Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1930-06-12
DISTRICT BILL FIGHT
BLOCKS WORK ON
CAPITAL $ STREETS
Contracts for $4,000, 900 in
Construction Cannot
Be Awarded.
HALF OF WORKING
SEASON is LOST
Estimates Also Are Halted by
Deadlock, Due to Grade
Crossing Items.

Delay in passage of the 1881 appro-
priation bill for the District is having
serious consequences on the highway
and street construction program, 1t was
learned today.
Approximately $4,000 900 worth of
new construction is called for In bids
opened by the District last April and
in a second series of bids, the first OF
which was opened yesterday. Another
batch will be opened today and third
set tomorrow. Awards of contracts on
most of these bids are contingent on
passage of the supply bill. Usually, in
years during which there is long
session of Congress, the supply bill IS
passed in May. In 1928, the bill was
signed by the President May 81, and in
1926, on May 10. In the short session
years, the bill is always signed on or
before March 4. The bids are always
opened and the District ready to let
the contracts to the low bidders as
soon as the bill is signed, so that adj
vantage may be taken of the open sea-
son for laying permanent roadwork,
which cannot be done during the cold
months.
Half of Season Lost.
Capt. Herbert c. Whitehurst, chief
engineer of the District, who has charge
of its highway work, remarked today
that half of the working season already
had been lost. A certain amount OF
work still can be done on money car
RED in the 1880 bill. and one OF the
contracts for which bids were opened
yesterday will be paid for out Of 1880
funds. But the bulk of the work Is
tied up by the delay in the passage OF
the bill.
The low bidders on yesterdays con-
tracts were Phil H. Mcguire, who bid
$l52, 43250, for work on cement road
ways, out of the 1880 appropriations;
Highway Engineering and Construction
Co. of Delaware, who bid $243,003.25,
for building concrete curbS and cutters,
and the Crawford Co., who bid $86,994,
for reSurfacing streets by the heating
method The last two bids are for con-
tracts to be let for money in the 1891
appropriation bill.
Estimates Present Difficulty.
Another difficulty confronting the
highway department is for making up
its estimates in 1892 AS an example.
Capt WhitehurSt pointed out that the
House form of the supply bill carries
one grade crossing elimination job, the
Senate form another and the highway
department is recommending third
Until it is known which one of these
will finally be in the bill any estimates
for ade-croSsing work for 1882 must
be guesses based on guesSes.
Another bid opened by the District
yesterday, connected with the highway
departments work, is for construction
of testing laboratories and shops at
Second and Bryant streets, just east Of
the pump house of the Bryant street
pumping station on land at present oc-
cupied by public Fairgrounds.
The departments research work is
now done partly in laboratory in
the District Building and partly on
public ground at First and Canal streets
southwest, which must be vacated soon
to make way for extension of the
Botanic Garden The low bid for this
work was put in by the Arthur l..
Smith Co., who asked $219,700.