The Old Pike / A History of the National Road, with Incidents, Accidents, and Anecdotes Thereon

by Thomas B. Searight

The second class of work is the unfinished part of last year’s operations, upon which there will be time to put three and a half additional perches per rod on such parts as were covered last year, and four perches per rod on such as had none, requiring that it be put on by the 1st of November, and be preserved, raked, &c., until the succeeding 1st of April, during the winter filling ruts made by travel with additional metal, to be prepared and ready at convenient points on the road.

For the culverts you will make a contract with one person for all that may be necessary on half your section, and with a second person for the other half, the work to be paid by the perch of twenty-five cubic feet, measured by the plan and dimensions you shall designate for each locality, and according to which plan the work must be constructed. For this work you will require the stone to be of good proportions, with parallel beds and faces, and not smaller than two cubic feet in each piece, in no case ever permitting a stone to be placed “on edge,” a very common practice, destructive of good masonry. The covering stone to be of such additional dimensions as you shall judge necessary for each locality. The bottoms of the culverts to be paved or flagged with stone, and such an apron constructed at each end as to guard against the ends being undermined by the passage of the water.

The repairs of the masonry of the bridges and walls on Wheeling Hill it is very desirable to effect by contract, if practicable. On Wheeling Hill the object may be effected by requiring the masonry to conform with that already executed, particularly in regard to the size and quality of the stone, paying for it by the perch measured in the wall when finished, reserving the one-fifth of the value from monthly payments as security for the faithful execution of the whole work. The repairs of the bridge may be executed in like manner, specifying the masonry of the bridge now building over Wheeling Creek as the standard, excepting stones placed on edge.

It is desirable to postpone the repair of all masonry to the latest date, excepting only such parts as are necessary to perfect the grade; you will make your contracts accordingly. The masonry of the culverts and some of the bridges must be finished in time, including the filling to make good the roadway, to permit the contractor for grading to comply with his agreement. The usual one-fifth of the value of work done being retained until the expiration of the time for completing the whole work, when this sum is to be applied either to carry into effect the remaining provisions of the agreement, as stipulated to be executed, or paid to the contractor, if the work has been faithfully executed according to the tenor of the agreement.

You will make all your payments by checks drawn on the bank through which I shall make your remittances, taking duplicate receipts for moneys thus paid, attached to a bill giving the quantity rate, cost, and date of the receipt of the article clearly and distinctly expressed.

Your check book must be added up, and the balance in bank ascertained every Saturday evening, which balance must be reported in the weekly reports to be forwarded to me, as required last season.

The balance of your account, as appears by your ledger account with me, must also form an item in the weekly report. The assistant engineer will make an inspection of these books, and report to me whenever he comes on your section of the road.

The receipted vouchers you will forward to the office at Brownsville, of all payments made during the week at the end of such week, reserving the duplicate until called for by myself or the assistant engineer.

So soon as you are apprised by me of funds being available you will immediately advertise by hand bills, and through the public prints, that contracts will be made for repairing the section of road under your supervision, and that proposals for executing the work will be received for twenty days from the date of your advertisement, for repairing each mile of the road according to stipulations and particular information, to be had on enquiring of you on or after such date as you are enabled to collect it. Let the advertisements express that the repairs consist principally in grading the road over the old bed, cleaning out the ditches and drains, restoring the side roads to their width of five feet and covering the road thus prepared with limestone broken to four ounce pieces, in such quantities as shall be specified for each rod, varying from two to four perches per rod, and keeping the whole in order until the first of April next, by which date the contracts are to be completed.

To ascertain the work to be done on the different mile sections, and on the particular parts of each mile, you will, the instant funds are available, make a measurement of the road, noting the work to be done on each chain (as specified in the previous parts of this communication) in the most minute detail.