Smyrna times., 1924-04-02
f. RILEY MIXNER COMPANY BID
LOWEST CLAYTON ROAD
BUT MAY BE THROWN OUT BE-
CAUSE BID is ABOVE ESTIMATE

As it Stands the E. Riley Mixner
Company is Slightly Lower Than
Sherman & Rhodes in Bidding
The bids for building the concrete
road between Smyrna and Clayton
were opened by the State Highway
Department last Wednesday and while
E. Riley Mixner Company of Goshen,
N. j., builders of the Smyrna-KentOn
road were lowest bidders, there is
some talk of throwing out all bids
and asking for new ones on the
ground that the. bids were much high
er than the estimate figured by the
engineers to build this stretch which
is only 0.836 mites. No definite ac-
tion has been learned and what will
be done is not fully decided. The
matter is before chief engineer Buck
and his corps of engineers. If they
do not accept the lowest bid, the
whole matter will be thrown out and
new bids advertised for. Recently the
Highway Department threw out the
bids for building the Walkers-Dea-
Z hNUCNlllG IOdNl VI WllCll DlGIIudu N
Rhodes were the lowest bidders, on
the same grounds-tOO high. New
bids are now being advertised for this
piece of road. On the Smyrna-Clay-
ton road the bids were as follows:
Contract CK-21, Clayton Smyrna,
O.S36 miles, Kent county,. Riley
Mixner Company, Goshen, N. j., stone
$37, 7,61O.75; Stag, S36,991. Sherman &
Rhodes, Smyrna, stone, $37,568.75;
Stag, S37,066.75. The delay, if there
should be any, will be disappointing
to the Smyrna Clayton community
who are anxious to see early work
started on this much needed stretch,
yet none can complain against the
Highway Department for not wanting
to expend more on the project than
; the estimate of the engineers found
< necessary.
Ready to Start Road Work Soon
If weather conditions had been fav-
: orable work would have been started
: on seven unfinished highway opera
tiOns this week However, where the
snow is cleared and conditions are
favorable, work will be pushed with
f all possible speed. The seven oper-
Y ations embrace 20 miles of highway
f They include the following stretches;
S Between Smyrna and Leipsic, three
e miles; at Glasgow, one mile; between
r CheswOld and Kenton, three miles; be-
2, tween Burrsville and Vernon, five
n miles; Lewes to RehObOth, four miles
Basin road to New Castle, two miles
:, Broad Greek to Bethel, two miles. Fol
several weeks, Chief Engineer Bucl
u has been very busy preparing to su
u pevise the construction and the con
u tractors have been getting ready t,
Al push the work as speedily as possible
Engineers Figure About $4,000 Mil
- Highways in Delaware, it is esti
~ mated, will cost about the same thi
year as last. While the cost of struc
|! tural building has advanced, roa
!" building, because of the great compe
er tition between contractors, has bee
p kept to the same level as last yeal
Id This is about $4,000 a mile. Becaus
IN of the careful supervision being ex
" ercised over road building in Della
d ware by the State Highway Commits
l. sion the receipts from automobile i
s. censes and the 2 cents a gallon tax o
n gasoline this year are expected t
Tn provide not only enough money t
IL maintain the highways and care fo
nj the overhead, but to result in a SUI
p plus which is estimated at about $195
ne 600 at the end of the year.
= 81 Motor Licenses and Gasoline Yield
in During January $39O,OOO was r,
he ceived from the issuance of motor !
er censes. In February $4,000 was re
ce ceived, or a total in round figures {
We $426,OOO. This is more than $4,000
X in excess Of the apOunt received fC
,e- the first two months of last year.
,r- is estimated on this ratio that abol
,r- 100000 will be received during II
Die next ten months from motor license
til Last year the total was S526,000 fl
ev. the entire twelve months. The
cents on gasoline, it is estimated, wi
bring a revenue of about 100000 du
B ing the year, or a total of $900,0C
from licenses and gasoline. The owe
me head charges, maintenance and 9TH
sss expenses will total $705,000 this yea
tv- leaving a balance of $195,0O0, if q
mo the estimates work out as predicte
RS. "
md NEW POSTMASTER AT NEWAR