Development of the State Roads Commission of Maryland / by J.H.F. Bittner

University of Maryland,
College of Engineering

THESIS
Submitted for the Phi Mu Honorary Engineering Fraternity,

by

J, H. F. Bittner

DEVELOPMENT OF THE STATE ROADS COMMISSION OF MARYLAND,

January 17, 1927.

The State of Maryland made its first move for
a State Highway Department when the General Assembly of
1898 passed an act providing for the establishment of a
highway division, and appropriated ten thousand dollars
annually to be used by the State Geological and Economic
Survey in improving the roads . After making investiga-
tions, the State Geological and Economic Survey came to
the conclusion that the question of intelligent road con-
struction demanded the attention of the people of Maryland
more than anything else, and that the money which was
spent by the counties (amounting to from three hundred
thousand to one million dollars annually) was a decided
hindrance to the development of the state . Upon the
passage of this Act, data were collected and published
concerning the existing cord.lt ions and the best methods
to be adopted for highway construction. Various tests
were made on road materials, and an elaborate system was
worked out to be followed in the program. This was done
by trained engineers and their assistants. Plans and
specifications were prepared to be used for road improve-
ment in various portions of the State.

In 1904 a State Aid Law was drawn up and passed
by the General Assembly, This law was to be under the
jurisdiction of the State Geological and Economic Survey

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and provided two hundred thousand dollars annually for
the state to use in connection with highway work. Under
this law, the state and county were to cooperate so that
the cost should be divided between them. Its restric-
tion was that the plans and specifications and general
supervision were to be under the guidance of the state
alone ,

Even with this State Aid plan, the counties
continued building roads at their own expense, as did
the state. The road from Washington to Baltimore was
built and financed entirely by the state.

A much larger plan of state road construction
was taken up in 1908. The foregoing period had been
a time of preparatory work, which resulted in the organ-
ization of an efficient engineering force, and the con-
struction of many miles of modern roads throughout the
state. The State Geological Survey in 1906-07 proposed
this broader system in their report when the Geological
Survey Commission recommended the following:

"The Commission feels, in view of the
widely awakened interest In road matters
and the present discussion of proposed leg-
islation for the early improvement of the
roads of the State, that it should report
the conclusions it has readied as a result
of its experience to date in State road
construction. These are as follows:

"First. That the early improvement,
according to modern methods, of an efficient
system of main roads and feeders covering
the whole State is desirable from every
standpoint.

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"Second. That it is not only proper,
but good business judgment on the part
of the State to provide that the main
arteries of this system should be improved
and maintained by the State Commission at
the expense of the State .

"Third. That the improvement of the
remainder of the system should be at the
joint expense of the State and the counties.

"Fourth. That the minor roads should be
built and maintained by the counties and
localities themselves.

"Fifth, That present conditions have
shown the importance of many of the turn-
pikes as sections of the general system.
ffhile undoubtedly the operation of these
highways has contributed in the past to
the development of the State, conditions
are rapidly approaching the point where
their future existence as toll roads is
entirely undesirable. Any legislation look-
ing to the abolishment of the turnpipe as
toll-roada should recognize the private
rights and property values in the turnpikes
themselves, and in all cases of assumption
by the State or counties of the turnpikes,
fair compensation should be made to private
Interests for the property taken from them,

"Sixth. That any legislation providing
for the taking by the State of the turnpikes
should allow great discretion to the State
Commission to prevent the acquisition of
unnecessary property or turnpikes unsuited
to the development of a system of market
roads. Such legislation should be broad
enough to allow the Commission to acquire
for the State, for improvement and mainten-
ance, either turnpikes or main roads, as
the case might require,"

Governor Crotners followed this plan and car-
ried it to a successful issue during the four years of
his administration.

The State Roads Commission was organized on

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April 30, 1908, at which time the following members
were sworn in by Governor Crothers: John M. Tucker,
Chairman; Ira Remsen, William Bullock Clark,
S, M. Shoemaker, and Francis C. Hut ton, together
with the Governor ex-officio. A few weeks later,
W. W, Crosby, Chief Engineer of the State Geological
Survey, was also elected Chief Engineer of the State
Roads Commission, an arrangement being made whereby
his salary was divided between the two organizations,
thus consolidating the management and preventing dup-
lication. The Chief Engineer's first important
move was to recommend an engineering department for
the joint commission. This plan was adopted and under
it were the Division of Construction and the Division
of Surveys and Plans with a first and a second assistant
engineer respectively.

The work of road construction- was entirely
transferred from the State Geological Survey to the
State Roads Commission on June 1, 1910. Thus the joint
commission terminated on that date. The entire cost
of the engineering force then fell upon the State Roads
Commission, but Mr, Crosby continued as Chief Engineer
of the State Geological Survey without salary.

The administration offices of the State Roads
Commission were first located in the Union Trust Building.

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while the engineering department was located at the
Johns Hopkins University. This was at first necessary-
be cause of the joint arrangement with the State Geolog-
ical Survey. After this arrangement was discontinued,
the location remained the same "because of greater avail-
able space and the access to the test laboratory and
shop.

In May 1912, Mr, Crosby resigned as Chief
Engineer. He was succeeded by H. S, Shirley, who had
been Roads Engineer for Baltimore County for eignt years.

Shortly after Mr. Shirley took charge as Chief
Engineer, a new and important reorganisation of the
engineering department took place. The construction
and maintenance departments had been separate, each cover-
ing the whole state. By the new system, the State was
divided up into eight geographical sectionswith a
Resident Engineer living in the central part of the Sec-
tion, who was responsible for all construction, mainten-
ance, and State Aid work in his territory.

As a result of this change, a great saving has
been effected, and to enable still greater economy a
Purchasing Department was organized similar to that used
in large railway corporations.

After being Chief Engineer of the Commission for
six years, Mr. Shirley resigned on April lo, 1918. He
was succeeded by John N. Mackall, who had been employed

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by the Commission in various capacities since 1905,
except that for a year and a half prior to his appoint-
ment he had been connected with the Pennsylvania State
Highway Uepartment,

Just about this time great difficulty with
construction and contractors was experienced because of
the intervention of the World War, One great hindrance
was the drastic Priority Order No. 2. This was passed
in 1918, and prohibited the use of open top cars for
transportation of materials other than those essential
for war work, thus preventing the use of such equipment
in the construction of roads. As nearly all trucks
used for transporting road materials were of the open top
type the contractor was placed under a great handicap.

A great number of contracts had been carried
over from 1917 and could not be completed in 1918 on
account of this order. When open top cars again became
available for use, the price of labor and material had
increased considerably. It was necessary that these con-
tracts be completed, but their completion at the original
bid would, in a great number of cases, have sent the con-
tractors into bankruptcy. Thus they would have been
excluded from bidding on further contracts and the
public would have had to wait probably tv/o or three years
while the bonding companies completed the work.

Rather than have this occur, the State Roads

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Commission decided to increase the contract prices equal
to the increase in price of labor, material and freight
over those prevailing on the date of Priority Order No. 2.
These prices were satisfactorily determined in all cases,
and as a result every contractor proceeded with his work
in the spring of 1919 and had it completed before fall.
The Commission felt its action in the matter was fully
justified. This is borne out by the fact that several
other states followed Maryland's lead in this case, taking
similar action either through their highways departments,
or through their Legislatures. But Maryland has the
distinction of showing the way to the rest.

The great volume of war-time traffic caused
several sections of the roads to go to pieces, especially
where munitions or other heavy loads were being constantly
hauled over them* The width of the Washington-Baltimore
Road, originally fourteen feet, was increased to twenty
feet by adding a three foot concrete shoulder on each
side of the road where the surface was still serviceable,
or by making a replacement of twenty foot concrete in such
places where the road had failed entirely.

In addition to ordinary maintenance of the roads,
the Commission took a step toward reducing the number of
accidents occurring annually. It was felt that this
could be accomplished by the expenditures of a relatively
small amount of money. The first step toward this end

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was the whitewashing of all culvert headwalls, telephone
poles and similar obstructions in close proximity to
the roadway. With this done, travel is much more sat-
isfactory at night, and far safer. Other measures were
taken toward safety by relocating some of the more dan-
gerous curves.

In 1920, John N. Mackall was elected to retain
his position as Chief Engineer, in addition to the Chair-
manship of the new Commission. Shortly afterward an
Assistant Chief Engineer and a Secretary were elected.

Prior to 1920, the manner of distributing the
funds from the appropriations to the various counties
was not specified and none of the counties knew exactly
what it was to receive. The Acts of 1920, however, pro-
vided not only the amount each county should contribute,
but also how much it should receive from the different
Road Funds. The County Commissioners of the several
counties recommended the type of roads to be built, and
in almost every case their recommendations were followed
by the Commission. These practices have prevailed down
to the present time and have been very satisfactory and
much superior to previous methods ,

In 1920 the bids given on several sections of
road throughout the State were exorbitant and the Cora-
mission acted quite contrary to the demands of the people

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by refusing to allow tiie contracts to be awarded under
these conditions. Many requests were made for the Com-
mission to build certain sections of road, but the extra-
ordinarily high prices made it feel justified in waiting
until a drop should occur. The bids received in that
year averaged nearly fifty thousand dollars per mile,
whereas the same sections were awarded the following
spring at a cost of less than thirty-five thousand dol-
lars per mile. The tendency has since been to have very
few projects carried over, so that the contractors are
forced to bid lower than otherwise. This policy has
culminated in Maryland's having a great number of excellent
highways at a much lower cost per mile than almost every
other state.

Mr. Mackall has continued as Chief Engineer and
Chairman of the Commission. Through his tireless efforts,
as well as the rest of the Commission's, and the hearty
cooperation of the County Commissioners in the selection
of roads, Maryland has come to be recognized as having 3ome
of the best roads in the country.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Reports of the State Roads Commission of Maryland
1908 to 1923, inclusive.