The Birmingham age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1902-1950, 1916-10-12
Road Building and
Highway ENGINEERS


Highway Engineers
TTHE large auto-trucks that maui
j heavy loads over country high
ways have caused county and state
authorities in populous sections OF the
union to pay more attention to engl-
neering economies than in former
wears when the cost of roadbed main
tenance was comparatively small.
Highway conditions have SO pro-
crossed that the highest technlcal
skill and the best material for con-
struction are now demanded in states
that insist on thoroughness, no matter
what be the first cost.
The head of the good roads assocla-
ton in New York recently discussed
the Importance of the authorities en-
blowing competent engineers, not only
for laying out the work, but for super
vising every bit of construction, from
the foundation to the finishing
touches. His remarks were addressed
to the public, and especially to those
persons making up the public who
have the mistaken idea that any road
supervisor of good common sense can
get just as satisfactory results as an
educated engineer of experience.
Every civil engineer who has spe-
cialized in any line and who takes
pride in his profession keeps strictly
up to date with the latest develop
ments in the branch that he has mas
tered. Locating is important, but it
is the lesser part of an engineers
job. The real engineer is the man who
knows the cost of labor and how to
utilize it, and the cost of material.
He must be able to figure to nicely
every phase of construction economy,
whether it concerns a railroad, city
street or highway for modern trac-
ton.
Consonant with the broad view that
road builders in eastern states are TAX
ing of engineering requirements is an
exceptionally timely and informative
article in the Baltimore Manufacture
ers' Record by Alabama's highway en-
gineer, w. S. Keller, widely recognized
as one of the foremost men of his pro-
fession. Among many practical things
he sets forth are these:
1t is just as necessary that an engi-
neer should supervise construction
work as it is that he should locate
the road How many commissioners
can tell how much it costs to move a
yard of earth or how much it costs
to install pipe culverts, or how much
cubic yard the concrete in their
culverts is costing them?
The commissioners of certain
county in Alabama claimed that they
were building roads as cheaply or
more cheaply than any contractor
could do the work. They had an
engineer estimate the cubic yards of
earth moved during a certain period
of time, and to their surprise it was
costing 311s cents per cubic yard,
when the average contract price in
Alabama for three years had been % ,
cents. Authorities should know
whether they are getting full value
20
imposed upon in the purchase of ma
terials and supplies, and are paying
more for them in large quantities
than individuals are paying for them
in small quantities.
The remedy for these ills is to have
someone in charge of road building
qualified by education and training
and free from political influences,
who can be held responsible for re-
suits
An engineer is Indispensable even
though a good superintendent directs
the work A large proportion of all
roads to be constructed require relo-
cation, profiles of them must be made,
grades established and, if the work
Is done by contract the road must be
cross sectioned and the amount of ex-
cavation and erabankment calculated
and made to balance as nearly as pos
sible. No one but an engineer can
do such work. and the man who does
II is manifestly best fitted TO super
wise the construction. The average
road supervisor is usually ignorant Of
the methods of accounting correctly
for large expenditures and unable to
keep cost accounts OF the work.
Mr.. Keller concludes his convincing
contribution to highway literature