Norwich bulletin., 1915-03-06

missioner Charles J. Bennett was Sub- mitted by Governor Holcomb to the general assembly today. In this report there is both general and specific re- views of highway construction ana road maintenance from the time MT. Bennett took up the duties of the of- flee, as well as statements of the cost of highways and the expenditures of line highways, the introduction of so- called permanent pavements and in aid to towns for their local roads.
 Organization Under Three Heads.
 The department is organized under three heads: Construction of high ways, repairs of highways, accounting and records. The officials in charge are known as the deputy highway commissioner in charge of construc- ton; superintendent of repairs in charge of repairs, and a chief clerk in charge of accounting and records. These men are practically of equal au- thority except that the deputy com missioner. acts for the commissioner in his absence or disability. The con- struction department has charge of all new highways alone and the work done in each section is in charge Of division engineers as provided by law The state at present is divided into seven parts each under a division en- gineer who has complete charge of the construction of highways in his particular district. These division en- gineerS report directly to the deputy commissioner and through him to the commissioner. All construction work as has been done in the past two years; that is, instead of securing the prices per foot for construction of roads regardless of the amount of cut and fill the work Is now done and paid for by the cubic yard, square yard ,etc, reeulting in increased facility in hand ling engineering work.
 Repairs and Maintenance.
 Repairs or maintenance is un- questionably the most important fea- ture of the departments work. It is assumed that efficient work can only be gained by sufficient supervision. Every road must have periodic and careful maintenance. With increased weights of vehicles and speed of op- eration, the construction of cheaper types of roads is fast becoming mad viSable on account of the high cost of maintenance. Under the Superintend- ent of repairs the state is divided into nine districts, each in charge of a su- pervisor. These districts do not CO., cause the construction work is gener- ally carried on where roads are not al- ready built.
 The supervisors of repairs employ foremen and laborers and carry on all repairs, including surface oiling, by force account It has been impossi- ble so far, to build up any standard system of maintenance for roads. That is, it is impossible to determine that a patrol system is better than the sec tion gang system, or vice versa Each problem of repairs must be consider ed by itself.
 As to accounts and records, the success of the highway department depends on the simplicity and con- pleteness of its accounting system. Ap- propriations made by the legislature can be considered the capital stock does business. These appropriations should in no case be exceeded The accounting system has proven itself to be a success. Briefly, it is a double entry bookkeeping system and each contract is at once entered as a charge against the appropriation.
 Commissioner Bennett's report takes up. the matter of appropriations in an explanatory way, showing the divisions made by the legislature.
 Permanent Pavements For Heavy
 Travel.
 In the general conclusions 1t is pointed out that for roads over which travel is heavy the principal of so- called permanent pavements should be adhered to. All those pavements should be built with concrete founda- tions. It does not seem to the depart ment that the concrete road is the ab- solute perfection of road surfaces claim ed, but there does seem to be a req sonable use for the concrete road for certain term of years.
 Types For Light Travel.
 For roads of lighter travel with a preponderance of automobiles, the use of bitumonous- bound native stone road is recommended. For roads sub jected to light travel, mixed in it's character, the construction of gravel or native stone macadam is recom- mended. Probably the most econom- fca1 and successful type of road which can be built is the gravel road, pro- Vlded source of supply is available. A gravel road properly constructed of suitable material is a very success full and economical type and cheaply maintained and pleasant and agreeable to travel. When properly treated with heavy cost of crude asphaltic oil the results are good.
 Seven Main Lines. The trunk line system of Connecti- cut is @ layout of main roads amount ing to about 1920. Of this about 60 per cent. are already constructed and in the apportionment of the last two ap- propriations for trunk lines the money was uSed to complete, so far as pos sible-seven roads which were con- sidered to be main routes of the state. The seven lines are:
 First-The road from New York to Westerly, along Long Island sound. Second-New Haven to Springfield via Meriden and Hartford. Third-Stratford to Winsted, up the Housatonic and Naugatuck valleys. Fourth-New London to Thompson, passing through the Freich River val ley.
 Fffth-Danbury, through Waterbury, Hartford, Manchester. Willimantic, Putnam and thence to the Rhode Is- land line.
 Norfolk, through Winsted and Hart ford, adjoining the road to the east above mentioned.
 Seventh-Road from Saybrook to Hartford and thence branching east and west adjoining the two roads men | toned above.
 The report says that in almost every instance where the state has construct ed highways, the improvement has been marked. Many roads additionally have been built for the purpose of closing gaps in trunk lines or for the purpose of elimination of exceedingly bad road conditions.
 Danger from Grade Crossings. No report would be comDIete with