Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1915-01-14
HIGHWAY COMNIS
SIONERS REPORT

Wood County.
Total cost Of stSate road construction
calendar year 1914 $66, ,l0L5s
Probable cost Of survey charged tc
and paid for by Wood county 1900
Cost of road work superv Used, not
paid fer by county and state
...... =. .... 49,. -. I,5I9.48
Cost Of county maint enance 1913
Machinery depreciation
lest1-ate 100000
Total cost Of state bridge consuuc-
uon, calendar year 1914 ..II.8y5.59
Total Expenditures Supervised
..... =. -. ..$8l, 1888
SUPERVISION COST
County Highway Commissioner
Salary ...... 10000
SALARY Of Assistants, Bookkeepers,
slanographers, CIerps, etc 289. 90
Travelling Expenses OF County High
way Commissioner and Assistants,
including Automobile Depreciation
.. $3.50
Other items such as telephone, light
books, etc, if charged to county
highway commissioners account.
q. !. . . 3y9.61
TouaI cost oil county supervision OF
Tie work e. ~ $2,2I6.11
-rr+,1 -.yr+ OF -,~,r,,, +v- -,,-,.,,,r-; r,: ~ &
27G.7I, divided by the total cost Of
construction $81 ,579.83, equals
.O2.75-1OO per cent as the cost Of
county supervision
Louis Amunds0n,
County Highway Commissioner.
A circular letter ON December 10,
1914, from the Wisconsin Highway
Commission contains the following an
is signed by the State Highway En-
slneer, Mr. A. r. Hrst.
another point comes up. We
nave all been quite bitterly attack
ed as TO the cost OF state and couu-
~ supervision OF this work. VIII
you please give US the information
asked for on the second enclosed
sheet, as to the salary and expenses
vi yourself ana assistants, II any,
Ior The calendar year 1914, and the
,2tUal tocal cost OF all the work su-
garyised, which viii give us the per
Of supervision for your
eapet.aI county il TIls 5e u .ilsea
est to you 10 know that for the cal
eudar year 1914, the cost Of super
4islon BY the State Highway Com
mission has been almost exactly two
per cent Of the cost OF construction
estimated TO have been performed.
Adding your supervision cost to this
TWO per cent win giye you the to-
tad cost Of supervision for your es-
pecial county.
From the above we find that the
supervision cost of the highway
work in Wood county is less than
. per cent to state ana county. I
am. not. overly proud OF the cheap cost
of supervision work in WOOD coun-
~, because l realize that the super
Vision is altogether TO cheap. Now,
Jhen, why ii is too cheap and what
IS the result? It will be needless for
ne so answer those questions TO an
old rafIroader or an old contractor
Of similar work. This State Aid
Highway Work requires more super
vision than railroad work. OF course
in talking about railroad work, /
mean the new construction OF rail
road grades.
In handling railroad crews on a
new construction, the crews contain
upwards OF from forty to fifty
teams perhaps. One foreman, with
perhaps to assistant foremen or
straw bosses will have charge Of
such outfit. The highway work must
be divided up into squads of from
four to thirty men and at no time
is it possible TO use more than a
dozen teams in one crew, because the
Jobs are small and fer a small
job, it does not pay TO make large
preparations The moving OF these
gangs comes quite frequently and
moving a large gang under pay costs
money. without bringing any results
on roads.
These, and other items, too numerc
10 mention, viii prove TO a man of
Keen business Judgment, that in or
der to do the work economically,
there must be a sufficient amount
allowed for supervision cost. un-
derstand that railroads allow about
ten per cent for supervision cost OF
construction. The state OF Wisconsin
and Wood county have used less
than tive per cent and that is the
reason that I am not proud Of the
cheap cost Of supervision, because
the construction work has not been
sufficiently supervised. What is the
remedy? The remedy for this su-
peryision cost is in the hands Of
the County Board Of Supervisors, but
on account OF the taxpayers criti-
oism of County Expenditures, the
County Board tries to economic, and
as the supervision of the highway
work is perhaps the least under
stood, the County Board OF .SuperVi-
sors is apt to save money on the
supervision and thereby make the
construction cost high.
The County Highway Commissions
is not in position TO make a strong