Vernon County censor. [volume] (Viroqua, Wis.) 1865-1955, 1921-07-06
300 MILES OF PAVEMENT
WISCONSIN PAVING ROADS AT
A RAPID RATE
$40 Miles of Pavement to Build Dur
ing Year-Prices On the Decline

ing Year-Prices On the Decline
Madison, Wisconsin.-Despite the
handicaps theatened at the beginning
of the year, Highway Construction
work in Wisconsin is progressing more
satisfactorily than in any previous
year the engineers Of the State High
way Commission report. An usually
good start has been made in the High
way construction for 1921. Work in
general is several weeks ahead of the
usual situation at this time of the
year. Not only is there larger guam
THY of work underway, hut each in
dividual job on the average is further
advanced than the average job is at
this time of the year. At the pres
ent time, there are approximately $50
crews building gravel roads in the
state, and this number is being aug
mented every day. There are also,
approximately, sixty PAYERS building
concrete roads in the state, which
means we are building over three
miles of paved highway per day
This rate is not abnormal because of
the fact that we have approximately
three hundred and ten 800 miles of
pavement to build during the season,
as this amount is already under cor
tract One reason for the extra good
start lis the rather keen competition
there has been in bidding this year
This is due partly to the fact that
some of the neighboring states are not
in full swing in their highway work
and partly to the fact that consid-
cradle number of new contracting
firms have started, owing to the in
creased highway work in general.
Prices have been lowered from week
to week and the work let now is done
at considerably lower prices than that
let earlier in the year. However, the
State Highway Commission took pre-
caution in the early contracts, and is
still doing so, and Incorporating
clauses wherein reductions in mater
ials, such as sand, gravel and cement,
and reductions in freight rates, shall
rebound to the credit of the county
or state as the case may be. In other
words, all bids are received based on
certain stated prices for material, and
on the existing freight rates at the
time of letting.
An interesting feature of highway
construction in Wisconsin this year,
especially of paving work is that al
most exactly one-half of it is not
dependent upon the railroads for ship
ments, except for the cement. In otk-
er words, sand and gravel used in the
construction on $50 miles of highway
will not be shipped, but will be hauled
by team or truck directly from local
or commercial gravel pit. Naturally
this enables Wisconsin to build their
highways somewhat cheaper than some
of the neighboring states.
There is an abnormal amount of
trucking being done this year, and at
very low rates compared with former
years. This is due to the fact that
great many trucking concerns had the
trucks and crews on hand and were
money ahead to haul for us low rate
rather than let their crews be laid
up, owing to the lack of construction
operations in the cities. In other
words, State Highway work had ben
Gifted quite considerably by the lack
of work in the cities. Everything
looks favorable to the completion of
the program as undertaken, of over
three hundred miles of concrete, about
fifteen hundred miles of gravel, and
several hundred miles of grading only.
Labor is very plentiful in most sec
tions of the state, and is being paid
from II to 1-3 less than last year
There is also a slight reduction in the
price for teams, due greatly to the
fact that the price of feed for teams
is very greatly reduced over last year
Teams are very plentiful, especially in
the North part of the state, due to the
fact that there is practically no sum-
mer logging being done on account of
the great reduction in the price of
lumber, and the teams belonging to
these lumber companies are being EN-
ployed on highway work.