The grading of a nine-tenth mile section in Bridge Creek Canyon was contracted to the United Contracting Co. of Portland, Oregon, on November 27th, 1917. This section is on the McKenzie River Highway about four miles west of Mitchell. In addition to the grading, the contract involved the construction of a ninety foot bridge over Bridge Creek.
The work was started on February 15th, 1918 and completed on June 20th, 1918. The engineering was in charge of Mr. R. H. Coppock.
The total cost of the work was $24,235.45 of which the State paid $14,235.45 and Wheeler County $10,000. The detailed cost statement follows:
DETAILED EXPENDITURE STATEMENT—
GRADING BRIDGE CREEK SECTION
| Engineering | $ 635.30 | ||||
| Construction: | |||||
| Common Excavation, 3935.6 cu. yds. @ .60 | $ 2,361.42 | ||||
| Intermediate Excavation, 549.4 cu. yds. @ .75 | 412.05 | ||||
| Solid Rock Excavation, 9837.6 cu. yds. @ 1.40 | 13,772.64 | ||||
| Overhaul per 100 lin. ft., 363 cu. yds. @ .03 | 10.89 | ||||
| 12-inch Corr. Iron Pipe, 20 lin. ft. @ .73 | 14.60 | ||||
| 15-inch Corr. Iron Pipe, 108 lin. ft. @ .83 | 89.64 | ||||
| 21-inch Corr. Iron Pipe, 60 lin. ft. @ 1.00 | 60.00 | ||||
| Rubble Masonry, 1.58 cu. yd. @ 12.50 | 19.75 | ||||
| Guard fence, 100 lin. ft. @ .85 | 85.00 | ||||
| 1 90-foot Bridge & approaches: | |||||
| Superstructure and trestle (Lump sum) | $ 5,100.00 | ||||
| Class “A” Concrete in piers, 49.24 cu. yds. @ $34.00 | 1,674.16 | ||||
| $ 6,774.16 | |||||
| $ 23,600.15 | |||||
| $ 24,235.45 | |||||
Macadamizing on Cummins Hill Section
On August 7th, 1917, no satisfactory unit price bid having been received, the State Highway Department entered into a “cost plus” contract with the Warren Construction Company of Portland, Oregon, to macadamize with broken stone the Cummins Hill Section between Fossil and the Gilliam County line, on the John Day River Highway. The rock for this work was crushed on the job, and the macadam surface was constructed sixteen feet wide with a compacted thickness of six inches.
Payment to contractor was made on the basis of actual cost plus a percentage of 10 per cent on labor and five per cent on materials.
To November 30th, 1918, the State had expended $32,465.44 on this work, and it is estimated that there are bills outstanding against it to the amount of $1,500.00.
In addition to the 3.4 miles of grading done by the State on Cummins Hill the County continued the grading at the foot of the hill for a distance of 0.7 miles, making a total of 4.2 miles. The full section has been macadamized, giving Wheeler County 4.2 miles of standard macadam road.