Millard, A D

English

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Facilities for Storage and Repair of Street Department EquipmentA. D. M illard City Engineer Hammond, IndianaI have made no attempt to write a thesis on this subject, but I will try to give a brief description of the facilities we have in Hammond at the present time, and a description of what we hope to have in the near future.Some information about the city and the work of the street depart­ment may help in making comparisons with the problems in other cities. We have approximately 250 miles of streets, 90 miles of which can be classified as paved, 20 miles as low-type bituminous, 60 miles as metallic materials, and 80 miles as nothing more than trails. We attempt to clean the paved surfaces at least twice a year, fill all holes, resurface or seal-coat two or three miles of the poorer surfaces each year, and in the winter assist the sun in keeping the main through streets safe to drive on.At the present time our street equipment includes six 1/2 ton dump- body trucks, one large patrol grader, one 10-ton and one 5-ton roller, one small tractor with high-lift and bulldozer attachments, one 1,000- gallon trailer asphalt distributor, two small portable asphalt kettles, two gutter sweepers, one U-type truck plow, and six single-blade truck plows. The garbage department has fourteen 1 1/2-ton dump trucks that are stored and maintained jointly with the street department equipment. Some light repair work of 18 police cars is also done in the shop. The water and sewer departments use their own facilities for their equip­ment.Our present facilities include a two-story brick barn, 60' x 90', and a plot of ground, 9 0 'x 220', adjoining the barn. A woven wire fence protects equipment that cannot be placed in the building at night. The past two winters we have been able to rent 2000 sq. ft. of floor space for storing some of the heavier equipment, which we do not use at that time of year. One corner of the building has a room about 20' x 30' for our shop, with an air-compressor, and gasoline pump against one159160wall. There is room for one mechanic and helper (and the police de­partment mechanic part of the time) to elbow their way around three passenger cars or one truck and car and do some repair work. There is some space on the ground floor for temporary storage, but the posts or columns are so placed that one row of trucks is all that can be accom­modated. The space on either side is used for storage of street signs, barricades, etc. At the front of the hayloft is a small office, and the rest of the second floor can be used as a paint shop and for light storage, such as small tools.In 1942 the Board of Works had plans drawn for what would amount to fourteen stalls for trucks and three larger stalls for larger equipment, which would be weatherproof and heated, and for a roof over most of the rest of our present equipment. The few critical ma­terials necessary and uncertain labor costs kept bidders away. Since then the Common Council has relented enough to agree to a $100,000 bond issue for a garage.Under the circumstances we are forced to design our building accord­ing to the amount of money available rather than as to needs. W e hope a building 100' x 140', inside measurements, can be constructed for this amount, or with a possible additional $25,000, that we may be able to use. Our design is such that 20-foot units of length may be added or left off. The site is large enough for later extensions. The front and part of the side-walls will be brickfaced and the back part of the side- walls and rear wall will be of concrete block construction. The floor is to be 6" reinforced concrete; and the roof, concrete slabs. A row of columns down the center, making the roof truss spans only 50', will be approximately 20' apart. At the front will be four 12' doors, two each near each side wall, and two doors in the back. There will be approxi­mately 12' 8" under the roof trusses.The office, 24' x 22', will be in the front, between the two sets of doors. Over this and the left doorway will be a 22' x 50' second floor. On this floor will be a toilet-room with a shower bath, a lunch room, and a stock room.The shop will be L-shaped, consisting of a rectangle 66' x 42', ex­cepting therefrom the 24' x 22' office. There will be two doors through the back walls of the shop to allow entrance from both outside the build­ing and from the storage room. The shop can be extended into the building, if and when necessary, and will probably have to include the boiler room.The building will be heated by steam. A 20' x 14' boiler room will be placed lengthwise of the shop. Heat will be distributed from units161near the ceiling. W e hope to be able to install steam outlets on one outside wall for use in cleaning garbage trucks.We are unable at present to decide on additional shop equipment. Provisions will be made for future use of 220-volt motors. Lack of money and doubts as to being able to employ competent mechanics at this time make it advisable to proceed with caution. W ith the additional room in our shop we will be able to do a larger part of our repair work, which we hope will become relatively less when we are able to protect our equipment from the weather, and check and repair it before major repairs are made necessary.

Facilities for Storage and Repair of Street Department Equipment

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Facilities for Storage and Repair of Street Department Equipment

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