The Fargo forum and daily republican. [volume] (Fargo, N.D.) 1894-1957, 1917-02-15

4
loaded were rejected by the inspector,
and he informed the city that the
| brick thus rejected was shipped to
other municipalities! IL these brick
: had been used. the citizens owning
property along Broadway would not
only have received less than they paid
for. but the life OF the paving would
have been very materially shortened.
| Ii the nrSt seventeen cars were not to
'standard, then there is no proof that
the rest Of the shipments would have
| been any better without inspection.
The thickness Of the concrete in
pavement has to be very carefully
watched. The thickness Of the foun-
| dalton Is specified as five inches.
Therefore, each one-quarter Of an
inch equals per cent. Each quarter
| of an inch of base concrete is worth
| about four cents. If the concrete aver
ages ~ inches instead of five inches in
thickness, this would amount to $142S
for the work in 1916. Without an in
spector on the work who devotes his
whole time to this work, the base
| would always be less than five inches.
In order to get the ground cut down
so that the base would always be FIVE
inches thick, one man must, with
string and rule. inspect every square
yard Of the work, and then it is inn
possible to get results without con-
tinual fighting with those in charge.
AS a matter Of fact 1t is found that
| attempts are made to pour concrete
only four and four and one-half inch
es thick and in one case the concrete
base was dug up on some old pave
ment where the base was only about
two inches thick for quite an extern
Sive space.
However, the value saved by insur-
ing that the full depth Of the base is
obtained, will pay for several inspect
ors. The work during 1915 covered
five months. The inspector receives
about $4,000 per month. This equals
$4,000 for the season.
The fact Of the matter is that 1t Is
always difficult to get municipal work
done in accordance with a reasonable
construction with the specifications.
There are too many men that can be
seen by the contractors, and thus the
engineer is defeated in his efforts to
benefit those who often oppose him.
All the paving in the city Of Fargo
is under a f1ve-year guarantee. None
Of these guarantees have expired. The
paving work done in 1906-07-0S has
not been accepted, for the reason that
none Of it is in accordance with the
specifications. A great many Of the
brick on Front street are soft and
shaly and have cleavage planes. The
for itself.
During the construction of the
Broadway paving in 1915, an added
thickness of sand cushion was re-
quired under the brick, and the old
foundation was below grade over
nearly the whole area. A controversy
arose over the payment for this ma
terial. A claim was made for ST.
695.75. and the actual amount paid on
this claim balance was $13.4S. In this
case there should have been 3466.25
sacks of cement used, while there was
actually used only 2025 sacks, making
shortage of 1441.25. This was a
case where the department was IN
able to get those in charge of the
work to use proper measures to meas
ure up the sand used in the mixture.
If the inspector had not been on the
work and counted every sack that
went in, the city would have had no
recourse but to pay the bill. The rec
ord Of this matter can be found in the
Broadway paving file in the city en-
gineer's, Office.
These are some OF the leaks that are
caught under proper inspection. What
would happen under no inspection
conditions or under lax controlled
conditions one can only surmise. How
ever, fair conclusion can be drawn
from the experience of the city Of Chi
cago during the past year:
Ira o. Baker. in q report to the city
Of Chicago in December, estimated
that the loss to the taxpayers annual
ed as follows:
Shortage Of materials in concrete
base COMMUNICATIONS. .$161, 1900
Skimping in the use Of cement for
foundation .............: o2,4SO.VO
Shortage of bitumen in binder.
............... SG,1SO.0V
Skimping in the use of asphalt for
wearing surface 78,777.OO
A synopsis of the report says that
"Skimping on materials, Inadequate
and in many cases faulty specifca-
ton, absolute disregard Of many
tests in specifications, poor workman
ship, and even payment to city in
spectors by contractors for overtime
and holiday work, seem to be the rule
in paving done by the board Of local
improvements"
A contractor in the city of Fargo
good old days when I told the city
council who should be city engineer,
and I told the city engineer who
should be the inspectors, and told
the inspectors how they should in
spect the work"
The citizens should carefully dis
criminate between the good work
and work that is good enough" and
work that is done in accordance. with
the specifications. He will be told that
it stands up, ETC., but he may remem-
Der that the statement Is seldom made
that it is strictly in accordance with
the specifications. The city engineer
estimates that If the contractor con-
trolls the situation. that the paving go
ing on in 1917 will easily be short, in
material and workmanship, 10 per
cent, and this means about 100000
on the contemplated work.
During the year 1915 the cost of
paving was as follows:
Per