Grand Forks herald. [volume] (Grand Forks, N.D.) 1916-1955, 1922-01-03
Highways and Financial Aid
III North Dakota Discussed
By State Engineer Robinson

claim they are doing the work for
half the cost Of contract prices.
Mr. Ponpore claims that these
roads, may be. built for the cost that
is now requirsd for enEineerins. He
claims that the cost Of surveys and
supervision of Dad building has cost
the taxpayers of the state $500 per
mile. We know of. no project in the
state where engineering and super
vision, reached this figure except pos
sible the two concrete paving jobs in
the. city OF. Grand Forks. Since tho
ment requires considerable more de-
tail In planning and supervision. this
Is not surprisingly We do not know
whether the purpose of Mr.. Poupore
was to make it appear that engineer
ing in North Dakota is specially high
or that in general engineering In con-
nection with road work is wasted. II
it is a. fact that engineering is wasted
in connection with highway work it is
very strange that the older states
have not discovered 1t before this
comparative@late period and hat the
matter has been left for discovery to
aSGrand Forks county Official.
Cost Figured at About IA Per Cent.
While we have no definite figures
up to date as to tho cost of engineers
ing as a percentage or cost per mile,
l. Jul IdLCSI ll6u aROSlCh OuI III LUZ
indicated that the cost of administca-
ton. engineering and supervision On
earth roads amounted TO about IA
per cent. We have good reaso to
believe that the higher prices paid
for construction work after that Pc
riod would reduce this percentage
considerable. AS soon as the present
to be able to check this matter over
thoroughly and secure accurate data.
However. based on past records which
indicate that W are not spending
more than IA per cent for engineering
on earth highways places North Da-
kota very favorably so far as engi-
neering costs are concerned.
Recently, the Bureaus of Public
Roads had occasion to. check up the
work of the State Highway Commits
, sion of California very thoroughly.
While a great deal of the work of that
department comprises the designing
and construction Of high-classed
administration and engineering
amount to 16 cent. Since the cost Of
administration and engineering on
~low-classed, roads is high in COMPARE
son with that of the higher classes
when considered on the percentage
basis. it is gratifying to know that
North Dakota compares SO favorably
Will NdA1lOt AAtI anu OluCl OiNS1 SLA&So
In connection with this matter ii
might be said, however. that the cos,
of engineering per mile or percentage
is not always a reliable criterion. The
writer has in mind one project. elev.
en- miles in length, in North Dakota
i where considerable engineering ability
and experience was required in the
: matter of location to secure reasona'
> BILE grades. This project was desig.
mated with the ordinary mou o.
Engineering. With the locations frs
3 selected it was necessary to make
deep cuts at the top of many Of ths
hills and high fills at the bottom ir
order to secure the necessary red,G;
3 ton of grades. BY spending consider
able extra, time and money with en-
gineers who had had considerable.
; previous eXperienc in location ir
e mountainous countries. new location!
t were secured whereby the yardage OF
2 IN cn.4re project was cut and a say,
IN : rr'"lv s2O 900 made in thu
E construction. In this particular case
: -. "a. he n onsrructed as miE
. ina1ly planned the cost would have