Evening journal., 1916-04-22


standpoint of cross-examinat'o on. If
the small scale diagrams are employ
ed for the determination OF quantities
Of excavation and embankment, as we
are informed is the standing practice
/ il is impracticable to make sufficient
~ accurate estimates Of quantities
upon which TO base payments to the
contractor for excavation and en-
I bankment.
Recommendations. The preliminary
investigations, surveys. designs and
Office work should De directly under
, thr control of the highway commits
sioner, should be conducted by an or
ganization such as heretofore recon-
mended and should be so thoroughly
carried out that a definite type suit
able for each location, should be de.
termined upon prior % the advertise
ment of the work. Preliminary inves.
LEGATIONS should be so thorough in
character that the amount of extras
will be reduced to a minimum.
In general it is recommended that
the unlimited policy of constructing
pipe culverts with concrete headwalls
at the entrances of all fields should be
abolished. The misuse of county
funds in the wholesale construction
of such culverts has been considera-
BILE in the case of many highways
! Properly graded entrances to fields,
save the original cost of construction.
be much safer for the traffic on the
roadway aud greatly improve the ap-
pearance of the highway
Advertisements. Bids, Specifications
and Contracts.
Section 6 of Chapter 1873 of the Laws
of Delaware requires that the Com
missioner shall advertise for bids for
the construction and improvement of
said highway according to the said
Lians and specifications for three sue
cessive weeks in two newspapers of
the county, and in such other papers
as he shall deem OF advantage for Sc
curing competition. The number OF
bids submitted for the several con-
tracts examined indicates that there
has been fair competition among To-
cal highway contractors and a few
in the State of Pennsylvania.
Advertisement.
Recommendations It is recon-
mended that, under the provision of
the law giving the commissioner au-
thOrity to advertise lin such other
papers as he shall deem of advantage
for securing fair competition. adver-
/ tisements be inserted in at least two
or three of the following technical
periodicals: Engineering and Con-
tracing, Engineering News. Engineer
| ing Record. Good Roads, Municipal
Engineering and Municipal Journal.
II is well known that the object of
advertisement is to secure as compre
hensive competition as practicable
| from responsible contractors, hence it
follows that the information conveyed
in advertisements should be such as
not only to attract the attention of
such bidders. but also give them such
information as will enable them to de-
! eide whether or not II will be worth
their while to submit bids, Concise
advertisements containing the charac-
ter Of information referred to above in
many cases saves considerable CORES
! pondence, and tends to reduce the
process of the submission of bids TO
/ the most economical and efficient
I basis from the standpoints Of all in
| terested parties. We, therefore,
recommend that advertisements in
clude the hundred of New Castle
county in which the highway is To-
Gated, date of location, name of high
way. approximate Length in miles,
square yards of road or paw sment not
J including shoulders, class of work,
date of completion and character of
payment, that is, whether payment is
to be made with bonds or cash.
FTFI.- - ~.
i mendations. we believe. will secure
more competition than is secured by
present practice.
Il Bids.
1 Present Conditions. The current
I practice OF the Levy Court allows bid
ders to submit prices for type of con
II struction which are not comparable.
4 For example the contractor may name
the kind of rock he intends to use for
broken stone and the Levy Court, after
i receiving all bids, decides which kind
of rock it desires to use for a given
! highway. other examples of similar
nature will be cited in the considera-
4 tion of the specifications. IL is be-
\ lieved that the present practice is not
in accordance with either the spirit or
the letter of the law which reads that
4 "the said Levy Court shall award the
contract to the lowest responsible bid
der"
Bids. Recommendations In order
to secure maximum competition anC
equitable bidding. it is Of Fundamental
importance that all bids should be sub
mitted on the same items in order thai
the prices bid may be directly com
parable and the award made to the
, lowest responsible bidder.
Specifications and Contract. As the
specifications and contract at present
in use by the highway commissionel
are in many sections indefinite anC
incomplete, specific revisions are here
with submitted. given in the order in
which they occur in the pamphlet en-
titled Contracts and Specifications"
Instructions to Bidders. In connec
tion with bids it is stated on page
that leach bid must be accompanies
by a certified check for $500 payable
10 the president of the Levy Court o.
with a hond TO the State Of Delawar'
in the sum OF $500. signed by the bid
der or bidders and one or more re
spOnsible freeholders OF New Castl
county" Due 10 the Irresponsible
Of some freeholders and our belief il
the adequacy OF The certified check,
is recommended that the portion o
the above sentence relating 10 bond
I should be eliminated.
On page occurs q statement tha
"Anv change made in said nlaus. speci