Evening journal., 1918-01-07
State Highway Engineer Uphanl
Submits Annual Report Today

passes over this road therefore 10 is Of
prime importance. Tho natural condi-
tion Uf this road Is a clay that very
readily becomes Stacked with water, a
small rain making The road diflcult 10
travel A large nmcul Of rain or a
lhaw and heavy rain makes this road
practically impossible
While this same condition holds true
FOR practically an The trunk lines IN
Kent County, it Is relieved TO- O certain
extent by the fact that south Of Dover
the natural clay contains N small
amount Of sand. which assists thc road
10 a slight extent IN holding ip durlng
the wet weather. The construction OF
the Dover-Smyrna road, which Is COW
cred by the dupont project should De
or a hfgh-class Of construction. \ road
constructed OF concrete with the proper
drainage would be very satisfactory for
this location. After a period OF years
this concrete should be surfaced With
some other road surfoclng material.
iTho minimum width OF this road
should be at least i6 feet with 3 feet
shoulders on each side.
Roads of Secondary Importance.
/ Tho roads of secondary Importance
and which undoubtedly on account Of
the present day conditions. VIII not
come In the program for i0ie, arc an
/ tho roads mentioned In this report that
/ are not classcd as roads OF 'prlme I'm
portanco."
Costs.
Regarding tho costs. It Is practically
impossible at this time % furnish cs-
Inmates that are good Tor even One
weeks time. Companies furnishing road
material will quote prices for i've
days acceptance, and therefore thc ha-
sic prices on which the estimates are
made up. nucluato 90 such an extent
that exact estimates are impossible.
For your guidance 10 your consld-
Grafton, N materials arc available at
all. Tho Philadelphia Pike, exclusive of
Penny Hiu constructed OF brick wear
ing surface. would be approximately
$4,000 per mile. The construction OF
various schemes OF improvement OF
Penny Hill VIII bo submitted in a sup
Elementary report
A road OF concrete n it should be
decided TO use this material on the
north end OF Philadelphia Pike, would
cost approximately $4,000 per mile.
The cost Of the DOvor-Sml rna Road
constructed of concrete, would be ap-
proXlmatoly $4,000 per mile. The aver
age cost Of o sand asphalt road on a
concrete base on the west side OF sus-
sex County VIII, at the present time, be
s2s 900. Detailed costs can be worked
out for the specific road or portion OF
roads that you wish 70 consider in the
immediate future, and detailed prelim-
mary estimates rendered.
IN July, 1916. there was approved an
act known as the Federal Road Act
This entities the various states TO re-
celvo money from the Federal Govern
ment for the construction OF roads,
provided the state conforms 10 the
Federal requirements ] would say that
all Of the Delaware State Highway De-
pariment surveys, plans and specinca-
tlons Will come well within The Fed
eral Aid requirements and Delaware
will be In q position 90 receive The
benefit OF approximately sl25,000 within
a period OF five years from 1915. Your
Engineer has taken this question up
with the Federal ONCE OF Public Roads
, and as soon as the highways that ai'
J 10 be built are definitely chosen, pro-
81 iect statements and agreements can b'
Z drawn and Delaware receive IT'S portion
N Federal Aid money. The amount
J available up 90 July. 1918, is approXt
b. mately $4,000. This money must be
utilized before 1920 or 70 viii revert
back 20 the Federal Government 20 bS
. apportioned % other STATES
This completes. briefly my recon-
! mendalory report. 10 does not include
Of course. any review of the work don'
lby the Engineering Department bat
shows merely the results OF our obser-
vations. The work of the Engineering
. Department Will appear 90 the En-
u ginecrs' AnnualsReport, which viii be
prepared some time during January
1915. This will be o complete report
showing costs and locations Of surveys
/ and methods followed by the Engineer
ing Department.
40 FIRST glance 10 would seem that the
= work OF the Department was seriously