Cresco plain dealer. (Cresco, Howard County, Iowa) 1913-1945, 1916-07-28

! tual percentage for this supervision
was six-tenths of 20. surely this is
lot expensive when you cc. siaer the
service rendered and in view of the
fact that the experimenting by coun-
F, ty engineers cost 275T or five times
as much. And rememh her that aside
from the three members Of the COM
mission itself every employee Is an
engineer out in the Geld working in
active cooperation with the county
engineers. The advio and assistance
rendered by this Commission is we'll
worth all it costs. and am in favor
Of retaining the Highway Commission
law. Possibly there might be some
| improvements in the law, but am
not in favor Of doing away with the
! Commission.
Cost Of Concrete Cut Fifty Percent.
One Of the Instances of the good
work 1t has accomplished is in the
cost Of our bridges alone. In the
state of Iowa the cost has been re-
/ duced from $500 per cubic yard to
$3.50 per cubic yard. Look up the
cost per cubic yard of concrete cul-
verts of few years ago in this coun-
ty and then see what 1t costs now.
You will find that in 1913 you paid
$17.55 not including hauling Of mate
rails which would bring the cost to
at least $1,000 per cubic yard while
last year Notwithstanding the fact &C.
! ment, reinforcing steel and labor
have all advanced in price. they cost
you 1890 per cubic yard and the
| queer part Of it Is that the same firm
Is doing the work but now it is done
under supervision Of the Highway
Commission by competitive bid. while
before it was under a blanket con.
tract. Has the Commission saved
you anything? Instead Of there be.
ing few bridge companies that can
undertake to build bridges now, you
have many local concerns scattered
all over the state building these
bridges according to plans and spect.
fications approved by your engineers.
The saving to the tax payers in the
building Of bridges has many times
paid all the cost Of the Highway Com
mission.
quote the following from cor
respondent in Iowa and it 10 only .
sample:
"Our county has taken advan-
tage of the State Engineers ad.
wise. on bridge building for seven
years, or four years before 1t be.
came compulsory under the pres.
ent law, and the cost Of putting
In our bridges has decreased from
$4,000 per cubic yard to $3.50 last
year There are two cement
bridges in our county which illus
trate the old way under bridge
company plans and methods and
the new or Highway Commission
plan. One bridge was built In
1908 by the bridge company and
| cost $4,000. The other was built
in 1915. is three feet wider, the
water way is six feet larger, the
bridge contains "a barrels more Of
cement and it cost $1375.O0."
$4,000 Saved On steel.
In 1918 the structural steel used
for bridges was practically all Dur
chased under = blanket contract en-.
tered into prior to the passage of the
| present Road Law at an average
price of $685. per hundred pounds.
In 1914 structural steel was pur.
chased at advertised lettings under
the plans and standard specifications
| Of the State Highway Commission at
IN average price of 1910 per hundred.
Correcting for the difference in the
base price Of steel for the two years.
/, the net saving to. the state on this
item alone was 31.85 per hundred and
on the total estimated amount used.
10 ,O00,O 900 lbs, the saving was 1885,
10000
! The apparent saving in dollars,
however, is only small fraction OF
the actual saving to the state in the
superior designs used and in the bet.
F, ter construction secured through the
expert engineering Of the State High.
way Commission.
! 1t should be noted that under tho
| Commissions organization, expert
service Is furnished all Of the coun.
ties of the state at minimum cost
| to the state. Economy OF administra-
ton does not permit the individual
counties to maintain engineers expert
IN each Of the different types OF
design and construction but it is pos.
sible for the state at reasonable
cost to itself to furnish this service
to all Of the counties Of the state
without cost to them, and all the ex.
| pense OF the Highway Commission
comes not from direct taxes, but from
fve percent Of the automobile tax
money.
Prior to 1913, many counties in the
state were paying royalties for the
use Of patented bridge designs. Under
the present plan practically all OF the
designs are furnished without cost to
the counties by the Commission.
! SHIFTS for patent iufrinGem0 nt