Evening star., 1933-04-21
Some Observations
On Asphalt Plants
To the Editor Of The Star:

To the Editor Of The Star:
In an article appearing In your paper
under date Of April II. 1883. It was
stated that In the District of Columbia
appropriation bill the sum o( $4,000
had been cut on the salaries Of ofacials
Of the testing laboratory and conveys
the impression to the public that six
men were all that were employed in the
laboratory, when, - . matter Of fact,
there are IS men employed In the Of
fice, together with . f1eld force Of 80
men, making . total Of IS men ut IN
operating cost Of over $50 900 per year.
The $4,000 cut mentioned will af-
feet six old employees Of the once OF
asphalts and cements who have worked
In this department with . record Of
service from IS to ~ years, and these
men are experts In their line.
Many residents Of the District do
not know that for about 30 years before
Capt Whitehurst took charge Is direc-
tor Of highways the District govern
ment maintained testing laboratory
which was operated under the name Of
ONCE Of inspector Of asphalts and
cements.
This laboratory was amply sufficient
for all the work necessary to be done
for the testing Of materials going into
roadways and pavements and was
manned by men Of experience. The
chief inspector was required to super
wise the compounding Of oil asphalts
and paving mixtures; all ONCE tests
and feid work; write all specifications
and represent the District on the Fed
eral Specification Board. With . salary
Of So, 400 and Q force Of IS men during
the working season. consisting Of 8
permanent and ~ temporary employees,
he performed al work necessary at q
total operating expense Of about $44 900
per year.
The director of highways In 1880 OBJ
tanned from Congress . large appropri-
alton to build q new laboratory. He
then discontinued the old laboratory
and established in its stead the De-
partment Of Tests, made radical changes
in the personnel by bringing in q new
man as engineer Of tests at q salary
Of $4,800 appointed large number Of.
assistants and increased the operating
costs to 10000 per year. It now takes
six high-salaried men ut . cost Of
$14, 900 to do the same work that one
man formerly did for $3,400 as inspec-
tor Of asphalts and cements. There is
no reason why the taxpayers should
pay an excessive cost for pavement and
roadway testing service.
There can be q saving Of SO per cent
In operation cost and q 40 per cent re-
tor Of aSphalts and cements Is restored.
The director Of highways, in 1929,
had charts and data compiled to show
that the average life Of pavements laid
under the supervision of inspector Of
asphalts and cements was over IS years
and used this data before Congress to
obtain increased appropriations for
street work.
The municipal asphalt plant that was
located at Florida and New York ave-
nues northeast. operated by the District
government, was never Q success. due to
the fact that it could not turn out q
proper controlled material and when
reclaimed or old asphalt pavement was
used the operating cost could not be
kept within the price that standard
paving mixture could be obtained from
contractors. The inspector of asphalts
and cements objected to its use. How
ever, In spite Of this fact, the director
of highways requested an appropriation
to purchase two baby asphalt plants
WHICH Tie inspector Oh a6plAltS anu
cements rejected the second day after
they were put in operation. They were
operated for two years at . tremendous
cost to the taxpayers and then aban-
doned. All the work done by these
plants had to be replaced, and In view
of all this the director Of highways had
the temerity to appear before this last
Congress and ask for an appropriation
of $4,000 to purchase another asphalt
plant, which cannot be operated by the
Government as cheaply Is the material
can be obtained from contractors.
The citizens Of the District of COL
umbia should consider these matters
and see that they are remedied. II we
are going In for economy let US have
some real economy through reduction
Of high-salaried personnel.
JOHN H. CRAWFORD.