Evening times-Republican. [volume] (Marshalltown, Iowa) 1890-1923, 1916-10-10
Ho,D Present Road La,D Saves Money


+ N
. saving Of 1880 could have been made
ana better grades secured.
Under the old blanket contracts.
mostly steel and wood .bridxes were
built These structures were paid for
BY the foot The work was left largely
TO the foreman, AZ no engineer was
provided. The foreman was WORKING
Tor the contractor. He built bridges "a
span the ravines. thereby xettinr In
more lineal feet OF bridge, ana making
moro money for his employer. This
tendency toward misft bridges was
encouraged by the loose. blanket. COM
tract, medication system OF purchas ing
bridges. 80,
Prior to the passage Of the present
law, the practice In many counties was
to contract each spring with one Of the
bridge companies for 80 many spans
OF say 20. 80. 40, 50 or 60-foot lengths.
These spans were bought without any
definite location in Wow, Under this
arrangement, the spans often were al
lowed to remain in the yards for con.
siderable period Of time. and often
bridges too large or too small to At
the location were erected, simply be-
cause no other material was on hand.
Regardless Of whether the bridges
were too large or too small, the county
lost money. II the bridges were too
large. the county lost in the increased
nrst cost. If the bridges were too
small. the county lost thru excessive
damage By high water BY requiring
bridges to be bought for specific Local
ttons. in accordance with definite plans
prepared before the contract Is let, the
new road law has secured bridges Of
the proper size, and has saved money
for tho counties.
Fifth-rhs new road law ha. saved
money by requiring tho careful
checking Of bills for bridge work.
In the fall Of 1910. we had occasion
to make detailed inspection OF a
number OF concrete culverts in Cedar
county. We found. In practically every
case, that the bills had been padded by
adding two or three yards OF concrete
more than the measurements showed.
The county made payment for these
padded bills. probably without knowing
the difference.
In the winter Of 1911 and 1919, we
made an investigation Of bridge condi-
tons In Polk county. The contractor
was supposed to be building these
bridges on the basis of cost plus q
fixed percentage Of profit. In such a
case, detailed, itemized statements of
cost should by all means have been
submitted, checked and fled in the
county auditors office. We made care
fui investigation. but could not find any
such bills. Furthermore, we were unable
to md any written contract covering
the work. There was some form Of I
verbal agreement between the board
and the contractor. The contractor
apparently submitted no itemized bills.
but simply told the board that they
owed him so much, and the board paid
the hill.
In Clinton county, in 1912, we made
an investigation Of the bills covering
five years work These bills were
carefully checked against the struc-
lures in the field. Such gross dis
crepancies and over-charges were
found that the bridge company was
forced to pay back over $4,000
Under the new law. the county en-
sineer must check each bill for bridge
and road work, and certify that 1t is
O. X. The engineer is liable on his
bond for the correctness OF the bills
30 certified. This compels the check
Ing OF bills. and saves money to the
county.
s:x.A-The new road !... Has saved
~ money BY providing better inspse-
tion Of bridge work.
This statement needs little or no
elaboration. Anyone who knows any
thing about highway affairs, knows
that under the old system. when there
was no county engineer 1t was impos-
sible for the board of supervisors. even
II they had been trained to do so. to
properly inspect the bridge work. The
result was that many structures Of an
inferior quality were built.
Under the present law, better In
spection is given and better structures
are being secured.