Smyrna times., 1955-09-01
HIGHWAY HEAD
MAKES REPORT
w. B. McKendrick, Jr., Lists
Construction Handled
During Fiscal Year
VARIED PROJECTS

winch enQed on June oU, accord
ing to a report prepared by w.
B. McKendrick, Jr., Chief Engin-
eer of the Department.
During the fiscal year the De-
partment had practically every
/ type of construction project in
: operation, ranging from the i'm
provement of existing highways
and bridges, to control of shore
protection along the shore line of
the State and the repairs and re-
placemnt of dams at various
ponds.
Likwise a number of the pro-
; jects were designed to provide i'm
proved traffic conditions along
some of the main used highways
such as providing dual highways
in some areas and widening and
resurfacing other highways in
this category.
Several new bridges were con-
structed to replace other struc-
lures found to be inadequate
while improvements were made on
number of other existing
bridges.
Construction work was in pro-
gress for providing the Walnut
Street crossing into Wilmington,
which will provide a new traffic
artery into Wilmington from the
: south Market Street causeway,
and the traffic interchange at
Basin Road designed to elimin-
. ate heavy traffic conditions at
that intersection.
Likewise many earth roads were
reshaped and graded and given a
hard surface, with most of these
projects being located in Kent and
Sussex Counties.
Highways through the heavy
populated areas in the general
Wilmington area were also i'm
proved and provisions made tc
!, eliminate some of the traffic prob
lens existing along those high
ways.
During the fiscal year the De
/. partment worked on projects hav
ing a total contract cost of $13,
878,043.82 and of this amount Sc,
655,611.40 represented project
continued from the previous fisca
year and S7,222,432 represented
contracts awarded during tn
= year. The contract prices of tn
/ projects completed during the ifs
II cal year were $8,881, ,88444.
:; There were total of Ill pro
/ jects worked on during the fisca
year. Of these projects Al wer
y for improving or rebuilding ex
l. isting highways, 10 were for i'm
y provement of existing earth roads
/ 5 were for construction of dual
q or divided highways, 18 were bridg,
projects and 20 were for variou,
= projects such as tide gates, shor,
s. protection operations, mill dams
l. etc. Work on 46 of these project!
y has been continued into the pres
ent fiscal year.
: In addition there were also II
: projects involving the furnishing
of maintenance supplies and ma.
: terials for work done under the
direction of each of the three
County Divisions in the Depart
ment.
Improvements of streets in cit
les and towns that connected with
; State highways, or handled high
way traffic through these cities
and towns, also received much at
tention- during the fiscal year with
total of 20 of these projects be-
ing handled by the Department
during that period.
OF the projects worked on by
the Department during the fiscal
year, SO were in New Castle
County, % were in Kent County
and 35 were in Sussex County.
A total of 1854 miles of high
ways were involved in the pro-
jects handled by the Department
during the fiscal year, including
the construction of dual, or divid-
ed highways, and the widening,
resurfacing and improvement of
existing highways.
In addition the maintenance
work of the three County Divi-
sions provided for the improve
ment of 111.9 miles of roads in
their counties.
With the projects now in oper-
alton, and the construction pro-
jects already approved by the De-
partment, the present biennium
will be a busy period for the De-