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

opposing forces, The historic phrase
Ills ne Pesseront Pas''-c"They shall
not pass'D-crosses the field. The
reverse representative. Port islShaussee,
been very high and the engineering
cost comparatively low. Now. the. OPP
positc is true. as the final result will
show the engineering conlparativcly
high and those who are not acguaint-S
ed with the project may take occasion
to complain that this expenditure for
engineering was entirely u~nWarranted, -
whereas. as a matter OF fact II saving;
Of probably $4,000 or $4,000 has
actually been made by employing.
what would ordinarily be considered
an excessive amount OF engineering.
IF Figu.cs Questioned. =.
A comparison is made between the
80 miles Of HIGHWAYS between Grand
Forks and Larimore that was con-.
constructed entirely by the county and1
the Z miles OF highway. namely. Fed
eral Project No. IS, running through.
En1erado. The statement is made
that the latter costs nearly $1,000 a
mile while the balance of the road.
wa constructed at c ost of about So
600 a mile.
The writer is taking the liberty of.
questioning MI. P~oupore's estimated
cost of $4,000 per/mile. When it
comes to the matter of determining
the actual cost OF any piece. Of high
way such as the one between Grand.
Forks md Larimorc which has BEEN
constructed piece-meal over 4 period,
OF probably so or more years. We be-
licvc it is an absolute impossibility for
anyone to state the actual cost. Some
OF this highway = %gravel1cd some
six or eight years ago and it is doubt
ed very much hal the actual cost Of
that work could be dug out even ii
anyone had time to undertake such a
task. Therefore, We believe MIR. Pou-
pores comparison of costs is not en-
tirely reliable.
The statements made leave it to the
inference Of the reader that these 20
miles. are as substantially surfaced as
Federal Aid Project No. Is. If it is a.
fact that this. alleged cost OF $4,000 a:
mile includes an edual number Of
yards Of gravel per mile. the only item
to accoun for the difference in cost
would be the end haul and sand pa
ner:ns objected to by Mr.. Poupore.
Surely MI. Poupore does not wish to
intimate hat it costs more to haul
the gravel per yard on Federal Aid
Project No. 16 than the connecting
roads when the same has been done
w. fiS w. t''OItLN AcA$SS Lila
county SUPERVISION. So far rs the
State Highway Commission knows.
mono Of its engineers has yer seen
any of this gravel hauled on Project
No. Is. and. therefore, n argument
that state or federal supervision had
anything to do will, the excessive cost
in this item would be very. absurd
indeed. -
AS a matter of fact. all Of the fed
eral aid work don in Grand Forks
county has been done under the SUI
pervision of the county surveyor ex-
cept. Of course, the portions lying
within the city of Grand Forks. The
inspections by the engineers of this
department have been very rare in
deed.
The writer regrets very much to
Of the paving jobs, in Grand Forks
county has been very unsatisfactory
indeed Some of these projects were
initiated more than three years ago
and not a single n Of them has been
COMPLETED to date. This condition Of
dragging the work over a period OF
several years must be very discourage
ing to the people OF Grand Forks
county who have to use these high
ways. r.. :,
Interesting, Itinerary Suggested.
therefore. IL ~ 'HOpeQ tndt tie cill~
zens Of Grand Forks county who are
vitality interested in this matter will
send a committee on a little eour
around the state as soon as weather
conditions permit and examine state
highway work that has actually been
completed. An interesting trip that
would give some idea of the work OF
the highway commission would be
over, the Theodore Roosevelt Trail
il. NyAJcov r a nd Poy,1cav counties
to Niles in Benson county. then south
through Benson county over the state
highway to- Sheyenne and New Rock
ford, on south to CarrinRton. : then
east through Steele county. where no
state highway work has been done. to
Portland and Mayville. then east. ex-
amining the state highways north Of
H%illsboro. This would i've a.great
number Of Federal Aid Projects, quite
a number of which rave been com
! pleted as far as grading is concerned.
We know that such . trip would be
of vast benefit in securing anidea as
to what federal aid actually means to
hesitate of North Dakota.
Another trip that would be very
Williston through country where $500
per mile would not make an impress
sion 60 al as occurring a really lasting
and s~erviceable type Of highway wa.
concerned. tsHs
The writer does not want to be I'M
derstood as arguing that federal aid
is ideal In every respect. The writer
is sometimes inclined to feel just a.
MIR. Pouporc does. that the Bureau q
Public Roads sometimes requires
construction that is not warranted BY
present or pros>ect!vee conditions
However. it would be exceedingly DIFF,
ficult to draft anv law or promulsate
n set of rules that are ideal for al
sections OF a country so large as ours
i Taken as q whole however. we be.
lieve tho Federal Aid Act Is working
wonders.
No Return 70 Old System.
It is noted that one OF Mr.. Pdu.
pores main objections to the new
Federal Aid Act is that it takes ava,
all authority from. the county. com
missioners in the state highwaysi w
are 20 critictsinE Mr.. Poupore SO
yerely- for his attitude in this matter
for 1t scems to be q very natural on,
aud ons-that has hkcn raised in prob
ably every state in the Union wher,
state highways have been taken owe
by the State Highway Commissions