Samuel Whinery

“ The assumption that either party has superior or extra rights not expressed or to be fairly inferred from the written agreement, or in accordance with the established rulings of the courts, is wholly without warrant. The smallest contractor is, in this respect, upon an equal footing with the largest city government for which he may undertake to do contract work. It is not infrequently the case that the city assumes a superior and dictatorial attitude not in harmony with these principles, and it is too common for the contractor to seek to evade or to escape from clear contractural obligations. ”

“ The practice of laying pavement surfaces, particularly those of asphalt, upon a foundation of old stone blocks, carelessly reset, with the joints unfilled with mortar, is all wrong and should never be resorted to. The integrity and durability of an asphalt pavement depends largely upon the strength and rigidity of its foundation; to lay an asphalt surface, however good, over such an old block foundation, is an inexcusable waste of money. ”

“ The consequence is that bidders not only count upon concessions and lax enforcement of the specifications, but bid lower and lower, expecting that further concessions will enable them to get out with an undeserved profit. This is one of the most serious evils in the paving business to-day, and the highest public interests demand a thorough reform. Low first cost, desirable as it may be, is the poorest economy if it be secured at the sacrifice of the quality of the work. ”

“ If such a standard foundation is sufficient for the streets of heaviest travel, it is obviously a sheer waste of money to use it on the suburban streets carrying the lightest travel. It is therefore better in preparing standard specifications for pavement in any city to leave blanks for the ratios of the concrete and for the thickness of the foundation, to be filled in, in each individual case, as the judgment of the engineer may dictate. ”

“ In inspecting any work done under contract you are to assume that the contractor is bound to carry out in good faith the plans and specifications attached to his contract, and that he may be, and must be, held to a strict compliance with them unless you receive instructions to the contrary from the engineer. ”

“ In street paving work, of well-known and standard character, the second class of specifications seems preferable for a number of reasons, the leading one being that the time required to develop the good or bad quality of the work must usually extend over a considerable number of years, and the conditions to which the pavement may be subjected in the meantime are likely to vary so widely that it may be very difficult, if not impossible, to prescribe a satisfactory standard of service and endurance. ”

“ GENERAL REMARKS ABOUT INSPECTION AND INSPECTORS The necessity of having competent and honest inspectors upon any public work during its construction need not be here argued. It is generally understood and recognized in the case of work carried out by contract. Where the contractor is incompetent, careless or unreliable, inspection is absolutely necessary if good work is to be secured. ”

“ In many respects it is desirable that all the work to be done under contract should be quite fully itemized, and a unit price named for each kind of work. It is the custom in many cities to name only certain leading items of the work to be done under a paving contract, as for the pavement complete, furnishing and setting new curbing, redressing and resetting old curbing, and possibly a few other leading items, and to require that all necessary incidental work shall be done by the contractor without cost to the city ”

“ There is still a wide difference of opinion as to the advisability of laying the asphalt surface directly against the rail, many engineers preferring to set one or more courses of paving brick, or stone paving blocks between the rail and the edge of the asphalt. The writer’s experience is to the effect that, if the work is properly done, the first-named form of construction is preferable. If the asphalt be laid against a rail so cold that the asphalt material in contact with or near the rail is chilled before it can be compressed, the work will necessarily be unsatisfactory. ”

“ Proper repairs to pavement surfaces cut into for pipe work, etc., are difficult to make and hardly ever satisfactory over broken stone foundation for the reason that the lack of cohesion in the material allows it to loosen or crumble away from under the edge of the pavement surface, and it is difficult to restore it to its original solidity and strength. The first cost saved by its use is usually not great; for whenever its use would be permissible at all, a comparatively thin and lean concrete would give better results, at a very slight increase in cost. ”

“ The practice of filling the joints with gravel to a depth of one inch or more before the blocks are rammed is of doubtful utility. If the blocks are set closely against each other they will be well held in place while the ramming proceeds. In practice it is hardly possible to closely gage the depth of such preliminary gravel filling, and the top or final filling whether of grout or of gravel and bituminous cement, is likely to vary greatly in depth, and the lateral support of the blocks is thus likely to vary in strength and rigidity. ”

“ If the plans and specifications for any work which a contractor bids upon are so full, specific, and clear, that he may know exactly what he will be expected to do, and if they do not require him to assume unusual chances and risks, he may intelligently name prices which he believes will compensate him for the service. Having done so, his proposal having been accepted, and a contract entered into accordingly, the engineer and the municipality have a right both in law and equity to demand that he will do exactly and fully what he has contracted to do. ”

“ The practice of opening the street to travel for a period after the blocks are relaid and before the asphalt surface is applied, helps, under favorable conditions, to consolidate the foundation, but does not remove the objections to it. If heavy rains intervene, the sub-foundation becomes saturated with water, and its resistance so reduced that the stone blocks settle out of shape, particularly in soft spots, and they are usually hastily raised and reset just before the asphalt surface is applied. The result is an insecure foundation fatal to the durability and usefulness of the pavement. ”

“ Good workmanship embraces many small details that are essential, and inferable from the specifications, but cannot be stated at length therein, and the inspector should have a good working knowledge of these.
Unfortunately, large numbers of inspectors are employed for personal or political reasons, or because more competent men are not available. They know little or nothing from practical knowledge and experience about the work they are assigned to inspect. Efficient service cannot be expected from such, even if they possess the other necessary qualifications. ”

“ The objections to using mortar for plastering over the concrete are: that it is more costly than concrete; that the two materials may, under certain conditions, separate and the thin mortar surface break up under travel; that, if permitted, the mortar may be used to cover up defective concrete, and that in the case of asphalt pavements the pavement surface is more likely to “shift” on the smooth surface of the mortar than on the rough surface of the concrete. The practice of going over the fresh concrete with street brooms should not be permitted. ”

“ To illustrate: specifications for block pavement commonly stipulate that the blocks shall be set in rows running at right angles to the axis of the street, except at street intersections, where the engineer may direct them to be laid at a different angle. There is usually no good reason why the engineer should not determine beforehand at which, if any, street intersections the general rule should be changed and so state in the specifications. These may be and usually are unimportant matters which may not much affect one way or the other the cost to the contractor. ”

“ Inspectors, whether appointed by the engineer in charge or not, should be absolutely under his control, including the power of dismissal without unnecessary formalities. Where they are under civil service regulations and can be dismissed only upon charges and after a hearing before some third person, the obstacles in the way of promptly getting rid of an incompetent or unfaithful inspector are often so great as to be discouraging if not deterrent. ”

“ Wherever an old pavement or macadam road can be utilized it makes an excellent foundation for a pavement of this kind, provided it is not in too dilapidated a condition, extends from curb to curb, and its surface conforms near enough to the desired street surface so that the necessary changes and repairs will not be too expensive. Where the new pavement is expected to carry quite a heavy travel it is not advisable to use plain crushed stone for filling depressions and leveling up the surface. ”

“ It seems to be deeply and almost irradicably fixed in the mind of the average foreman on municipal work that he is expected to show his ability and skill by evading or circumventing the strict requirements of the specifications and the watchfulness of the municipal agents, whatever his employer may say to the contrary. Even when fairly careful, honest and conscientious he may need friendly oversight. ”

“ Like other stones, granite from various localities differs widely in strength, hardness and brittleness. Great hardness, accompanied with comparative brittleness, is not desirable in granite for paving blocks. Such material usually polishes by travel and becomes quite slippery, and it is likely to become “turtle-backed,” that is, the corners are likely to be chipped off or worn off, making the pavement very rough and uneven. The quality of the granite to be used in any one city is generally determined by the available supply, and specifications must be drawn with reference thereto. ”

“ Like other structures made of hydraulic concrete, the utility and durability of concrete roadway pavement depends largely upon the good quality of the materials used and the skill and fidelity with which the work is done. It is especially important that the second, or surface, course of the concrete shall be made and placed in strict accordance with the specifications and that a high degree of uniformity shall be secured in the composition, consistency and workmanship of that part of the work. ”

“ Inspectors who habitually expect or accept compensation or gratuities from the contractor violate the first requirement, and their number is astonishingly large. These are useless, or worse than useless, to the municipality. There are not a few contractors who will take advantage of the presence on the work of such inspectors to do things that they would not do if thrown wholly on their own honor and responsibility. Contractors can hardly be blamed for expecting some compensation for the money thus exacted or accepted by the inspector from them. ”

“ Computation will show that the difference in cost of materials, between the usual two-course construction and a single body of rich concrete throughout, is not very great, while the saving in cost of labor is so considerable as to make the actual difference in cost of the two types very small. There can be no doubt that the simpler construction and the consequent greater certainty of securing a durable and satisfactory job is greatly in favor of the construction here recommended. ”

“ The most notable departure of these specifications from usual practice is the use of a solid body of rich, homogeneous concrete for the whole section of the structure, thus avoiding the use of two courses and qualities of concrete—the core concrete and the facing. The most common cause of failure of concrete curbs and gutters is the separation, more or less, of the facing from the core concrete. Without doubt this can be prevented by the use of proper materials, careful work, and the strict observance of the rule that the facing course must be applied before the core concrete has begun to set. ”

“ It is hardly ever possible to secure a natural sand that will conform strictly to the theoretical composition, but substantial compliance should be required unless the Chief Engineer directs otherwise. After any sand has been approved for a given contract or street, all the sand thereafter used for that street should conform closely to the standard so approved; for any material change in the quality of the sand will change the quality of the pavement produced, unless the proportions of the other materials are changed accordingly. ”

“ It is difficult, even where proper care is used, to make such patches of broken stone as firm and strong as the adjoining old pavement, which is a necessary condition to secure satisfactory results; for if the masses of broken stone yield under travel, slight depressions will form over them in the bituminous surface, which will in time become holes requiring repairs. The 1:4:9 concrete specified for this work is not very much more expensive than plain broken stone, it will not shift or break up under travel, and will in the end prove a better investment. ”

“ Where the results have been unsatisfactory, the cause can generally be traced to unsuitable materials or unskillful construction, the result of ignorance or carelessness on the one hand, or of the attempt to reduce first cost below normal figures on the other. Many people are searching for a pavement or roadway that will have all the good qualities of the standard pavements but can be built about as cheaply as a common macadam road. ”

“ As a good concrete foundation 6 inches in depth can be laid for from 70 to 90 cents per square yard, it is obvious that if the old blocks can be sold for as much as the difference between the cost of the old block and the concrete foundation, nothing will be saved by using the old block foundation. In at least one city, asphalt pavement has been extensively laid over old stone block foundation relaid in a very careless manner, the joints being filled usually with the old sand or loam found in the street. ”

“ Within certain workable limits there is no reason why the same principles of proportioning the strength of a pavement foundation to the work required of it should not be applied as are employed in designing other engineering structures. ”