Arizona republican., 1920-01-19
The Base Must Be of Con- sitent Strength to Meet the Needs of Local Traffic in Each Case-May Not Approve County Specifi- cations

The mooted question whether fed era1 aid would be extended to roau construction on loose or compressed rock base appears to have been defi- nttely settled in a letter to State En- gineer Maddock from F. l.. Wheeler, acting district engineer of the Bureau of public roads at Albuquerque
 A controversy as to the attitude of the bureau toward certain types oI base had originated in an inquiry made by the state engineer of J. $. Bright, acting director at Denver. Mr. Bright replied that aid would not be extended to roads with a loose rock base The county highway commis- slon, delying upon the approval by the government of loose rock specified tons in a North Carolina project, and which specifications had been adopted by the commission, Chairman Hackett of the commission directed a further inquiry to the bureau, enclosing copies of the Maddock- Bright telegrams.
 The whole subject is reviewed in the following letter from MT. Wheeler 10 the state engineer of the date of Janu- ary 12:
 This office is in receipt of letter rom Mir E-Hackett. chairman of the Maricopa Highway Com mission, Ari-e Zona, in which your wire of December. -. 1919, to District Engineer Bright. Denver, Colo. as well as his answer thereto, dated December 30. 1919. was quoted. Mir. HackeJt requests infor- nation as to whether federal aid is not applied to earth gravel construc- tIOn. also asks what objection there may be 10 allowing federal aid on any Of the construction that the committee -haS Incorporated in it's specifications. lie further requests. if il is not breach of etiGuette on the part of this office to the state engineer. that we communicate directly with him.
 
 ~1 The federal aid road act pro- Nides that the CO operation of this bu- reau shall be with the state highway departments Of the various states. This Tact Is apparently recognized by MT. Hackett, for he very properly suggests the propriety of an answer direct 70 him. We, therefore, make answer 10 Mr. Hackett's letter through your of flee.
 '2. The telegrams quoted in MT. Ilacketts letter of January : are cor rectly quoted, and are as follows tThen follow the Maddock Bright tel egrams.)
 the time Of the creation of the Bureau Of Public Roads. under the present law. stated that he would approve any type of construction. even an earth road, provided, the construction was substantial and would adequateiv meet
 
 Along the same lines. MT McDon- ald, chief of the bureau, has said tha ne would not approve pavements which were not consistent in strength throughout their entirety.
 From these two statements. it is manifest that our Washington office stands ready 10 approve earth ana gravel surfaced roads, provided these types of construction are substantial and will meet the needs of present traffic, but that they will not approve a type such as mentioned in your tele- gram. for the reason that they do not consider it substantial because. II the class and the load of the traf- fic demands surfacing of as hiqh a type as the proposed (two-inch bitu- iithic cf Topeka). then the surfscinq should be constructed on an equally
 Traffic Main Consideration
 That the type of construction which the Maricopa County highway com mission proposes is of higher type and is superior to other types sometimes approved by this bureau, no one may deny But, making such comparisons sight must not be lost of the equally important comparison between the kind and the amount of traffic the re- spective types of construction are to be subjected to.
 T have before me a copy of the specifications of the Maricopa County Highway Commission. which specify five different types of pavement as follows:
 "(a) One course concrete surface.
 '(b) Bitulithic pavement on bitum- inous concrete base, using gravel for the mineral aggregate.
 "(c) Asphalt concrete pavement on bituminous concrete base, using gravel for the mineral aggregate.
 .-d( Warrenite- -bituIithic laid on compressed broken stone foundation.
 "(e) Asphale concrete laid on com pressed broken stone foundation
 Tt would appear from the above dis cussion that federal aid would not be extended to the construction of pro- iects involving types (d) or tel, and that federal aid would be extended to construction of types Gal, fb) and (c), exclusive of any premiums or royal ties as under regulation $, section 1, which see. A carbon copy of this let ter is enclosed for transmittal to the Maricopa Highway Commission.