Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-01-03
TO the Editor:

1o"the Editor: I
MY attention has been called to a
letter by Mr.. j. r. Poupore. county
commissioner Of Grand Forks county,
IN your edition Of December 9th.
Since the matter. covered by this
Communication is OF vital Importance
to all interested in highways and
since some OF the statements therein
are erroneous. l am taking the liber-
ty Of discussing to some length the
other side of the question.
mr.. Poupore mentions the present
financial conditions as a reason for
curtailng or possibly giving UP fed
eral aid entirely. 1t would be very
FOOLISH indeed to argue at this time
tt{1iAt conditions are such as to war
rant launching a very extensive pro-
gram. The writer believes. however,
that sufficient funds could well be
and that it would be a great mistake
to default in the matter Of federal
aid and allow North Dakota's har
to be used by@other states. .
Mr.. Fouporc maintains that under
the Federal Aid Act too much money
Is spent for engineering n that
the county al build Just as servicea-
BILE roads for less than half the money
required under state and federal u
HSA = SAaIJAlS lAo -
money is lost by having to move the
dirt from the high places to h low
places after the road Is built. This
statement in itself shows that Grand
Forks county Is not using proper
methods in attempting to buSd these
roads, as it should not be necessary
to move material the second time to
any extent. This same mistake has
been made by other road builders who
81 haHA hoo~ ar~,,0tnoaAI IN fhrNU1nr I'm
the ordinary turnpike road.
4 Nj. Poupore claims that roads built
by the county will have just Is kooo
drainage as those built under state
and federal supervision. In d to
have drainage. We must have deeper
bitches through the higher points
than through the low points. This
wilt mean il there is no lateral move
,s,nent Of earth thai considerable more
knobs, or making that part Of the
road ever higher IN proportion than
1T was originally. OF course. any lay
u1an wilt understand what the result
Of this kind OF building will be-.
Helped Build Road Here so Years Ago
The writer assisted to build some
of this type Of road in the Red River
Valley nearly 80 years ago. but be-
lieves with the advent Of the automo-
bile that the people of the Red River
Valley are entitled to better roads
than were build 80 years ago. \
= Considerable lateral movement OF
materials is necessary to build up the
roads through the ow places and this
is generally accomplished by taking
the materials from points where
deeper bitches are needed Or cuts are
necessary to ecu proper grades
\ Fortunately. however. the topography
Of most of Grand Forks county is
such that little Of the latter is re.
Qutred. II this can be done for less
than half the cost by Grand Forks
{ county. the secret Of doing SO certain
wi should be passed on to other roat
builders of the state.
Williams county. North Dakota. has
/, been building their W federal aiG
projects during the last two seasons
During the first periods Of their al
tempts they were unable to cut tn
cost even down to that Of the highes
contract prices bid. However. sine,
they became more experienced ant
better organized, they have been abl'
to carry on the work with some say
ing, but it would be preposterous t.