Third Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission Part 4

If the State Highway Department is to proceed with any considerable amount of work with State forces, it will be necessary to purchase some additional equipment so that the work may be prosecuted more economically, especially is this true of concrete bridge work and general maintenance work. These are special types of work and special types of equipment are necessary to handle them properly.

During the past year a great amount of equipment has been rented from private contractors and in case of short jobs and on special types of work, this is economical, but on long jobs, it is much more economical to purchase the necessary machinery as the amount paid out in rentals for a period of six or eight months is a considerable portion of the purchase price.

During the past season a warehouse was built by the Department for the purpose of housing construction equipment. This warehouse is located on State property near the Penitentiary. It is 40 by 80 feet in size and has railroad facilities.

All idle equipment and left over material is shipped to Salem, for storage, at the close of the season. There the equipment is overhauled, repaired, repainted, and placed in readiness for the next season's work.

The warehouse was built by the Department with day labor.

It will probably be advisable during the coming year to erect two more units to the warehouse to take care of a larger amount of equipment and provide for repair shop and garage.

A garage was rented at 660 North Capitol Street, Salem, and an efficient automobile mechanic was placed in charge. By this means the automobiles of the Department are kept in good repair, oiled and tires vulcanized.

Facilities are provided also for overhauling and repainting, which effects a considerable saving.

OFFICE ORGANIZATION

The work handled in the offices of the State Highway Department is of four cla.s.ses, each requiring specialized training, and, in a way, of little or no relation to each other. For this reason, the office organization consists of four different offices or departments: the General Office, the Auditing Department, the Office Engineering Department and the Bridge Department. The work of these departments is outlined in the following paragraphs.

=General Office.=--All business of the Highway Commission and all business of the Department with the public is transacted through the General Office. Under the direction of the Secretary of the Commission and the First a.s.sistant Engineer, this office handles all correspondence, the issuance of bonds, the execution of contracts, the purchase of supplies and equipment, and all general office detail.

The seal of the State Highway Commission and the minutes of the Commission meetings are in the custody of the Secretary. All mail is received and distributed through the Secretary's office, and in it filed all correspondence, legal doc.u.ments, etc. This office also keeps a record of all State equipment and takes care of the charging out of rental and depreciation on same.

The purchase of office, engineering and construction supplies and equipment is handled by this department and a considerable saving is realized by buying in quant.i.ties. On all stock supplies, each job is charged with the amount furnished and similarly rental on our own engineering instruments and automobiles is charged, so that the cost of each job may be determined. On construction projects which are furnished with our own trucks, road rollers, etc., each piece of equipment is rented out to the job in the same manner. A record is kept of the rental charged on each piece of equipment so that its value can be determined at any time.

=Auditing Department.=--This department, working under the supervision of the Auditor, handles all claims against the Commission, verifies each one, prepares the vouchers to cover, sends them out to claimants to be certified, and mails out the warrants when received from the Secretary of State. All vouchers drawn from the counties for co-operative work or projects over which the Commission has supervision, are also audited in this department. In 1917 there were 1,782 State vouchers pa.s.sed, aggregating a total of $682,321.98; in 1918, 3,371 were pa.s.sed, aggregating $2,205,935.70. In 1917 there were 544 County vouchers totaling $270,162.37, and in 1918, 410 vouchers totaling $439,562.79. A total of all such vouchers for the biennium aggregating $3,597,982.84.

Employes of the Commission are paid by payroll warrants drawn in favor of the State Highway Engineer and bank checks issued against the same.

The total number of paychecks issued in 1917 was 2,771, and in 1918 there was a total of 7,350.

It will be noted that in the past two years the Commission has done considerable work by day labor and the above statement includes all direct employes. It is desirable to expedite payment of labor claims, especially to men who quit on short notice. The present law requires that claims be prepared in voucher form, approved by the Commission for payment and then sent to the Secretary of State for audit. The warrant when received is deposited in a bank and a paycheck issued. It is recommended that a revolving payroll fund be created on which pay checks could be drawn and sent out immediately as requested. These could later be listed and the payroll voucher prepared in the usual manner in favor of the State Highway Engineer. The warrant when received, to be refunded to the payroll fund which would be kept intact. The State Highway Engineer should furnish a payroll bond to cover. This fund could also be used for emergency claims to take advantage of trade discounts and permit the payment of small claims which it is desired to pay promptly.

In the numerous cases in which the Commission has taken over the work to do with its own forces, the necessary bookkeeping and detail records for handling material, supplies and labor payrolls have been carried by this office. On several force account jobs each invoice and payroll of the contractor has been carefully checked and verified before being paid.

The record of both State and County funds have been audited by reputable certified public accountants and found correct.

Mr. G. Ed Ross served in the capacity of Auditor until his resignation in July, 1918, when his duties were taken over by Roy A. Klein, a.s.sistant Engineer.

=Office Engineering Department.=--In the Office Engineering Department are handled the numerous office details in connection with the engineering work of the Department. The more important of these duties are the working up of maps, profiles, specifications and estimates for new projects; the checking of monthly and final estimates for payments on contract work; the filing of engineering records of all kinds; the keeping of cost distribution and the compilation of reports, statistics and other data.

During the past year this department, in addition to its other work, prepared and had published a road map of the State of Oregon. This map shows all of the main traveled roads of the State and is believed to be the most authentic as well as the most complete road map of Oregon yet published. A small reproduction of the map is contained in this report.

Single copies of a larger size, 13 by 22 inches will be supplied upon application.

=Bridge Department.=--The Bridge Department prepares designs, plans, specifications and estimates for all bridges and similar structures. The inspection and the supervision of construction of bridges is also in charge of this department.

The laws of the State require that bridge designs be prepared for counties by the Highway Department, upon the request of County Courts.

Twelve counties have taken advantage of this law during the past two years and have called upon the Department for designs for a total of thirty-four bridges and six culverts, and of these structures twenty-seven bridges and four culverts have been built.

A total of ninety-five bridges and fifteen culverts were designed by the Bridge Department, of which fifty-nine bridges and eleven culverts have been constructed.

COST KEEPING

The keeping of an accurate segregation of expenditures and a detailed distribution of costs for an organization handling the amount of work and the character of work handled by the Highway Department is a matter of the greatest importance. The Highway Department seldom has under way less than eighty or ninety separate and distinct jobs. These jobs are scattered all over the State, and few of them are of sufficient size to warrant the employment of timekeepers on the jobs to keep exact records of expenditures and costs. The records for all of these jobs must be kept in the main office where it is impossible for those keeping the records to be personally familiar with the details of the numerous expenditures made on each of the many jobs.

To secure proper records of expenditures, therefore, a system of cost keeping must be used which requires little attention from the engineers and superintendents in charge of the various jobs, and at the same time gives sufficient information to those keeping the records in the main office to enable them to segregate all expenditures so that detailed information as regards total expenditures, monthly expenditures, expenditures from different funds, expenditures for different purposes, unit costs, etc., are readily available at any time, and in such form that all jobs may be combined to give total expenditures of various kinds, so that the Department is always Informed as to the financial status of each job and of all jobs.

The system of cost keeping now in use by the Department has been evolved from a number of other systems in use on work of a similar nature, and is a system specially devised to meet the requirements of the Department. For every cent expended by the Highway Department or under its supervision, there appears in the cost records, entries which give at a glance the name of the County in which the expenditure is incurred, the name of the particular job, whether it is an engineering cost or a construction cost, the particular part of the work involved, the fund from which it is paid, and a reference to the original invoice or statement upon which the payment is made. These records are so arranged and so summarized each month that almost any desired combination of costs is available, such as the totals for each county, for each job, for each fund, for engineering, for construction, for surveys, for administration, for construction engineering, etc.

The expenditure tabulations given in various parts of this report, and especially those in the part devoted to the Financial Report, give a good idea of the results being obtained with the system in use although they do not give the detail which is readily available in the records themselves.

EMPLOYES IN THE UNITED STATES ARMY SERVICE

The State Highway Department is very proud of its representation in the Army Service and in recognition of the patriotism of those employes who have gone to the Front, the Department has maintained a Service Flag upon which there are now sixty stars. The men represented by these stars are listed on the following Roll of Honor:

HONOR ROLL

Name and Company Former Position with Department

Abbott, Charles H., 23d Engineers Inspector Brown, Merle, Batt. F, 5th Field Artillery Chainman Chittick, Ernest Chainman Chrisman, William Chainman Coats, Solomon Chainman Conway, M. A., Navy Timekeeper Cook, Harold, Private, S. A. T. C., Willamette University Blueprinter Cooley, Lorrin D., Company Mechanic, 11th Co., Coast Chainman Artillery Cowgill, W. C. Jr., 1st Provisional Co., 32d Resident Engineer Engineers Cutler, Oscar, 472d Engineer Reg. Locating Engineer Gla.s.s, D. G., 2d Lieut., Co. D, 42d Engineers Locating Engineer Grabenhorst, Eugene B., Private, Co. P, 5th Bn., Instrumentman 22d Engineers Green, E. R. Private, Co. A, 23d Engineers Resident Engineer Greenwood, P. S. Transitman Grey, Ulric R., Camp 4-C, Spruce Squadron Instrumentman Hale, E. E. Chainman Harris, Milton, 2d Lieut. Transitman Hodgman, K. E., Captain, Spruce Division, Signal Resident Engineer Corps Hyatt, Waldron, 22d Co., 1st Regiment, U. S. Marine Corps Instrumentman Ingels, Hollis G., H. Q. Co., 62d Inf. Levelman Ingram, R. C., Corporal, Co. L, 23d Engineers Draftsman Isakson, C. O., 1st Lieut., 12th Engineers Instrumentman Jones, Melville S., Master Engineer, Co. C, 116th Engineers Computer Judd, Henry C., 3d Co., Coast Artillery Chainman Junken, Fred S., Navy Rodman Kelley, C. C., 1st Lieut., Co. E, 2d Bn., 20th District Engineer Engineers Kinsey, Claude, Co. A, 20th Engineers Instrumentman Lawrence, Perry, Amb. Co. No. 361 Topographer Lytle, K. D., Co. C, 43d Engineers Transitman McClintock, John, Hospital Unit, Coast Artillery Chainman McClintock, Leon, Hospital Unit, Coast Artillery Rodman May, Aloys H. Transit Rodman Metzger, Floyd S., Co. C. Q. M. Unit No. 305 Timekeeper Miller, E. V. Draftsman Miller, Ralph W. E., Corporal, Co. I, 62d Infantry Costkeeper Minton, Joseph, Co. M, 162d Infantry Rodman Moe, Forrest L., 9th Co. Coast Artillery Chainman Moore, Don H., Co. A, 116th Engineers Chainman Moore, Merton, Co. A, 116th Engineers Chainman Moore, Royal, Co. C, S. A. T. C., U. of California Chainman Morgan, Silas B. Rodman Murdock, R. B., 2d Lieut., Co. C, 42d Engineers District Engineer Murphy, Thomas, Hospital Corps, 40th Division Chainman n.o.ble, Chas. S., Y. M. C. A. Locating Engineer Nunn, Roy, Sergeant, H. Q. Co., 166th Depot Brig. Resident Engineer Oerding, Chas., Engineers Chainman Oerding, Harry, Co. A, 20th Engineers Chainman Quine, Ralph, Hospital Unit, Coast Artillery Chainman Reiter, C. G., 1st Lieut. Locating Engineer Rynning, P. B., Co. H, 23d Engineers Resident Engineer Schaffenberg, H. Chainman Smith, Frederic W., Co. C, Q. M. Unit No. 305 Timekeeper Smith, Thos. P. Stakeman Stretchberry, Ray, 17th Co., 23d Engineers Rodman Sutter, L. R., Co. F, 4th Engineers Chainman Tilley, Walker B., Co. K, 18th Railway Engineers Instrumentman Welborn, Forrest, Sergeant, 44th Machine Gun Company Clerk Wilson, Otis E. Inspector Withycombe, Earl, 20th Engineers Resident Engineer Vester, Albert Chainman

SUMMARY

The cla.s.sification of employes lost to the Department through enlistment in the Army is as follows:

District engineers 2 Locating engineers 4 Resident engineers 6 Transitmen 9 Draftsmen 2 Levelmen 1 Computers 2 Topographers 1 Timekeepers 3 Inspectors 2 Office clerks 1 Blue Printer 1 Rodmen 6 Chainmen 20 -- Total number 60

[Ill.u.s.tration: REINFORCED CONCRETE HALF VIADUCT ON THE COLUMBIA RIVER HIGHWAY BETWEEN GOBLE AND RAINIER IN COLUMBIA COUNTY, CONSTRUCTED IN 1918]

Financial Report

Fund Allotments and Expenditures During the Fiscal Period

December 1, 1916, to November 30, 1918