Page:California Highways and Public Works Journal Vols 8-9.djvu/37

 

Hanrahan Company of San Francisco, contractors, have the 8.8 miles of state highway reconstruction between Hayward and Niles well under way. The concrete shoulder and asphalt surfacing, including a small portion of 30-foot concrete pavement, is rapidly progressing, a considerable portion of the Portland cement concrete having already been placed. The asphalt concrete surfacing has commenced and a large portion of the base course has been laid. The placing of the surfacing course is now under way and the contract should, in a very short time, present a nearly complete appearance. A considerable portion of the grading of shoulders is yet to be done, together with the construction of side road approaches, before the road can be thrown open to full use of traffic. All structures are completed; which include the widening of a number of concrete structures and the widening of corrugated pipe culverts.

Considerable improvement is to be made at the north end of the town of Niles. The plan here was the reconstruction of the curved road approaches using the longest possible radii, giving the greatest visibility and throwing the intersection with the counter road to Niles Canyon some 200 feet northeasterly of the underpass. The underpass formerly had a 5-foot sidewalk on split grade along the westerly side. This sidewalk is to be torn out, as a pedestrian underpass has already been installed under the railroad tracks west of the underpass structure. This improvement, while a seemingly minor one, is a particular advantage to traffic, as it increases the roadway width in the clear to 28 feet.

During the interim all local and through traffic is being handled along the work.

Widening operations between Markleeville and Woodfords have just been completed and surfacing with crushed gravel is under way and will be completed by January 1, 1930, placing this section in good shape for winter travel.

Hemstreet and Bell have completed placing crushed rock surfacing on the newly graded section of the Mother Lode Highway between Dry Town and Amador City. This rock surfacing will be armor coated next spring. Jess Cole was the resident engineer on the grading and surfacing.

The contract from Oroville to Feather River, a distance of four miles on the Feather River lateral, Ariss Knapp Company, contractors, is proceeding normally. The work will probably be completed late in January unless exceedingly had weather conditions prevail.

The new grade on the Mother Lode Highway between Mokelumne Hill and San Andreas has been surfaced with crushed gravel by the Adams Company.

The old Herndon Bridge, which served traffic for 25 years, has at last been demolished, having been replaced by the modern structure on the west side of the Southern Pacific tracks, which was completed early last summer, eliminating two dangerous grade crossings.

Tieslau Bros. has completed its contract for surfacing with premixed oil and rock from Coalinga to 7 miles west on the Sierra-to-the-Sea Highway.

Convict Camp Number 19 in the Kings River Canyon is making good progress and already some four or five miles of completely graded highway provides an excellent example of what this modern mountain scenic highway is to be. The entire personnel, including free men and convicts, are taking a keen interest in their work and are endeavoring to make not only the highway but also the reputation of Camp 19 somewhat above the average.

Los Angeles-Imperial Valley Route—Contractor A. M. Peck of Los Angeles is starting work on a 10.4-mile Portland cement concrete paving project from Brawley to 4 miles west of Westmoreland. The new pavement will be 20 feet wide and will be laid on a sand cushion placed on top of the existing oil-treated surfacing.

Borderland Highway—Bids will be opened for paving from El Centro to Holtville on January 22. The improvement will consist of a 20-foot pavement laid on a sand cushion over the existing oil-treated surfacing. A contract has been awarded to R. E. Hazard Contracting Company of San Diego for asphalt concrete widening and resurfacing from Dixieland to Seeley.

Bids will be opened January 15 for alignment improvement and cement concrete pavement from Myers Creek Bridge to 3 miles west of Coyote Wells. The pavement destroyed by floods in December, 1926, will be replaced with this project. Over part of this project the roadbed was constructed under a previous contract.

State forces have placed 8 miles of nonskid surface on the slippery portions of the long tangent south 