PIONEER ACCESS .ROADS
Part II
. The first personal contact Highway
Department personnel.have with the in
dividuals interested in an. area where a
road is proposed is at the time of the
reconnaissance survey. It is also the
time that the department assumes the role
of1:a villain—in the eyes of some persons
by placing out ”little orange flags”.
• If one were to follow the theory
presented in the first article, there >
would be no need for any surveying once
the route had been, marked with brightly
colored paper dropped from an airplane.
The equipment simply moves in and a high
way is built. But engineers—and the
Federal agency that has part control of
the purse -strings of Alaska’s highway
building program.—have decided on a
-sounder more practical procedure, in
volving three or maybe four surveys
“essential for assuring the selection of
the best route.
First on the line is a party made
up of a geologist and highway location
engineer who- run a field reconnaissance,
which, although not an actual survey,
results in the staking or flagging of an
approximate route. Instruments may or
may not be used in. this survey depending
on the terrain. This type of field sur
vey enables the preliminary or location
survey to proceed usually without any
further field investigation. Aerial
photographs are studied, extensively for
( this survey.
It is a decisive operation in high
way route studies-and may involve an en
tirely new route $ or it may be an appraisal
of an existing highway to determine if,
the right of way, .alignment, grade and
roadway has salvage vqlue and can be
incorporated into a proposed improvement.
Locations on a new route resulting in
long fill or cut slopes are avoided when
possible due to increased maintenance
cost and impairment of service to traffic.
. It is at this time that the soils
and materials testing section of the_ De
partment of Highways begins a major func
tion. The geologist accompanying the
location engineer makes a visual examin
ation-on this reconnaissance for the .best
drainage and qites possible material to
be .taken for roadbuilding that is ad
iacent to the proposed route.
Later—on a location survey when the
centerline is laid out—the geologist
drills test holes along the centerline to
determine- the type of foundation already
present and what fill will be required
to make the-r-oadway suitable to handle
the traffic and loads that the highway
will carry. It is also at this time that
he tests and measures borrow pits from
which the aggregate and materials will be
taken# These tests and figures aid in
^-determining cost analysis of the proposed
road. Tests for most of these soils
and gravels are made in the field#
♦ a '• Some I peculiar problems with regard
to materials engineering exist in Alaska,
according to State Materials Engineer,
R#-E# Finney, which make this State par- ;
ticularly* conscious of the importance of
testing. Permafrost, of course, presents
a major problem in much of Alaska, and
unworkable silts crop us everywhere•
Since most, of the state was recently
glaciated $he underground materials appear
sporadically^ sp samples must often be
taken at fairlft brief intervals to de*
termine the engineering property of the
soil. Also, the inaccessability of most
areas where road tests are made make it
difficult for the geologist to make field
tests. In most other states, the test
ing crew can drive to the area where the
samples are to be taken and make tests
at the site with equipment hauled in a
truck. Here the geologist must pack in
testing equipment—sometimes for several
miles—and, if there are samples that
must be tested in the laboratory, he Is
required to haul them out, usually on
his back. * •.
After study with "the geologists, ' ;
engineers, right-of-way specialists and
traffic engineers, a report is made *
giving a complete resume of events from
the inception;of the work to completion
and incorporating recommendations for
approval. This report includes a brief
description of engineering work, an
estimate of cost, materials.and soils
reports, and a general description of
terrain as to topography, vegetation,
exposure, snow conditions anticipated and
rainfall. If it is a reconstruction job,
there would be no recommendations on
handling of the present traffic0
All this information is studied
with the headquarters staff and represen
tatives of the Bureau of Public Roads and
an agreement is reached. as. to., the best
routing..' After "route’ approval, public
hearings are held where it traverses an
urban area.
NEXT: Public Hearings and Preliminary Line
Survey. • ••
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