Ayer, William M

Deering, Philip J

Peabody, Frank A

Maine State Documents (Maine State Library)

Maine State Library Digital Maine Transportation Documents Transportation 5-8-1916 Instructions to Patrolmen (1916) Philip J. Deering Maine State Highway Commission William M. Ayer Maine State Highway Commission Frank A. Peabody Maine State Highway Commission Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalmaine.com/mdot_docs Recommended Citation Deering, Philip J.; Ayer, William M.; and Peabody, Frank A., "Instructions to Patrolmen (1916)" (1916). Transportation Documents. 3498. https://digitalmaine.com/mdot_docs/3498 This Text is brought to you for free and open access by the Transportation at Digital Maine. It has been accepted for inclusion in Transportation Documents by an authorized administrator of Digital Maine. For more information, please contact statedocs@maine.gov, adam.fisher@maine.gov. State Highway Commission Augusta, MaineMay 8, 1916Instructions to Patrolmen:Patrolmen are required to furnish a horse that will weigh 1200 pounds, or more, a four wheel wagon (drop axle preferred) that will carry at least one yard of material, all the necessary small tools and a drag built from the plan and specifications sent from the department.Patrolmen will give their constant attention to the maintenance of their sections, and looking after the same every day, rain or shine, Sundays and holidays in case of emergency, and will be respon­sible for the sections in their charge. Patrolmen will keep all cul­verts, ditches and waterways open and free from obstructions; all loose stones removed from the roads; keep guard rails safe; and re­move promptly all glass bottles and broken glass from the roadway.Patrolmen are provided with weekly report and monthly payroll blanks. The weekly reports must be filled out and forwarded weekly to the Inspector. Payrolls must be filled out and sent to the in­spector each month for his approval, and must be received in the office not later than the fifth day of the following month. Patrolmen will attend to the work themselves, and will not substitute any one in their place, except, on account of sickness or when it is actually necessary for them to be away. In such cases they must notify the office at once.Page 2Patrolmen will be regarded by the public as representatives of the State Highway Commission, and the Commission will be largely judged by the work which they do and the manner in which the work is handled.Patrolmen must be courteous at all times and give respectful attention and courteous answers to any inquiry which may be made of than by anyone travelling on the highway. Patrolmen shall not at- tempt to give information relative to the Commission; that is not a part of their duty. They shall refer any inquiries direct to the Commission’s headquarters at Augusta.Remember that every portion of the road under your care de­mands your best attention. If anyone happens to live on the section you patrol that you have had past differences with, remember that the road in front of his property demands the same careful attention as every other part of the road does, in other words, past differences of opinion or jealousy must have no influence on the work which you do while employed by the State Highway Commission. Our sole object is to give the public the best possible roads under the conditions exist­ing. If everyone of the patrolmen will conscientiously do his best, we feel positive that a very great improvement in the general road conditions will be the result.The patrolmen will plan their work so as to spend their time in doing actual maintenance work, not in travelling around. Do not get the habit of simply riding over your sections; you not only loose valuable time, but it makes a bad impression on the tax payer. The work must be planned in such a way that the sections will be covered, at least, twice a week.Page 3Patrolmen are requested not to stop and talk with those they meet, as it is easy to get into an argument in regard to the care of the road. Patrolmen have instructions to follow. The State High­way Commission request patrolmen to be interested in the sections as­signed to them for patrol, and expect the best possible results from the money paid them, and that a day's work will be nine hours on the road, not from the time of leaving hone in the morning until returning home at night, but nine hours of actual work on the road. Dragging, drainage, adding material, keeping loose stone raked from the road are the most essential duties of the patrolmen.Patrolmen are instructed as soon as it stops raining to go over their entire section with a drag, starting on the right hand side of the road and filling the right-hand wheel rut, then, going over the entire length of road finishing dragging the sections that dry out first, leaving the low, damp ones until last. Patrolmen must ride the drag in order to move the necessary material to fill the ruts and depressions, also to keep the drag at proper angle.Patrolmen shall see that the surface ditches at the side of the road are of suitable size to properly drain off all surface water; that all culverts are free and clear, and that the intakes are large enough and so shaped as to carry all the water and that outlets are kept clear and open, and a suitable ditch provided so as to carry the water away from the culverts as rapidly as possible.Always remember to keep the water off the road. Do not allow the water to stand in the side ditches, drain it away.Page kPatrolmen are requested to always have their team with them, and on rainy days to go over their sections and see that the water is running in the ditches and through the culverts, and prevent washouts as far as possible. If, for any reason any place in the road becomes dangerous the patrolman will repair the same as quickly as possible, hiring extra help, if necessary, and will protect the public from dan­ger in every way possible, and if necessary light the same at night, using two or more lanterns, one of them to be a red light.Patrolmen will notify the office, or Inspector at once of the dangerous place in the road.There are four kinds of material that are very necessary in road maintenance —  gravel, stone, sand and clay.As a large percentage of the improved roads are gravel, gravel should be used in maintaining than, and there should not be stones larger than 1" in the material used for surfacing. Fill the small holes; do not wait until they became large ones. "A stitch in time saves nine" and this certainly applies to road maintenance. When gra­vel is clean and does not bind, add a little clay. Water-bound maca­dam roads sometimes ravel in the early spring; when this occurs add binder and roll. It is not always necessary to roll; add a little stone dust frcm  time to time, and the traffic will roll the loose stone into place and the binder will hold them there. Where the auto­mobile travel is heavy, surface treatment is necessary to keep the road in shape and keep it from ravelling.Roads constructed of sand and clay need occasional attention. Usually these roads need sand the spring after they are constructed.If they are sticky add sand. If they are loose and dusty, they may need a little clay. Blue clay and coarse sand make the strongest sand-clay roads. Never use dead or dirty sand in making repairs.Page 5Patrolmen are requested to keep the loose stones out of the road. Do not leave than in piles on the shoulders over night. Never throw stones outside the road on adjoining land, whether it be tillage or pasture or wild land. Patrolmen are instructed to use stone from the roads in the ditches and on the hill Is to prevent washing, or to use them in widening out fills. Ran ember there is always a place to use road material of all kinds so that it will benefit the roads. Do not waste the material.Patrolmen are instructed to use for road repairs suitable ma­terial that can be found within the road limits, and under no condition to dig a hole beside the highway that would be dangerous to the public. In taking material, do not under-mime any fence, or damage property in any way. Patrolmen are requested to prospect for material along their sections and inquire the price of suitable material found and report the same to the office of the Highway Commission, or the Inspector, advising of the kind, quality, location, name and address of owner, and price.In repairing unimproved road, use the best material available.Do not haul material any great distance with one horse, as it is not economical. In case of emergency, poor material that can be obtained handily may be used.Keep the road smooth by dragging, raking out the rocks and fill­ing the holes that hold water. Ease off the bumps over old culverts by putting in a load or two of material each side and keep the ap­proaches off all bridges exactly at the grade of the bridge floor.Never dump material and level it. Always spread it frcm the cart or from the side of the road.Page 6In case an accident occurs on the highway under your care, please write a letter to the Commission giving the following information:Date of Accident Time of DayState of Weather Location of AccidentName of Parties Injured Nature of InjuriesNature of Accident Cause of Accident, if knownRates For PatrolmenThe following are prices to be used per hour by the patrolmen in making out their weekly reports and monthly payrolls. You will notice that it eliminates using a fraction, except on the last day of the month. If you work only part of a month use the rate per hour which is shown for all but the last day.27 day month243 hours @ 9 hours per day 26 days or 23b hrs. @ .31 $72,5bLast day, 9 hrs. © .27334 2.b&26 day month234 hours @ 9 hours per day 25 days or 225 hrs. ® .32 72.00Last day, 9 hrs. © .33-1/3 3.0075.oo25 day month225 hours @ 9 hours per day 2b days or 21f> hrs. @ .33 71.28Last day, 9 hrs. @ .33-1/3 3.72TFIooMarchMayAugustJune Oct. July Nov. Sept. Dec.April.Philip J. Deering, (State William M . Ayer (Highway Frank A. Peabody (Commission

Instructions to Patrolmen (1916)

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