as
reduction in grades, elimination of dan
gerous curves and greater safety at rail-
road crossings, all advisable use of local
road materials, and permanent drain
age system.
In communities needing surveys, the
office is glad to render assistance by as
signing an engineer for the work when
requested to do SO by the road authori-
ties of community.
One service easily rendered the people
of any community by department rep
resentative, is to inform them that the
Office of public roads tests, free of
charge, any material which road build
ers may wish to use in their work; the
office will furnish instruction as to selec-
ton of shipment of samples, upon appli-
cation of any individual. The testing
laboratories of the Office are equipped
with machines which show, in fairly
practical way, how rock may be ex-
pected to wear in actual service upon
road, an important fact to know when
contractor may otherwise throw the
peoples money away on road whose
stone rapidly crumbles under traffic.
Tests can also be secured on cement,
concrete and on dust layers, such as
road oils and tars.
On account of the great increase of
bond issues for road construction since
1910, and the general failure OF local Of
ficials to make proper provision for main
tenance, there has been corresponding
increase in the demand upon this Office
for advice and assistance in preserving
the roads that have been improved. The
Office is, therefore, making a careful