The Key West Citizen Newspaper, August 16, 1926, Page 10

THE KEY WEST CITIZEN MONDAY, AUGUST 16, 1926. PAGE TWO » omy’s sake; roads over flat slabs | where parts can \ be repaired 3 ier service is replaced by man’s AUTO HIGHWAY OVER THE SEA (Continued from Page One) SS because of man having to-build his own road or that portion which lay adjacent to his farm before tie system of general county and state-highway construction began ini fotee. Howeberj such! is er- reneous. Today.there’ are vast sygteiiis organized for the éon- struction of roads and highways. fact, no one branch of engin- ng, except railroads, outclasses magnitude this work, Over-Sea “Highway * “The highways of Monroe-county are of as varied in types of con- stfiction difficulties as can be met with in any portion of the coun- tty. The road to the mainland, With«its varying topography and long water gaps to be bridged, is reeeiving attention that possibly no single highway of such short length has ever receiyed, "Obstacles Encountered In 135 miles of construction the | following variations occur: roads built through dense mangrove Swamps where the depth ’to rock ix fourteen feet, roads over rock latid Where the stone. is hard enough to polish and conisruct a perfectly smooth road to grade where long cuts even a foot in depth would have to be made would. be exceedingly expensive; roads over sand ridges where the cohtour of the ground and shore line has to be followed for econ- oferoek and marl pratties where the fill is not high but becabse of the natural consistency ef the ma- terjal delay in securing a setting up of said material for a roadbed refjuifés time; roads over water opehings where a bridge is not warranted but difficulty is exper- jeneedsin making the fill stand up. above water | mark; and lastly, roads over long and deep water Where mothing but bridges ‘of warious types, including draws, have’ fo be constructed and main- ith all of these things a be / cotitidered on thie face and the fact that for foux months of the year the insects have to be rec- . kofied-with plus the remoteness of theevarious locations from, a: city quiekly and expeditiously and | ingenuity and stamina, kinds of road machinery in use with a finished road, it will not be to day on this project as can he | such an undertaking then to con- found on any road building “Pro-| gram throughout the world. ‘A few may be mentioned; tractors, struct such a road and bridges. It is possible to build: anything |when there is enough money to large and small; scarifiers, grnd-| do it with. Examples are abound- ers, large 5-ton trucks, small ome-} ton trucks, airdrilling machines of various types, draglines, oil fdis- tribuiors, road rollers, pile driv- ers, barges, floating dredges, der- ricks, air machines for boring ;and driving drifts, tug boats and speed boats. In addition about 200 men are at work using these machines and pérforming general labor. Considerable care and attention is necessary on the part of, the people concerned with this work. Multitudes of details such ap the clearing of land, burning, | first searifying, grading, rolling of sub- grades, fills for. subgrades, Kaying of first and second course stone, ‘oiling, alignment, pile driving, steel erection, brtige building, sheet piling, concrete work, lum- ber checking and grading, pile tests, right of way problems en- tailing the fair consideration of adjacent property owners with the various sundry problems they have to submit, estimate preparation, accounting, War Department per- mits, with all the attending red tape and complications, | designs covering data obtained ‘through surveys, the interpretation of plans and arbitration with con- tractors ‘so that little difficulties may be amicably settled, ‘compen- sation for changes, housing prob- lems, conditions of the elements, and a score of other things that could’ be relegated and recounted. In the construction end, embody- ing the natural hazards which abound, including the several lives which have been lost and the var- ious injuries, thought) should be | given that, all.these things help to make a road. The county had g financial prob- lem in its road building program which was a repetition of the usual programs. With | the . tre- mendous amount of work to be done the ultimate objective being Miami, a stretching out of finances with a reasonable consideration as to quality had to be considered. This meant that no one thing could be stressed too severely in design, except the safety of travel at rea- sonable speeds. A truly graded, wide road, with definite sweeping turves and a perfect surface gould not be achieved and great distance along the line of route at the same’ time. Aroad that would afford a fo ousiderable thought inery Employed ’ Phere. are as*many’ ‘different means of travel was the main re- quisite. As. soon as the highway ing in this state alone as to beau- | tiful roads constructed by the | state road department. But, -in many instances these perfect spec- imens have been constructed on roads that have been “taken over’’. The pioneering roads have shown ithe soundness of the development programs. They have been built under extreme difficulties and form the foundation on which good products ean later be built. 'Tis Easy to Criticize It is easy to criticize any piece |of road or any other thing from one’s car as he glides along, es- | pecially when g bump in the road occurs and mars the peaceful equilibrium. But e little thought should also be given to the econ- omies of the proposition and to the fact that all pioneering is more or less an unfinished project. To sit down and plan the expenditure of ihe “small amount” of $3,. 000,000 without a single hitch or error either in the original designs or in the construction and per- formance or execution of such de- signs is a truly superhuman prob- lem. Then too, when such an amount has to cover a stated dis- tance over which there are no well established precedents to base one’s estimates, a lessening up of destructiye criticism is always in order. When one realizes that “dollar for dollar” this county has re- ceived more true walue than the average county with a far simpler scheme of road building, a great deal of credit is due a Board so efficient in its judicious manage- ment. Project No. 1 Project No, 1 has just been com- pleted by the Tidewater Con- struction Company’ and accepted by the board of county commis- sioners. This project.is the con- necting link between the island of Key Largo and the proposed connection with the mainland of Florida. There is one bridge 2,-. 800 feet in length over the junc- tion of the waters of Barnes and Card3 sounds, one « steel center swing drawbridge, six minor bridges over a succession of in- tervening ereeks where the aver- age depth of water is 12 feet, 4 miles of road through a dense mangrove swamp; the total cost of the project being $141,000. The road, although built along the is once completed, and ‘increases ‘in _Valuation become |compatible throughout is really a creditable (ez economical width of sixteen feet’ - piece of work in design and con-| struction. The road bed is four feet above mean low water and is 24 feet wide at the top, the ‘material in same assuming its natural slope. There is a ditch at each side of the road, the ditch having been dug by means of a dragline on mats, pulling from the far side of the right-of-way.to the sub-base which consisted of a natural. timber mattress. The road is fairly straight and pleas- ing in appearance. Of all the projects that Monroe County had in its own road build- ing program this was probably one of the most difficult and in- accessible- The location of the road is nine miles from Key Largo station and nearly all of the material used in bridge work and the supplies for the equipment and men had to be hauled by truck | from Key Largo station to Lake Surprise and then up Barnes Sound to the various creeks. The rock pit for the surfacing of the road bed was located four miles from the fartherest point of haul and right in the heart of a dense hammock. The entire road runs through a dense mangrove swamp. In clearing the right-of-way the negro gang worked during the thickest of the mosquito season and actually cut trees below the water mark. Today there is a smooth, level, oiled road through a jungle of trees where but a few short months ago nothing but an animal could have found his way. In some places the natural material would not bear the weight of a man and yet today cars and an oil truck weighing 11 tons loaded can use the road with ease. Project No. 4 The next project in line is No. 4. This rune the entire length of Key Largo for a distance of ap- proximately 28% miles and con- nects with Project ‘No. 1. It is on this project that the greatest amount of efficiency has been ob- served, Jenner Bros. Construction Company has this contract and has employed the use of a fleet of 5- ton trucks, three draglines, four 10-ton tractors and other neces- sary equipment. The draglines were first employed to clear the right-of-way of the road for a width of 66 feet, then the tractors pulling especially constructed drags or searifiers came along tearing up roots and recks and more or less ploughing rows in every direction along the pro- posed road bed. “Then huge grad- ers were put to work scraping the tock into one large row in the (Continued on Page Three) | a a a hae ht a hath ala lal CMM EMM FLAGLER KNEW SOOM 4: c Men high in the business world doubted the sanity of the late Flagler when he explained that he would connect Key West with the’ mainland of Florida with steel rails. Undaunted, that business wizard oy ie anand TIT IDIOT DT OOOO TETRIS __builta.monument to himself that... has not only proved a big paying 029 000000000000000000 800 business, -but a commercial neces-.. sity. The Over-Sea Highway will likewise prove of more value than is now realized Toll Bridges will complete an. almost endless chain of cities down the East Coast of Florida to Key West. Furnished with all modern methods of transportation---railroad, highway and water---we open to the world a vast ter- ritory of the most desirable natural pos- sibilities for winter homes. The Key West Electric Company Vote For The Bridges And Prosperity Gas Service Company of Key West \ TYTTTTITITTT LTT PU iii) SIIITIGIITIITOUIIIIIII ILIAD OOI ass. L hakhuted