1965 - Periodicals - CALIFORNIA HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC …libraryarchives.metro.net/DPGTL/Californiahighways/chpw_1965_julaug.pdf · ~~o ~ Route 152 Now Skirts San Luis Reservoir Site

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California's first o~cially designated "Scenic Highway" includes this section near fhe Big Creek Bridge, south ofBig Sur.

State Director of Public WorksJohn Erreca has declared Route 1 inMonterey County, between. the SanLuis Obispo county line and CarmelRiver, to be the first officially desig-nated unit of California's state scenichighway system.His declaration followed the unan-

imous recommendation of the State'sAdvisory Committee on the MasterPlan for Scenic Highways.

California's Legislature has pio-neered the concept that a state be con-cerned with the preservation of thescenic values visible from its high-ways, Erreca said. Investigations intothe planning, design, and conservation

problems associated with the develop-ment of a statewide system of scenichighways were ordered in 1960, anda master plan for such a network wasadopted in 1963.The 1963 lawmakers decreed that

"scenic highways" must fulfill the re-quirements of other routes in the statehighway system; traverse areas of out-standing scenic beauty; and in loca-tion, design and construction receivespecial attention in terms of impacton the landscape and visual appear-ance.

Erreca added that the designationof official scenic highways depends,among other criteria, upon local gov-erning bodies studying the scenic cor-

ridors along the motorists' line ofsight, and passing appropriate zoningand other regulations to insure thatthe attractiveness of these corridorswill be preserved.The 72-mile stretch of Route 1

along the Pacific Coast was the sub-

ject of the pilot study authorized in

1960 by Senate Concurrent Resolu-

tion 26, sponsored by Senator. Fred

S. Farr of Monterey County."This start in officially adopting

routes in California's scenic highway

system is particularly timely," Erreca

said, "following as it does the White

House conference of last month on

natural beauty."

Ca~ifornla Hi hwa sand Public Works~ YOfficial Journal of the Division of Highways, Department of Public Works, State of California

VOL. 44 July-August Nos. 7-8

CONTENTSPage

Pacheco Pass ---- ---- ---------- ---- ------- ---- - --------------------- 2By R. B. "Bud" Weaver, ResidenT Engineer

Safety Roadside Rests - -- ----- ------------- ----- - ---- -- --- - --------- -- - - --- $By G. A. Hill, Assistant Sfafe Highway Engineer (Planning)

Last Bond Issue ----- --- - -- - - - ----- ----------- ----- - --- --- -- 11

The Caldecott Tunnels -- - - ----- - - - -------- - ---- - - - -- ---------- ------- --- 12By Irwin W. Black, Bridge Resident Engineer, and Oris H. Degenkolb, BridgeDesign Engineer

New Routes Adopted----- --- ------- - ------ ------ -- --- - --- ----- --- -- - 19

Talking Freeways ---- ------------- --- -- - ------------------------------------- -- 20

Drainage Solution ------ -- -- - ---------- --- ----- ---------- -- -- --- 22By P. D. Haug, District Hydraulics Engineer

Humboldt Bay Bridge Feasible, Report Says._- _-__----_-__---_-----------------__-_.-------------_ 27

Bridge. Construction Head Leaves; Hineman Named.______________ _______________________________ 27

Buellton Bypass Project ---- ------- - ----- -- ---- --------- - ---- 28By J. B. Popnoe, Resident Engineer

National Highway Week Opens September 19______________________________.______________________ 31

Scenic Committee Members Renamed.____.________________~__________________________________________ 31

Minor Improvements Program-- -- ---- ---- ------ ------------ -------- 32By James E. Wilson, Traffic Engineer

S.F. Bay Area Transportation StudY----------------------------------------------------------------- 38

Rotation Involves Key Assignments----_--_-____---__---------_-____----------_------_---_---___--- 45By Richard M. ZetTel, STUdy Engineer

Right of Way Agents Hold 3rd AcademY-------.---------------------------------------------------- 45

Highway Communications Men Meet in Capital___________ ________ _______________________________ 47

Langsner Reelected to WASHO Office-__-------------_--__----___--------------___----_-----__------ 47

Kozak Promoted to Deputy Chief Post._---------_---_-----___---.--------__-_---__-_-___--_-_------ 47

PCI Awards of Merit for Two California Bridges_________________________._.__._Inside Back Cover

Retirements ObituariesDivision List _______________..__________ 46 In Memoriam _______________________ 46I. O. Dahlstrom -----------------------__- 27Frederick Montell 47R. I. Nicholson 46Baynard A. Switzer 45

LESTER S. KORITZ, EditorSTEWART MITCHELL, Associate Editor JOHN C. ROBINSON, Associate Editor

MARCIA J. MICKELSEN, Assistant Editor

WILLIAM R. CHANEY, Chief Photographer

Editors are invited }o ute information eonfained herein and to request prints of any black and whitephotographs.

Address communications to: EDI70R,

CALIFORNIA HIGHWAYS AND PUBLIC WORKSP.O. Box 1499

SACRAMENTO, CALIFORNIA 95807

FRONT COVER: California's first stretch of offi-cially named "Scenic Highway" includes this por-tion of Route 1 on the Pacific Coast where thisspectacular bridge crosses Bixby Creek. the seg-menf of highway first designated goes throughBig Sur country in Monterey County, from theCarmel River fo the San Luis Obispo county line.See story on inside front cover. (Photo by Robert

Mulno.)

BACK COVER: Caldecoit Tunnels, heavily }raveledby commuPers from Orinda and Walnut Creek,now number }hree with the completion of thenewest bore. The interior of the Third tunnel iswell illuminated and well ventilated. Operationsare directed by remote control. See "The Calde-coft Tunnels," page 12. (Photo by Pete Asano.)

~~o ~ ~ ~ Route 152 Now Skirts

San Luis Reservoir Site

By R. B. "BUD" WEAVER, Resident Engineer

The new 12-milesection of Pacheco

DISTRICT Pass, Highway 152,toaround the north

portion of the SanLuis Dam and Res-ervior was openedfollowing ribbon-cutting ceremonieson April 29, 1965.

The contract for this project wascompleted with only 530 workingdays used of the 640 days allotted.The completion of this $12,000,000project in record time is attributableto the mutual cooperation betweenthe contractor, a joint venture byMcNamara and Mannix, the U.S. Bu-reau of Reclamation, the State De-partment of Water Resources, andthe Division of Highways.

The timing of this enormous proj-ect was critical, due primarily to thedam construction. Work started inFebruary 1963, and shortly thereafterdouble shifts were employed by thecontractor to provide for the comple-tion of one lane of traffic in each di-rection by January 1, 1965. This wasnecessary in order to move the trafficfrom the old Pacheco Pass Highway,which will be inundated by the res-ervoir, onto the new road to permitthe completion of the San Luis Dam.It was essential to keep this routeopen since it is the main connectinglink between the Santa Clara and theSan Joaquin Valleys:

The Challenge

The difficulties described in theMarch—April 1963 issue of CaliforniaHighways and Public Works duringthe design stages of this project werealmost eclipsed by the problems en-countered during construction.The contractor scheduled his oper-

ations to move 11,400,000 cubic yardsof dirt and rock in time to complete

the entire project by January 1, 1965.This required an average productionof at least 27,000 cubic yards of exca-vation per day. Maximum productioncould not be obtained until accessroads were constructed and drainagestructures under the major fills werecompleted. A maximum of 100 earth-inoving units were used to completethe grading on schedule, reaching apeak efficiency of over 40,000 cubicyards per day in moving the last7,000,000 cubic yards.

This high-production operationcompounded such problems as sched-uling the employees of the state andcontractor on double shifts, communi-cations between the various units, fieldoffices and laboratories; and mainte-nance and servicing of equipment,which was in constant use nearly 20

hours a day. The grading operations~vere frequently going nn at the sametime over the entire 12-mile length ofthe project and two-way radio com-munication was a requisite. Access tosome of the job areas was by "cowtrails," with high-clearance, four-wheel-drive pickups used to transportinspection and construction crews.

Wafer Supply

The contractor's first major prob-lem was to find water for the project.This problem was solved by pumpingwater from the Delta Mendota Cana]through pipelines to a reservoir nearthe center of the project. Feeder lineswere then run from this reservoir topoints along the new alignment wherewater was required for the easterlyhalf of the project. Electric pumpswere used to fill a pond about three

Looking west where drivers are provided an area to check their trucks at the summit of the PachecoPass Highway near the Santa Clara-Merced county line.

2 California Highways and Public Works

When ~Iled, the San Luis Reservoir will have water

on both sides of the "Cottonwood Fill" shown in

the foreground.

miles west of the reservoir and diesel

pumps boosted the water from thepond over the higher elevations toprovide water for the westerly halfof the project. Twenty miles of pipewere eventually installed to providewater for the entire project.

Supplying compaction water forfills in steep draws was a constantproblem. This was solved by running"Rainmaker" pipe to the fills and ap-plying the water with "monitors."The "monitors" were used until con-ventional water trucks could be eco-nomically used to water the fills.

Earthwork

Grading operations overshadowedmany of the interesting and challeng-ing problems experienced on this proj-ect. Each cut presented a differentproblem. Fault planes were found tohe adversely tilted, thus preventingthe construction of some of the

planned slopes. ~C'he type of material rock. These conditions taxed the in-was constantly changing; rock cuts genuity of the contractor in selectingturned to dirt; and dirt cuts turned to the right equipment to do the best job.

This map shorve the /imils of /he San Luis Reservoirand the new /ocafion of Rou/e /32.

BANGS

July—Aug~est 1965 3

Above—Bin wall is constructed to contain fill slope in a steep canyon. Below—Drilling operations in theforeground coincide with rock loading by a huge power shovel onto dump trucks in background.

Compaction tests were performed at night to helpmeet the time limitation on the project.

Grading began with a spread of

scrapers; however, it was soon found

that this equipment could not eco-

nomically and efriciently move the

various materials found in the strata

encountered. Therefore, a sequence

was established that was found to besuccessful and was continued for the

remainder of the project. Cuts were

started with scrapers, which were

used until the fills became accessible

for the movement of rock trucks. The

trucks were then brought in andloaded with belt loaders which were

fed by bulldozers. After about 30 feet

of cut was removed, the belts wouldbe lowered, and the operation re-peated until the cut was completed.The slower shovel work was confinedto the rockier cuts.

Since such large amounts of excava-tion required blasting, oversize 4 %Z -inch and 6-inch drills were used forthe drill holes to enable placing agreater explosive charge. Potentialdamage to trees and cabins was not afactor, since they were nonexistent inthis area. This made it possible to uselarger amounts of explosives to speedthe work.

Landslides were a continuous prob-lem throughout the entire length ofthis project. At the beginning; thelandslides seemed of little consequenceand the problem was solved by re-moving only that material which hasbeen dislocated by the slide. As workprogressed, however, it became neces-

sary to institute other measures tocope with difficult areas. Where itwas possible, slopes were flattened byeliminating benches and using all theavailable right-of-way. However, atseveral locations, it was not feasibleto flatten the slopes due to the steepterrain. In these areas the centerlinevas moved downhill, thus permittingflatter slopes without substantially in-crelsing roadway excavation quanti-ties.

Almost a million cubic yards of dirtwere moved from the slide areaswhere the cut slopes were flattened toprovide fir more stability. In many of

the cuts, unusual water problems wereencountered, requiring the installationof horizontal drains, deep transversecutoff trenches, stabilization trenches,and permeable blankets.

Structures

Constructing large reinforced con-crete arch drains and building twinbridges in such inaccessible locationsposed unusual forming and placementproblems. These large drainage facil-ities had to be completed before thefill operations could begin at maxi-mum production.

The larger arches (9 and 10 feet)were constructed with adjustable steelforms to accommodate both sizes,whereas the forms for the smaller arch(six feet) were built on the jobsite. A1,042-foot-long arch (nine feet) underthe 280-foot-high fill was constructedso that the center 625 feet of the archwas extra strong to withstand the tre-mendous elrth pressure. The 560-foot-long bridges were built over the chan-nel leading into the San Luis Forebayas separate structures.

All of the structural materials with

the exception of concrete sand were

obtained from or near the jobsite.Concrete aggregates were producedusing materials from within the workarea. The sand produced locally wasnot satisfactory for concrete, but itwas used to blend with aggregates tomake subbases, bases and cementtreated base. Aggregate subbase wasobtained from the conglomerate high-way cuts and was processed by screen-ing. Pervious material was also ob-tained by selection within the con-glomerate cuts. Coarse aggregates forboth base on portland cement con-crete paving were produced from thesame material site located in the futurereservoir area near the jobsite, andmethods of processing were adaptedto maintain the proper respective qual-ity controls.

Paving Qperations

Almost a half a million sacks ofcement were used in placing the 370,-000 square yards of concrete pave-inent for this project. Concrete pro-

Twin bridges cross the $an Luis Forebay channel. The roadway under the bridge will be inundated~ when heavy equipment used to construct the dam is no longer needed.

.~~~y—,aug~~t ~ 96~ 5

A peak is Leveled and a canyon 4illed. Heavy equipment takes a beating in this rough terrain

ducing operations were a modificationof central mix in which the contractorsplit his hatching and mixing opera-tions. The batch plant was locatedadjacent to the aggregate productionplant and batches were weighed andloaded into bottom dump trucks andtrailers; one batch filled the truck andthe other, the trailer. At intervals, themixer was moved from location tolocation immediately adjacent to theroads>av where the cement and water-ere added and the mixing operationsperforn~ed.

This type of operation was requiredbecause of the length of the projectand the hauling conditions involved.It was a very efficient way of placingthe concrete pavement and meetingthe specification time requirement.

Plant-mix cement-treated base. wasmixed in a plant fed by belt scales.This technique provided an excellentplant control of the quantities mixed,as all ingredients were proportionedbar weight.

The cement-treated base was placed«-ith a modified slipform paver whichproduced a well-controlled finishedproduct. Trimming was nominal andthe close tolerances secured in theplacement of the cement treated basewere reflected in the ease of thickness

`•

control of the portland cement con-crete pavement.

The contractor was represented b}~C. A. Peterson, general manager; L. E.Christman and M. L. Shank, projectmanagers; and the author was the resi-dent engineer for the state.

Other Projects

Construction was recently completedon a new four-lane stretch of High-way 152 which ties in with the eastend of the Pacheco Pass Highway andextends easterly about two miles toHighway 207. The completion of thisproject provides afour-lane dividedexpressway from west of the SantaClara county line to five miles westof Los Banos.A portion of Highway 152 was im-

proved in Los Banos when construc-tion was completed this spring bywidening a former two-lane sectionof high~~ay to four lanes.

Future Planning

Highway 152 between Highway207 and. US 99 is ultimately to beimproved to bring it up to four-lanefreeway or expressway standards.

Although design and right-of-~vavacquisition work is progressing stead-ily and surveying and aerial mappingis being performed at various loca-tions nn Highway 152, constructionof these projects will depend uponthe future availability of funds.

The "Big FfII" is over 280 feet F.igh and the "Big Cut" is over 300 feet deep.

California Highways and Public Works

July—August 1965 7

'r

By G. A. HILL, Assistant State Highway Engineer (Planning)

Although there was no formal cere-mony, the State Division of Highwayshas dedicated its first complete safetyroadside 'rest to a familiar Americanfigure—the weary motorist.

This first fully developed haven forthe leg-stretcher and scenic admirer islocated on Interstate 5, about fivemiles north of Red Bluff. Led. to thesite by a blue sign which hints of apeaceful place in which to shake offthe strains of driving, the motoristcan actually encounter two similarareas, depending on whether he isnorthbound, southbound, or makinga round trip. This will be the generalplan for all rest stops located on heav-ily traveled divided highways:Although not intended for over-

night stops, the roadside rest providesall the facilities of awell-developedpark. There are comfort facilities, adrinking fountain, picnic tables, andstretches of black-topped sidewalkfor a pleasant meander .through. thearea to remove those driving kinks.The buildings are designed to com-

plement the natural setting: In thecase of the Red Bluff stop, adobe-style concrete blocks and shake roof-ing are the materials used. Inside, ce-ramic the walls and foot-operated fa-cilities, help insure a clean and sanitaryatmosphere.

Cost of this pair of roadside restswas $80,000. Others will range fromas little as $5,000 to as high as $100,-000, depending on their size, the fa-cilities provided, the terrain and otherfactors.For economy, most safety roadside

rests, are being built in conjunctionwith highway construction projects.During the current fiscal year 12roadside rests are provided for in thismanner in the state highway construc-tion budget. Most of the initial rest

areas are being placed on interstateroutes as an authorized part of thisnational interstate and defense high-way system.

Eventually, California expects tohave approximately 250 sites devel-oped into safety roadside rests, andthey will supplement other facilitiesto provide a stopping opportunity atabout half-hour intervals of drivingtime.On the outskirts of major metro-

politan sections there will be stoppingpoints with. a function beyond that ofthe usual rest area. Designated as mapinspection points, these roadside restswill provide a convenient stoppingplace for travelers bound for denselypopulated areas. It is hoped that theywill stop, consult their maps, and plottheir courses via freeways and city

streets to their desired destinationswithin large cities.The Division of Highways has beenin the safety roadside rest "business"since 1963...Prior to that, a limitedprogram had been carried out by theCalifornia Division of Beaches andParks. The 11 roadside rests whichwere constructed under this earlierprogram have now been transferredto the Division of Highways, andthose which lacked complete facilitiesare gradually being upgraded as pro-graming and funds allow.Following is a list of the current

status of the 44 roadside rests and mapinspection stations completed, beingconstructed, or budgeted under theDivision of Highways program:

Del Noyte County--US 199, at southportal of the Collier Tunnel, three

Once within fhe confines of the roadside rest area, it is difficult to tell that an interstate route is onlyseconds away.


miles south of the Oregon state line.

Under construction.

Tri~aity Coia~at~—Route 299, five milessouth of ti~eaverville; originally aBeaches and Parks facility. Open.

Shasta Cou~zty—Route 299, 38 mileseast of Redding; originally a Beachesand Parks facility. Open; all facili-ties, but no water supply.

Lllsse~a Cou7~aty—US 395, 12 milessouth of Ravendale; originally aBeaches and Parks facility. Open.

Lasse7a Cozaryzty—Route 44, 28 milesnorthwest of Susanville. Budgeted.

Pl~zt~as Coa~~~aty—Route 70, 46 mileseast of Quincy; originally a Beachesand ]'arl~s facility. Open; all facili-ties, but nn water supply.

Tehan~a Coza~aty—Interstate S, pair,north of Red Bluff. Open.

Gle~z~t County—Interstate 5, pair, ap-proximately two miles south of Ar-tois; under construction.

Nevada County—Interstate S0, pair,near Donner Summit. Open; withcomfort facilities to be addedshortly. (The state opened bids onthe project July 28.)

Aynador Coza~aty—Route 88, fourmiles west of Jacl~son, originally aBeaches and Parks facility. Qpen;but no water supply.

Cctlavercts Cozanty—Route 49, sevenmiles south of San Andreas; orig-inally aBeaches and Parks facility.Open, but no water supply.

Calaveras Cozanty—Route 49, fourmiles south of Angels Camp; orig-inally aBeaches and Parks facility.Open, but no water supply.

Stcrnislaus County—Interstate S, pair,near Arkansas Fan south of the SanJoaquin county line. Budgeted.

Merced Coz~nty—Interstate S, pair,near the San Luis Dam near LosBanos. Under construction.

Mariposa County—Route 140, eightmiles east of Mariposa; originally aBeaches and Parks facility. Open,but no water supply.

This aerial view of the safety roadside rest for northbound tragic on Inferstate 5 near Red Bluff showsthe ease with which the motorist can leave the highway for a rest period. Blue Tent Creek is of right.

A similar area for southbound traffic exists to the north of this site.

Inyo Cozanty—US 395, near HaiweeReservoir; constructed by InyoCounty and deeded to the Divisionof Highways. Open; all facilities.

Inyo County—US 395, near DivisionCreek north of Independence.Budgeted.

Tulare Cozanty—US 99, pair, fivemiles north of Tipton. Under con-struction.

Kern County—Interstate 5, near Le-bec. Open, but no comfort facili-ties.

Scan Bernardino County—Interstate15, three pair, all located east ofBarstow. All open. Two pair havecomfort facilities under construc-tion; at the remaining pair theseare scheduled for later construction.

Scrn Bernardino County—Interstate40, three, located between Needlesand Barstow. Originally Beachesand Parks facilities. Open, but nowater supply.

Sctn BernaYdino County—Interstate40, pair, near Desert Oasis east ofNewberry. Budgeted.


San Bernardino County—Interstate10, near Fontana. Map inspectionstation. Under construction.

San Berncrrclino c~nd Riverside Coun-ties—Interstate 10, pair, betweenRedlands and Beaumont. Open.Comfort facilities in planning stage.

Riverside County—Interstate 10, pair,15 miles east of Indio. Under con-struction, with comfort facilities tobe added later.

Los Angeles County—Interstate 5,near Castaic. Map inspection sta-tion. Under construction.

San Diego County—Interstate. 5, nearLeucadia. Map inspection station,Under construction, but no rest-rooms.

Iynpericrl Colanty—Interstate 8, 20miles west of the Arizona border.Open, but with comfort facilitiesto be added in future when trafficcirculation plan is revised.

Another law which is related tothe roadside rest program is the West-side Freeway Park and DevelopmentAct of 1963 which provides completeintegration of recreation featuresalong the Westside Freeway. Skirtingthe western edge of the San JoaquinValley, this completely new freeway(to be part of Interstate 5) will fea-ture both roadside. rests and roadsideparks, The. Legislature, in the 1963law, stipulated that pairs of roadsiderests were to be constructed at sihlocations between the San JoaquinRiver in San Joaquin County and thejunction with US 99 south. of Bakers-field in Kern County. Two of theseroadside rests are now under con-struction (see listing for MercedCounty) and two additional rest areaswill be constructed in StanislausCounty under a project to be adver-tised Iatier this year (see listing forStanislaus County).

The roadside park sites along theWestside Free~vav will be located atfive scenic areas—at the Kern River,south ~f Kettleman City, at MercySprings Road, at Orestimba Creek andat the San Joaquin River near Moss-dale, and tivill be constructed underthe supervision of the California De-~artment of Parks and Recreation.

Safety roadside rest areas throughout California are really as different as the terrain in which theyare built. One can see a spectacular contrast between the pair on Interstate 80 near Donner Lake

(above) and the pair which flanks Interstate 15 east of Baker (below).

10 California !-lighwa~es and Public Works

dS On SSUeOn July 2, 1,965, the State of Cali-

fornia made the final payment on thelast of its three highway bond issues.

The checks mailed by State Treas-urer Bert A. Betts represented the last$1,000,000 in payments on the princi-pal, plus $22,500 in interest. The totalinterest payments on the $40,000,000issue have amounted to $44,950,077.

Voted by the people in 1919 andissued in 1920, this issue was the thirdof its kind approved by Californiansto finance a highway constructionprogram and "get California out ofthe mud."

In 1909 the California Legislatureauthorized and in 1910 the people ap-proved the state's first highway bondissue of y~ 18,000,000, but only by asmall majority.

Even after a statewide campaignfeaturing photos of autos mired indeep mud on ,rural roads, etc., the

bonds received only 93,297 yes votesagainst 80,509 no votes. Once passed,

the issue, which bore 4-percent inter-est, proved hard to market. Only $4,-280,000 could be sold publicly. Theremainder were purchased by thecounties "because," according to theHighway Commission's first biennialreport (1918 ), "otherwise the workcould not have gone on."

In spite of its unenthusiastic recep-tion, the bond issue did make possiblethe real beginning of a unified systemof state highways.

The act provided that a systemshould be acquired and constructedby the Department of Engineeringand the routes selected and laid out

"so as to constitute a continuous andconnected state highway system run-

ning north and south, traversing theSacramento and San Joaquin Valleysand along the coast by the most directand practicable routes connecting theseveral county seats and joining cen-ters of population, together with suchlateral roads as might be necessary to

connect the north and south arterialswith the county seats lying east andwest of SL1CI1 highways and also toconnect the chief transcontinentalroutes entering California."

Governor Hiram W. Johnsonsummed up the problem when he toldhis newly appointed State HighwayCommission that "}-ou are expected tobuild with $18,000,000 a highway sys-tei» that some of the best engineershaee estimated will cost from thirty-five to fifty millions."

The state made the final paymentand closed out the 1909 bond issue inJuly 1961 (see July–August 1961issue of Ct~li f ormaia Hig~l~ways c~7~ad Pzab-lic Works, page 61). Total interestpaid to the holders of these 50-yearbonds vas $18,061,641.

With the prospect of the 1910funds being almost expended, the 1915State Iyegislature authorized a secondbond issue of $15,000,000. "'his wasratified by the voters in 1916 andissued in 1917. That California hadbecome fully highway-conscious isattested by the fact that not a singlecounty voted against the issue. Thetotal was 542,239 in favor and 137,107against.

Final payment on the 1915 bondsvas made in July 1963, with a totalof $16,172,213 being paid in interestto bond holders during the 45 yearsthe issue was outstanding.

Eln indication of how the high~vay~program was progressing is shown bythe 1917-1918 biennial report, whichreports that by June of 1916 a total

of 1,263 miles of road had had workdone on them including 323 milesgraded but not yet paved.

At a special election on July 1, 1919,the people of California approved by

196,084 to 27,992 a third highwaybond issue, for $40,000,000. Thesefunds became effective immediatelyand provided for continued construc-tion of the highways designated by

the t~vo previous issues. Under thethird issue, additional roads weremade a part of the state high~va~•system.

This vas to be the last of the high-way bond issues. In its biennial reportfor 1919-1920, the California High-~va~~ Commission recommended crea-ti~n of a gasoline tax, the proceeds ofwhich should be "devoted solely tohigll~~ay purposes."

The gas tax became a reality in1923. That same year the Deparrnientof Public Works and the High~va~~Commission were reorganized, givinggreater status to the latter as well asto the State Highway Engineer, who

became executive officer of the com-

mission and in direct charge cif all

highway construction. But in site of

California's now long-established pa}~-as-you-go policy which, through the

gasoline tax and other high`vay user

levies, has financed the construction

of what is generally considered the

most advanced system of freeways

and highways in the world, the people

of the state will always owe a debt

of gratitude to the first three bond

issues initiated by the state, meager

though they seem by present stand-

ards, for they launched California on

an integrated program of highway

construction.

BYLINE OfGVJ11TTED

Readers of the article on the 1~~is-

sion Gorge Road project in the May-

June issue of this publication were

probably baffled by the reference on

page 19 to "the writer" of the article,

not otherwise identified.

There should have been a byline

at the head of the article reading:

"Paul A. Hansen, surveyor —road

department, County of San Diego."

Mr. Hanssen was one of the resident

engineers on the project and prepared

the article.


~ ~'By IRWIN W, BLACK, Bridge Resident Engineer, and

OBIS H. DEGENKOLB, Bridge Design Engineer

Looking east at the newly completed third tunnel (at left) which facilitates progression of traffic throughthe Berkeley Hills on Route 24. Site of 1904 funnel seen on facing page is now closed and completely

covered over by foliage.

To the averagemotorist a tunnel

DISTRICT is merely a hole

q, through a moue-twin which pro-vides a shortcutfor the highway toget from one sideto the other. Butthe amount and

:,omplexity of equipment and thenumerous details which are required

12

to design, construct and operate amodern highway tunnel quickly ne-gate thinking of such passageways insimple terms. Highway standards areconstantly upgraded, and tunnels toomust he built to accommodate in-creased numbers of faster movingvehicles and provide the travelingpublic with safer, better ventilated,better lighted and more spacious ap-pearing tunnels. Construction prob-

lems and costs rise rapidly as the sizeof a tunnel increases.

First Tunnel

The first highway tunnel throughthe Berkeley Hills between the Cityof Oakland and Contra Costa Countywas constructed in 1904. It was tim-ber-lined, dark, narrow and only 1,000feet long. Of course, the increase inpopulation in this area and the in-creasing popu:arity of the automobilerendered this first crude facility inade-quate in the early 1930's.

On December S, 1937, appropriateceremonies were held to dedicate theBroadway Low-level Tunnels andcelebrate their opening, thus breach-ing the natural barrier to traffic. Thatevent was the culmination of years ofdreams, planning, and constructionunder the auspices and guidance ofJoint Highway District 13, with thelate Thomas E. Caldecott, presidentto its board of directors. Subsequentrecognition has been given to Mr.Caldecott's vital role. in this inter-county facility by rededicating thetunnels in his name and honor.

The twin tunnels, each 3,000 feetlong, were concrete lined, lightedwith incandescent electric lights andventilated with a forced air ventila-tion system. Since these two tunnelswere curved at the ends and joinedone another at a single portal buildingat each end, many people have beenled to believe that there is only onetunnel with a thin concrete ~~all sep-arating the two roadways, but theroadways are 1.50 feet apart except atthe curves at each end. Each of thetwin tunnels has a 22-foot-wide road-way and a width of 26 feet 8 inchesbetween the sidewalk. The original

1904 tunnel has been abandoned andthe ends are closed.

California Highways and Public Works

Need for New Bore

Continued growth of the bay areaincreased traffic in the two low-leveltunnels to the point where they werebecoming inadequate. The need for athird tunnel to supplement the firsttwo was the natural solution. Modernstandards required that the highwaysat each end of the tunnels be widenedand straightened and that the thirdbore be made wider than the first two.Since the third tunnel was to be con-siderably larger than the t~vo oldertunnels, it was not possible to adaptthe original plans to the new location.

On October 6, 1964, dignitariesfrom throughout the area assembledto dedicate Tunnel III to the nameand further honor of Thomas E. Cal-decott. Mrs. Caldecott and her familywere present on this occasion, whichcoincided with National HighwayWeek-1964.

New Features

The third tunnel has a 28 foot wide

roadway and is 34 feet 6 inches widebetween the sidewalk. The vertical

clearance is 17 feet above the pave-

ment, compared with the 14 feet 10

inches in the two older bores. In addi-

tion to the larger size of the tunnel

itself, there are numerous other fea-tures which are new or improved.The entire length of the roadway isilluminated by a continuous line offluorescent lights on each side of theceiling. Extra lights are placed for a

distance of 300 feet at each end so

that there is a gradual transition inthe daytime in order to allow drivers'eyes to adjust to the change from thebright sunlight outside and the arti-ficial light in the center of the tunnel.

Emergency power facilities have also

been installed for use in the event that

there is a power loss from the serving

utilities.Ventilation

A new transverse system of ventila-tion is being used. Fresh air is takenin at the westerly portal building andcarried along a duct above the road-way. It is discharged into the road-way section through openings at onesine of the ceiling. The fresh air

mixes with exhaust fumes from thevehicles, and is drawn out throughexhaust ports on the opposite side ofthe ceiling, then carried to the west-erly portal building and dischargedstraight up into the atmosphere. Thetwo fresh air and two exhaust blow-ers have a capacity of ahalf-millioncubic feet of air per minute. The ex-haust air is tested continuously (auto-matically) for carbon monoxide con-tent. If the sampling indicates thatthere is a specified concentration ofcarbon monoxide accumulating, theventilating machinery will automati-cally start to speed up until the con-centration lowers to a desired level.

Other Equipment

Telephones, fire hydrants, and ex-

tinguishers are located at 250-foot

intervals along one side for emergency

use. The fire alarm systems will notifythe fire departments from Oakland

and Orinda (at opposite ends of the

tunnel) in case of emergency. A pub-

lic address system has been installed

and can be used to give instructions

to motorists in case of emergencies.

An intercom system connects all

working locations so that workmen

and tunnel operators can communicate

quickly.

Television cameras are placed above

each portal and are remote controlledso that the tunnel operators can detect

difriculties or accidents. Provisionshave been made so that TV camerascan be placed inside the tunnel at a

later date for more thorough observa-

tions.

Preliminary Work

One of the most important factorsin the design of a tunnel relates togeological conditions. Avery com-prehensive geological report had beenmade during the construction of thefirst two bores. This report was usedlater by the designers of the new tun-nel and was also made available tothe contractors who bid for its con-struction. Since the design of theexisting tunnels had been proven tobe structurally adequate by the testof time, various combinations of load-

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Taken September 1, 1934, }his photograph showsconstruction on the first low-level tunnels as wellas the old tunnel (at top center) built at the turn

of the century.


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GEOLOGIC SECTION ALONG NORTH TUNNEL

ings considered necessary for the newtunnel were applied to the originaldesigns.

Several Projects

The contract for cogstruction ofTunnel III, approximating $11,000,000,was only one of several major proj-ects completed, presently underway,or contemplated the facilitate themovement of traffic to and from cen-tral Contra Costa County throughnorth Oakland.

Before. actual tunnel work couldstart (November 1961), a first phasebeginning December 14, 1960, in-cluded extensive drainage work andexcavation for the approaches, in-volving about 400,000 cubic yards ofmaterial. Excavated material at theeast end went into the detour whichhad to be constructed prior to drivingthe tunnel. With completion of theexcavation and detour, space becameavailable for the contractor to installnecessary facilities and begin work onthe West Portal service road, bridgesand the tunnel proper.

Tunneling QperaTions

The first phase of the tunnelingoperation consisted of placing threesmall holes, called drifts, in the moun-tain. One of these drifts was at thecrown, and the others—one at eachside—were at the lower limit of thesteel tunnel supports, about 14 feetabove roadway grade.

At a distance of 117 feet into thehill, a safe sandstone material was en-countered. The workers then wentfrom drift to drift, installing the steelribs from wallplates to crown. Eachrib was made up from six sections.Excavation then proceeded carefullyfrom inside rib back out toward theportal. Only enough material w;as ex-cavated to give the men sufficientworking room. Excavated materialswere taken out with a small air-operated loader through the sidedrifts. With this method, the work-men always had steel overhead to pro-tect them. The core area was then

removed from the outside with largerequipment.

Breasfboard Jumbo

While assemblying and activating abreastboard jumbo (acquired by thecontractor from the Morrison-Knud-sen Co. who had used it in construc-tion of the Broadway Tunnels in SanFrancisco in the early 1950's) thewallplate drifts were continued oninto the hill.

This jumbo held breastboardstightly against the working face at alltimes, except in a small area wherethe excavation was being done. Therewere 16 forward jacks of 15-ton ca-pacity each, placed in three rows, plus2 jacks at the top. The jacks werehydraulically operated and they wereenclosed in steel shells to preventdamage from mining or blasting.When the jumbo was forwarded,these jacks telescoped so that thebreastboards never were held less thansnugly against the face even withmovement to the location ahead.Four 45-ton rams held the jumbo

steady and were used to move it for-ward. These were angled out from thesides (two to a side) and thrustagainst walers which were clamped tothe steel ribs of the tunnel. When thejumbo was moved forward, the 45-tonpressure of these rams overcame thepressure of the breastbaard jacks,forcing them to telescope withouttaking pressure off the face. As a

This drawing shows the contrast between the design of the first two funnels (on right) and the newlycompleted tunnel. Major differences are a wider roadway, higher clearance, and a revision of the

exhaust system.


Scaffolding rises for construction of the new portal building above the

rounded hump of the tunnel top.

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(Above) Working under the protection of•the jumbo, construction personnel

find that the shovel is still in style for excavation operations.

(Below) On the top level of the jumbo, miners demonstrate some of the

obstacles of }heir work. Space is tight and some tasks are awkward to

perform.

(Above) The new tunnel is finally excavated to roadway level at the

east portal.

(Below) Concrete pouring by an air-propelled placement system uses com-

pressed air to force the concrete into "slicklines" for desired delivery points.

(Below) Steel sets and timber lagging support

excavation of upper portion of tunnel. Roadway

~~ ~;,~,,. =~ -_

safety measure, mechanical jacks wereused in addition to the hydraulicrams.

Ribs

Miners are a tough, hardy lot andtheir working conditions usually leavesomething to be desired. The workis noisy, dirty, frequently wet andmuddy, always hazardous, and isusually done in cramped quartersfrom precarious perches.The material which was mined by

spading (or blasting if required) fell

~,

~;Tiling operations mark the beginning of a more finished appearance for

fhe tunnel.

to the tunnel floor under the jumboand was picked up by a front-endovershot loader (called a mucker),dumped into a Dumpster and hauledto a canyon west of the job for fillas a part of the freeway.The large steel ribs (tunnel sup-

ports) were erected in four sections:One lower section on each side washandled from below, and two crownsections were set up from atop thejumbo. Blocking was done and lag-

Bing was installed behind the steelsupports to retain the unstable ma-terial.

Concrete Pour

While mining of the full crownheading continued well into themountain, other operations followedfrom the West Portal. The first ofthese consisted of underpinning (orsupporting) the ~vallplates which car-ried the load of the mountain trans-mitted through the steel ribs. Under-pinning was achieved by mining or

This photograph shows the partly completed partitioned ventilation channels above the roadway (see diagram at bottom of page 14).

drilling holes at intervals to the ulti-mate foundation level, forming pilas-ters, and placing concrete up to thewallplates. After the pilasters hadtaken over their supporting role, theremainder of the excavation was com-

This huge ventilating fan, one of two, supplies fresh air to the new tunnel.

July—August 1965

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The masPer control pane! enables personnel to handle a variety of situations

in the presen4 three tunnels, with space available fo hook up fo a future

fourth tunnel.

pleted to roadway level, and footingswere poured. Then, wall reinforcingwas placed, track was laid to accom-modate the wall forms with travelingjumbo, and the forms moved intoplace to receive the concrete pour.Concrete pouring for the tunnel

lining was done by using an air-propelled placement system. Concretewas chuted from truck mixers ontoconveyor belts which transferred it tohoppers. The hoppers fed the pres-

These massive exhaust ducts take the "used" air from the funnel andarrange for its disposition straight up into the atmosphere.

Small cross-tunnels enable personnel to gef fromone funnel to another in a safe manner.

sure vessels located immediately be-neath them. After the gates wereclosed, compressed air, introducedinto the vessel, forced the concretethrough pipes, called "slicklines," tothe desired points of delivery.

Tiling

Completion of the basic tunnellining was followed by tiling theceiling, tiling the walls, constructingcurbs and pavement, and installingoperating and safety equipment.

The final result is asmooth-ridingconcrete pavement of safe, comfort-ably wide lanes; flanked by safetycurbs and pleasing "seafoam" greenthe walls and ceiling—all well lighted.

Other Details

After the third tunnel was com-pleted and opened to traffic, the firsttwo tunnels were closed, one at a

CALDECOTT TUNNEL PROJECTS

JobDate

completedContractorContractamount

Tunnel No. 3July 9, 1964Connolly-Grafe-Brayer-Harney$11,030,000

Strutting and drainage No. 1 andNo. 2March 31, 1965Dan Caputo298,100

Renovation No. 1 and No. 2March 28, 1965Steiny &Mitchel832,800Lane controlTo he completedSteiny &Mitchel338,000

November 1, 1965

time, and renovated. Troublesomesections of pavement were removedand replaced, the roadway area sur-faces cleaned and painted, drainagefacilities repaired, ventilating equip-ment overhauled, emergency facilitiesadded, lighting modernized, and con-trols revised so that all three of thetunnels are operated from the newportal building.

The two older tunnels have freshair and exhaust blowers in the portalbuildings at each end. The third boreis ventilated from one end only. Theportal buildings are equivalent to asix story building and house all ~of theventilating equipment, controls shopspace and operating personnel. Pro-visions have also been made for theequipment of a future fourth tunnel(which will be built northerly of thepresent three tunnels) to be con-trolled from the one portal building.

Since each of the three tunnels haveonly two traffic lanes, it is not con-sidered safe or desirable to have twodirections of traffic in any one tunnel.Although there is always a considera-ble amount of traffic passing throughthe tunnels, it is predominantly heavyin the westerly direction in the morn-ing and easterly in the afternoon. Thefirst and third tunnels carry traffic inone direction only at all times. Traf-fic lane-changing devices are beinginstalled so that the center tunnel canbe used to carry traffic in whicheverdirection it will do the most good.

Adits

Small cross-tunnels, called adits,connect the main tunnels at three lo-cations between the portals. Thesewere intended to be used for addi-tional safety during construction andare useful for tunnel maintenance andemergency operations.

The third tunnel as it looked in the later stages of construction.

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evv o u ~sAt its May and June meetings, the

California Highway Commissionadopted the location for 21.8 miles offreeways on five routes.The commission also revised the

routing of 1.8 miles of Route 59, aconventional highway southwest ofSnelling in Merced County, to elim-inate curves, and designated short sec-tions of N Street and Broadway inNeedles as a traversable route to carryState Highway 40 traffic pending con-struction of the Route 40 Freeway.In San Diego County, the commis-

sion adopted freeway routings for 9.7miles of interconnected Route 75 and125 near the Mexican border. Thenew alignment will take Route 75easterly for 7.1 miles from Interstate5 near 27th Street, just south of IrisAvenue in San Diego, to about a half-mile east of Brown Field.From this point, the newly adopted

alignment for Route 125 runs 2.6 milesnorthward, with a slight jog to thewest between Johnson Canyon andthe Otay River. It connects on thenorth with a previously adopted loca-tion for this route northward to Route54 near Sweetwater Reservoir.The Route 75 and 125 freeways

will form the southern and eastern

~ ePrevious/y Adopted_

Route /25 n

MEX

.legs of a belt-line system of freewaysaround the San Diego Metropolitanarea.The commission also adopted a free—

way alignment for Route 252 in its en-tirety in San Diego and National City.This 1.8-mile connecting link be-

tween the Interstate 5 and Interstate805 ,freeways proceeds easterly fromthe ,former at Wabash Boulevard(Route 103 ), approximately one blocknorth of Beta Street, to 43rd Streetin San Diego. It then turns southeast-erly to the adopted route for thefuture Interstate 805 Freeway at Divi-sion Street in National City.

FREEWAY ROUTE ADOPTED

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In Monterey County, the commis-sion adopted a freeway location for1.1 miles of Route 198 near San Lucasto provide a connection with the

future US 101 Freeway. The new

routing leaves the existing highway

northeast of Cemetery Road, pro-

ceeds southwesterly to southwest of

existing US 101, then turns more

westerly to future US 101.

Farther north, the commission

adopted a freeway routing for 9.2

miles of US 395 in Lassen County

between Madeline and 0.8 mile south

of the Modoc county line.

Previous/y Adopted RJe.805

~~, o0.,moo:

NATIONAL CITYDO

July—Augvst 1965 79

•

a in reeRadio Messages May Supplement Signs

The era of freeways that talk todrivers may be almost at hand if thepromise indicated in recent tests ofinduction radio and other forms ofaudio highway communications sys-tems by the California Division ofHighways comes true.

Certain ethereal qualities seemed in-volved in the tests, for participatingdrivers suddenly began to hear a voiceemanating from. no logical source thatadvised them of traffic hazards theywould encounter within the next fewmiles.

David J. Theobald, project engineer for fog studies, holds a microphone in his hand, preparatory to"planting" a message to be broadcast to motorists with vehicles equipped to receive test warnings.

But the source of the informationwas quite prosaic. Test automobileswere equipped with an antenna-am-plifier-speaker combination, and thissmall electronic packet was pickingup radiations from a nearby tape re-corder that was feeding a messageinto a copper wire looped around a700-foot section of freeway. As longas the test vehicle remained within theconfines of the wire-loop the voicecontinued to repeat its message, andfaded away only when the car had

traveled the 700-foot limit of the sys-tem's sphere of influence.The theory of augmenting with

sound the visual traffic signs mostdrivers rely on for information isneither new nor original with the Cal-ifornia Division of Highways. Signshave been the prime means of impart-ing on-the-spot information to passingtravelers since at least the time of theRomans. Then as now, a person lostor confused can always stop and aska local resident for directions. But in

the last 20 years, increased speeds,restricted-access highways and mas-sive traffic volumes have combined toalter the driver's environment dras-tically and to place ever-increasingdemands on signs to keep travelersaware of where they are and whathazards might lie ahead.Technology and the increased

tempo in daily living have combinedto make it more difficult for a signto perform its function. The signmust compete for attention withevery other item of interest to thedriver, including traffic. itself. And toooften, when the sign is observed, itsmessage doesn't negotiate its way tothe observer's brain. The car radio isnn, bases are loaded and Willie Maysis at the plate. Or the driver is deepin concentration trying to composehis next sales approach or the cuttingremarks he should have made earlierin the day when his boss chided himfor spending too much time at thewater cooler. The distractions thatcompete with traffic signs are almostendless.The tests were triggered by Senate

Resolution 33, 1963 California legisla-tive session. The intent of the reso-lution was that ways should be foundand put into practice for warningdrivers of the need to observe cautionwhen driving during periods of re-duced visibility. A second objectivewas to warn drivers, whose visualrange is shortened because of fog orother abnormal circumstances, that anaccident has occurred on the highwayahead of them and blocked their path.Either situation is most difficult to

overcome with a sign, for not onlywould it have to differ radically inconcept from those in general usetoday; it would also have to be one.that could be energized on shortnotice to meet a temporary givensituation and then fade out once nor-maliry prevailed.These were the obstacles that led

to the exploitation of the long-knownprinciples of electromagnetic induc-tion with the ultimate aim of makinghighways talk to people.The site of the tests was a stretch

of Route 160 north of Sacramento.The 700-foot length of the test areawas arbitrarily selected because that

~0 California Highways and Public Works

happened to be the distance betweena culvert and an overcrossing thatmade ideal boundaries. A nearby util-ity pole made a convenient locationfor the ground equipment and thelines it carried were tapped to supplyelectric power needed to energize thesystem.

The roadside transmitting equip-ment consisted of a tape recorderfeeding a prerecorded message into anaudio amplifier. The amplified outputwas then fed into the loop of wirethat had been buried along the road-way, and a magnetic field, varying inaccordance with the message, was setup in the vicinity of the loop.

The companion equipment installedin test vehicles consisted of a smallmagnetic pickup coil in which avarying current was caused to flowby the magnetic field from the road-side loop. This signal was fed into atransistorized amplifier and then to aloudspeaker that relayed the recordedmessage to the driver and other oc-cupants of the car.

During the tests the same prere-corded message was repeated continu-ously, but it could have been changedwithin seconds at the roadside bysimply erasing the tape and dictatinga new message into the recorder. Thepotential of a refined system is almostwithout limits.

By installing the wires when newfreeways are built connecting the twosides at one-mile intervals and in-stalling atransmitting device, a trans-state freeway theoretically could bewired for sound along its entirelength. If the transmitters were con-nected to telephone lines, messagescould be changed from a messagecenter and individual machines turnedoff and on at will.

Cost could be staggering, but, if thepublic believes the benefit worth theprice, such an elaborate system couldbecome a reality.

In an emergency situation, wheresuch a network existed, a California

highway patrolman on the scene could

combine his two-way radio and the

telephone connection to dictate a

message into specific loops that in turn

could warn drivers of impending

danger.

July—August 1965

The reception of messages trans-mitted through the system can becontrolled to very precise areas byspecific placement of the wire loop.Adjustments of the loop and the am-plifier output can cause the messageto be heard on only one side of adivided highway or even a single off-ramp. This directional aspect is ofconsiderable significance and enhancesthe value of the system in many situa-

tions. If it is imperative to advise

traffic flowing in one direction, thosesame facts could be erroneous and

misleading if imparted to vehiclestraveling in the other direction.

The entire operation of an audio

communications system is, of course,

predicated on the assumption that all

vehicles using state highways possessthe receiving equipment. The timewhen the assumption becomes reality

should not be too far off, for the auto-

mobile and electronics industries are

both aware of the potential need for

such devices. In mass production, the

cost of the receiving set would benominal.And there are other details that

must be tested before such a systemis integrated into California highways.A minor one that could be overcomeat the time of installation of equip-ment in autos is the fact that the sys-tem won't work if drivers shut offtheir receivers—so they would haveto be installed to work off the ignitionswitch and be in the "on" position atall times when the ignition was un-locked.A far more important detail is the

human factor. Just how are peoplegoing to react when they suddenlyhear an unexpected voice the first fewtimes information is relayed to them?No one knows at this time but theanswer should be forthcoming, forthe University of California's Insti-tute of Transportation and Traffic

Engineering is conducting tests to un-

cover what a driver will do when the

highway suddenly begins to speak to

him in a voice both loud and clear.

This section of Route 160 north of Sacramento was the site for experimental tests on fhe "talking free-

way." Hidden by frees, the control box activates the induction loop, providing a reception zone within

the dotted lines.

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ra i n a e o n i o n Sacrtame ~o F eeway~Net

By P. D. HAUG, District Hydraulics Engineer

When design ofthe north-south

DISTRI<;T freeway, a portion

3 of Interstate 80 inSacramento Iocatedbetween 29th and30th Streets and ex-tending from AStreet on the northto R Street on the

south, was started in early 1962, theusual problem was encountered—what to do with surface runoff.

A preliminary study was made todetermine if freeway constructionwould add more impervious area, tothe detriment of the existing citydrainage system. All proposed free-ways within the city were considered:from Broadway north to the Ameri-can River and from the SacramentoRiver east to 65th Street.

The study disclosed that the totalimpervious area would not be appre-ciably different after freeway con-struction than before. In other words,the .total acreage of freeway pave-ment, shoulders and ramps to bedrained would be just about offset bythe total of the roof, patio, drivewayand sidewalk areas removed. Thenature of the local drainage systemwas such, however, that the patternof runoi~ would be affected by free-way construction.

City Accepts Runoff

To begin with, since no noticeableincrease in impervious acreage wouldoccur with freeway construction, thecity was asked to accept all freewayrunoff into its storm system. Closecoordination was also requested ofthe city in activities pertaining todrainage design.

The city responded with a numberof considerations. One was that amor-tization costs of Sacramento's com-bined sanitary and storm drainage

trunk lines are met by direct servicecharges against sewer users, in addi-tion to maintenance of the system, andthat the state would not be payingthese service charges.

During heavy rainfall, city sewersare full to capacity and water standsin a number of streets. The city wasalso concerned, therefore, with thestate's pumping plants which wouldforce water from depressed freewaysections into the system and wouldpreempt the trunk lines which werealready having difficulty handlinglocal street .drainage.

Concern was also expressed over thehead which would be developed fromthe elevated portions of freeways bydrainage appurtenances which wouldalso take inflow precedence over localstreet drainage.

Knowing that the state's generalpolicy is to participate in providing ajoint project to the extent of bene-fits derived, the city asked for con-sideration of a cooperative project toprovide adequate drainage where itdoes not now exist and where con-centrated freeway drainage would.tend to aggravate local street flooding.

The next step was for District 3 toembark on a thorough drainage sys-tem study to determine hydraulic re-quirements. It soon became apparentthat in place of the ordinary pro-cedure of drafting an individual agree-ment for each freeway project as itprogressed through the design stage,this situation could best be met bydrafting one master agreement cover-ing all proposed projects.

Altfiough some units, primarily onUS 50 from 34th Street to 65th Street,are not scheduled for construction forseveral years, planning was far enoughadvanced to determine drainage re-quirements.

Following is a route-by-route de-scription of the drainage master plan(see neap).

U.S. 50, 34th to 65th Street

Although this section of freewaywill be the last to be built, its drain-age requirements had to be solvedfirst. This was because what is .donehere ultimately will have an effect onthe system relieving the north-southfreeway (Interstate 80). A depressedportion is planned on this section be-tween 42nd Street and 62nd Street,with provision for separation of drain-age at Slst Street into two differentpumping systems.

The depressed portion from SlstStreet to 62nd Street will dischargeeast to a city trunk on 65th Street,where it is then carried north via cityline to city sump No. 31. The cityalso agreed to accept all water fromthe future 65th Street Interchangeinto its 65th Street trunk. The statewill then provide funds necessary toincrease the pumping capacity ofsump No. 31 to facilitate the addi-tional concentrated inflow.

A gravity line will drain the 42ndStreet to Slst Street portion from thepumping plant at 45th Street west tothe city trunk on Alhambra Boule-vard. This line wIll also drain the sec-tion from 42nd Street back to Alham-bra Boulevard. The city agreed tomaintain this outfall.

Interstate 80, 29th-30th Street

The only available outfalls on thisnorth-south section adequate to carry

the concentrated flows of water from

this freeway unit are city lines on E,

H and O Streets.

A freeway pumping plant located

at C Street, draining the short de-

pressed portion between C and A

Streets, is discharged into an existing

line on 30th Street.


Schemafic diagram of viaduct deck drainage,showing use of curved pipe inside deck slab and

column.

South of C Street, other freeway

waters are collected at the toe of the

fill slope and carried in gutters or acollector system to the other drains

on H Street and O Street. Drainage

from the Fort Sutter Viaduct ( J

Street to P Street) is collected on thestructure and carried down the me-

dian columns, discharging into a

ground level valley gutter. A drop

inlet system intercepts this water in

the median below, and conveys it by

a collector which discharges into a

city trunk on O Street. (This method

overcomes the problem of pressure

discharge from an elevated freewaydirectly into the trunk lines).

The previously mentioned state out-fall from the 45th Street depression

on US 50 drains into the city trunk

on Alhambra Boulevard and wouldoverload this system. Through nego-tiations with the city, this was ac-ceptable if the state would then re-lieve the Alhambra trunk in the vicin-

ity of P or Q Street with a line ofequivalent capacity to the flow whichwould discharge into the Alhambraline from US 50.

With this in mind, the district pro-ceeded to design an overflow from theAlhambra Boulevard trunk whichwould flow west between P and QStreets, then turn down the median

Photo shows portion of viaduct with grating in place for deck drain.

and proceed south toward the Oak

Park Interchange (I-80/US i0) and

pumping plant which serves the de-

pression on the US 50 leg. Freewaywaters would be collected en route.

At the Oak Park Interchange, theline proceeded west along the W—X

Street freeway (also Interstate 8d)

and discharged into the city's 108-inchtrunk on 1 Sth Street. At 1 Sth Streetthe city agreed to the acceptance ofthe Alhambra Boulevard relief andfreeway water. and also to maintainthis line as a part of its system.

1VIanhole cleanouts on this line wereplaced in city streets so maintenanceby the city could be performed offthe State right-of-way. At severallocations along the W—X Street free-way, the district permitted city streetdrainage to be discharged into thestate outfall from lines that were to besevered or relocated by freeway con-struction. Cost estimates indicated itwas economically feasible to enlargethe state outfall and admit city streetdrainage rather than provide a sepa-rate relocated line at State expense.


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The layout of the masfer drainage plan in relation to existing and proposed freeways in the Sacramento City area is shown in the above map. The areascsncerned include US 50 from 34th to 65th Streets, Intersfate 80 between 29th and 30th Streets and between W and X Streets. the depressed section onInterstate 5 between U and L Streets was not included in the agreement since this north-south section wilt be drained independently by a state pumping


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plant with discharge directly into the Sacramento River near P Street. Studies showed that such a comprehensive drainage plan was the most beneficial andeconomical use of both state and city funds to solve this complex problem. This master freeway drainage agreement will result in considerable savings foboth city and state.


Aerial view showing key routes in Sacramento freeway network and area served by drainage system.

Intersfafe 84, W—X Street

Natural high ground at 10th Street

on this east-west portion of I-80 pro-vides the drainage split. Freeway wa-ter from 10th Street east will be inter-cepted and carried in a parallel drainwithin s*.ate right-of-way to the city's108-inch trunk on 16th Street. Drain-

age from 10th Street west was like-

wise carried in a parallel drain to the

60-inch city trunk on Fifth Street.The city's sump No. 1 at U and Front

Streets will handle the water from theI-80/I-5 interchange.

Interstate 5, 2nd-3rd Street

The depressed section on I-5 be-tween Uand LStreets was not in-cluded in the agreement since thisnorth-south section will be drainedindependently by a state pumpingplant with discharge directly into theSacramento River near P Street. Theremaining portion, from L Street tothe viaduct over the Southern Pacificyard, will drain into a city trunk onThird Street.

Studies showed that this compre-hensive drainage plan was the mostbeneficial and economical use of both

state and city funds to solve this com-plex drainage problem.The district's negotiations with then

City Engineer E. A. Fairbairn andAssistant City Engineer Carl Jennings(now city> manager and city engineerrespectively), and with Ron Parker

of the city engineer's staff were car-ried on in an atmosphere of mutualcooperation. All concerned wereaware that the use of a master free-way drainage agreement in this in-stance meant considerable savings toboth state and city.


Humboldt Bay BridgeFeasible, Report SaysA toll bridge across Humboldt Bay

is feasible from an engineering stand-point but cannot be financed exclu-sively from toll revenues.

This is the conclusion of a feasi-bility report prepared by the StateDivision of Bay Toll Crossings forthe California Highway Commission.The report was presented to residentsand civic leaders of the Eureka areaon June 9, 1965.The report estimates that the pro-

posed bridge would cost $4,011,000to build and that toll revenues wouldfall $1,455,000 short of financing theconstruction bonds.For the project to be undertaken,

other sources of revenue would berequired to make up the deficit, ac-cording to the report.The study was financed by a $40,-

000 appropriation from the HighwayCommission on June 24, 1964.The study was made nn the basis

of the following assumptions:

—The bridge would extend from Rand Fifth Streets in Eureka to a pointon the New Navy Base Road northof the Georgia-Pacific CorporationMill on the Samoa Peninsula.

—This route would bypass the mainshipping channel of Humboldt Bay,eliminating the inmzediate need for ahigh-level bridge or a movable cen-tral span. An earlier study indicatedthat a movable span would add some$2 million to construction costs.

—The toll would he 35 cents forautomobiles,. graduated upward fortrucks and buses.

—The two-lane facility would have30 feet of clearance over Samoa andEureka Channels and 15 feet overMiddle Channel, The remainder ofthe 1.85-mile structure ~~ould he tres-tle or fill.

The report notes that the bridgewould save up to 15 minutes and 12.2~iiiles of driving from motor tripsaround Humboldt and Arcata Bays

BRIDGE CONSTRUCTION HEAD LEAVES; NINEMAN NAMEaI. O. Jahlstrom, bridge engineer—

Operations for the State Division ofHighways, retired on July 31 after 37years of state service.Howard R. Hineman has been ap-

pointed to succeed Jahlstrom. Hine-man was construction engineer for

~;~n~,~ ,F~~, , ~ ~~~ ~ the Bridge Depart-ment's southernarea office in Los

- Angeles.Jahlstrom came

to work for the di-vision in 1928 as as-sistant resident en-gineer on a bridgeconstruction proj-ect on the Coast

I. O.IAHLSTROM Highway near

Oricic, north of Eureka. For the nextfive years he vas resident engineer onmimerous steel, concrete girder andarch jobs including the much-photo-graphed concrete arch structures atRocky Creek and Bixby Creek onthe Coast Highway ~,south of Carmel. ~ ~~~~ a~-=~Between 1933 ~

and 1'937 he wasresident engineer ,:,,, „ ~on the West Ba}- ~" ~'Crossing suspen- ~ ~•.,Sion structure of ~ Y~the San Francisco- ~ "~Oakland Ba }-Bridge, after ~vllich

HOWARD R. HINEMANhe returned to theBridge Department in Sacramento asconstruction engineer.

He vas appointed principal bridgeengineer—Operations in 1947, a posi-tion which has not only involved over-all direction of the construction of ap-prorimately abillion dollars' worth ofbridges but the inspection and mainte-nance of all structures nn the statehighway system as well.

from Eureka to the Samoa Peninsula,the site of several lumber mills.

Traffic projections and estimatesshow that 1,600 vehicles per daywould have used the bridge if it werein operation during 1464 and that2,300 vehicles per day could be ex-pected to use it by 1969.

Jahlstrom was born in Astoria,Oregon, and attended grade and highschool in Hockinson and BattleGround, both in the State of Wash-ington.

Jahlstrom served in the U.S. Navyduring World War I. He graduatedfrom Washington State College witha B.S. degree in engineering in 1923and was awarded an M.S. degree b}~the University of Illinois in 1925.He is a member of the American So-

ciety of Civil Engineers, the AmericanConcrete Institute, the engineeringhonor fraternity Tau Beta Pi and theUniversity Club of Sacramento. He isa Mason and a member of the Shrine.

Jahlstrorn, whose home is at 2783Harkness Street, Sacramento, has adaughter, Ruth Marie Wagner, and ason, Jack I. Jahlstrom, both of Sacra-mento.Hineman, who was advanced to suc-

ceed Jahlstrom, joined the division asa junior engineering field aid in 1932on construction of the Kings RiverCanyon Highway and transferred tothe Bridge Department as a juniorbridge engineer in 1935, serving onbridge construction projects in south-erri California for the next six years.Hineman vas a lieutenant com-

mander in the Navy during WorldWar II. His duties included commandof a company in the 64th Naval Con-struction Battalion.From 1949 to 1962 he was in charge

of preliminary investigations and plan-ning in the Los Angeles office of theBridge Department. Since 1962 he hasbeen in charge of all bridge construc-tion on the state highway system insouthern California.Hineman was born in Salina, Kan-

sas, and attended grade and high schoolin Anaheim, California. He graduatedfrom the University of California atBerkeley with a B.S. degree in engi-neering in 1931. His home has beenin Fullerton (830 West Valley View•Drive) .He is a member of the American So-

ciety of Civil Engineers.Hineman is married and has two

daughters.


Looking southwesterly across fhe completed freeway toward fhe town of Buellton. The Zaca Creek Channel Change is in the middle foreground.

~: ~ ~ .~~ •

On June 10, 1965,the Buellton By-

DISTR►CT Pass, extending5 from 0.7 mile south

of Santa YnezRiver to 0.7 milenorth of Buellton,was opened in itsentirety to traffic.The completion of

this 3.6-mile project eliminated thelast section of two-lane undividedhighway on US 101 south of theMonterey county line in District 5.

By J. ~. POPNOE, Resident Engineer

The unincorporated community ofBuellton (population 1,500) lies at thejunction of US 101 and Route 246.The latter route carries traffic to theLompoc-Vandenberg AFB area to thewest and to the tourist centers of Sol-vang and Cachuma Lake to the east.This east-west highway thus carriesa great amount of tourist traffic dur-ing the summer months. Buellton it-self attracts a considerable number oftouring visitors, because of a well-known restaurant located adjacent tothe old highway.

US 101 in Buellton proper was afour-lane divided roadway runningthrough the center of town. It wasflanked on both sides by frontageroads and intersected at grade byRoute 246 and ,several other crossstreets. Due to the many conflictingturns, this intersection was the sceneof a large number of accidents. Therewere 38 accidents recorded at this in-tersection in the years 1962 to 1964.Of this number, 31 accidents wereviolation of right-of-way accidentssuch as left turn into approaching

~$ California H►ghways and Publec Works

traffic or cross traffic being hit broad-side by highway traffic. Therefore,the Route 246/US 101 Separation con-structed as a part of the new freewaywas one of the major benefits of animmediate nature for the motorist.

Buellton is also served by two otherfull interchanges. To the south is theSanta Rosa Road Overcrossing and tothe north, the North Buellton Over-crossing. All three are diamond inter-changes.In addition to the structures listed

above, the contract involved the con-struction of a four-lane divided high-way with twin 1,000-foot box girderbridges spanning the Santa Ynez River.The two separate roadways sit nn acommon pier wall to allow for expan-sion at a later date to six lanes, whichcan be done easily by the addition ofa 12-foot lane to each deck. Formerly,US, 101 had been restricted to twolanes by the old Santa Ynez RiverBridge. The transition from four- totwo-lane traffic at the old structurehad proved a dangerous bottleneckfor the high-speed traffic. The com-pletion of these two structures elimi-nated another hazardous condition onthe old highway.

Actual construction began in Janu-ary of 1964, shortly after the contractwas awarded to Oberg ConstructionCorporation of Northridge.

The grading was essentially a bor-row job requiring about 150,000 cubic.yards. Of this sum, 55,000 cubic yardsof local borrow were designated bythe contract to be available from slopegrading performed on the fill for theold Santa Ynez River Bridge. The re-

F'~

Aerial view, taken during later stages of construction, looking north, shows old and new highways inrelation to Buellfon. Structures, beginning in foreground, are Santa Rosa Road Overcrossing, twinbridges over Santa Ynez River, 101/246 Separation, and North Buellton Overcrossing. Nojoqui Creek

channel is at right.

mainder of the material was obtainedby the contractor from imported bor-row sites near the job. The materialused was mainly ariver-run gravel of

good quality. The method of haul waspush-loaded scrapers.Aggregate bases for the project

were produced by the contractor


from state-owned material. The state'sPetan Pit is located one-half mile westof the project in the Santa YnezRiver, and it provided a good sourceof material for contractor's crusher.Road-mixed cement treated base wasalso specified in the contract.

The contractor elected to slipformthe portland cement concrete pave-ment on the project. This paving wasdone by Owl Slipform Company witha Guntert-Zimmerman paver.One operation that was of interest

was the contractor's method of con-structing the large pier walls for SantaYnez River Bridge. Using gangedforms up to 32' x 62', he was able tostrip and reform a section in one daywith only a minimum of labor. Sincethere were 10 pierwalls ranging in sizeup to 32' x 110', this method of con-struction greatly speeded the bridgeoperations.Nojoqui Creek, which had previ-

ously joined the Santa Ynez River to

BELOW: Looking northerly from the Santa RosaRoad Overcrossing northbound on-ramp at theSanfa Ynez River Bridge and fhe Route 246/101Separation. Buellton is in fhe left background.

ABOVE: Looking southerly from fhe North Buellton Overcrossing of }he Route 246/101 Separation.Buell}gn is ofi the picture to the right.

30 -- California Heghways and Public Works

the west of the project, was realignedto permit both the creek and theSanta Ynez River to flow under thenew bridge. The new channel is 2,800feet long with a minimum bottomwidth of 100 feet. Its side slopes arelined throughout with %2 -ton rockand facing rock.The portion of the old highway in

Buellton received a complete facelift-ing also. The former frontage roadswere widened to 42 feet, resurfaced,and restricted to one-way traffic. Be-tween the frontage roads is a 76-footmall. This is to be landscaped by thelocal businessmen's association in co-operation with the County of SantaBarbara. When completed, this shouldgive the center of Buellton a decidedparklike quality, which should be apleasant improvement over the trafficcongestion of former years.

Scenic CommitteeMembers RenamedGovernor Edmund G. Brown has

reappointed Harry P. Schmidt ofGustine and Edwin S. Moore of SanFrancisco to new four-year terms onthe state's Advisory Committee on aMaster Plan for Scenic Highways.Both were appointed to the original

committee in 1963 after its creationby the 1963 Legislature.Schmidt is a Merced County super-

visor, and has served as chairman ofthe committee since its inception.Moore is executive vice president of

the California State Automobile As-sociation.

Other members of the committeeare: Robert Grunwald of Hanford,Richard M. Leonard of San Francisco,Dee W. McKenzie of Sacramento,Nathaniel M. Owings of Big Sur, andCharles Perry Walker of ManhattanBeach.

The State Department of PublicWorks has announced the award of a$5,945,745.70 contract in StanislausCounty for grading and paving 13.1miles cif four-lane Interstate Route 5Freeway (Westside Freeway) be-tween 0.9-mile south of Del PuertoCanyon Road and the San JoaquinCounty Line, approximately threemiles west of Patterson.

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.~Editor's note: Research for fhe Buellton Bypass article brought this dividend—a picture of }he dedicotionof an earlier bridge over the Santa Ynez River, vintage 1917. Interestingly enough, the youngster(second from right) is Lyman Olsen, now Assistant Maintenance Engineer for the Division of Highways.

NATIONAL HIGHWAIi WEEK OPENS ~EPTEM~ER 19The 1965 observance of National

Highway Weelc has been scheduledfor September 19-25.A ~Jide range of highway-oriented

events 'and programs, including free-way dedications, ground-brealcings,special exhibits and radio and tele-vision shows is on the agenda.A statewide committee prompting

the observance is headed by ShermanP. Ducicel of San Francisco and Har-rison R. Balser of Pasadena as coordi-nators for northern and southernCalifornia, respectively.Governor Edmund G. Brown is-

sued the following statement withregard to National Highway Week:

For Californians, the annual ob-servance of National HighwayWeelc means an opportunity to gainfresh perspective on a major aspectof our state's forward progress. Weare so accustomed to our positionof national leadership in the devel-opment of safe, modern highwaysthat we often take their benefits forgranted.

In the past six years we havemore than doubled our mileage offull freeways, and now have morethan 1,700 miles of these life-saving,

time-saving facilities in operation.An additional S00 miles are underconstruction, and thousands- moremiles are on the drawing boards.We are carrying out in efficient,orderly fashion our long-range planfor freeways and expressways, in-cluding the California portion ofthe National Interstate System.With our motor vehicle registra-

tion approaching 11,000,000, wehave a degree of personal mobilityundreamed of a generation ago.Now we are broadening our out-

loolc. We are devoting more atten-tion to the relationship of highwaysto our environment, and are explor-ing new methods and systems oftransportation. But for many yearsto come, the mainstay of our trans-portation service will he our road,street and highway network. Na-tional Highway Week is a goodtime to reemphasize our determina-tion that there will he nn slackeningin California's effort to provide forour motorized population the safest,most efficient high`vay system inthe world.

ED\{UND G. BRO~YN~ Gover~zor

July—August 1965 ~~~~~gqT~,~, ~C)tl,~G~~ ~~~~A~ 31

in~r m rovemen s By JAMES E. WILSOI~1, Traffic Engineer

Mammoth highway undertakings,made necessary by America's growingautomobile-oriented population, haveaccustomed us to think of highwayimprovement in terms of eight-lanefreeways, complex interchanges, andprojects which quite often have multi-million-dollar price tags.

In addition to equating highwayimprovement with large monetary ex-penditures, we are inclined to make adirect association between freewaysand safety. (It is a fact that freewaysare about twice as safe as other roadsand streets.) There are other improve-ments to he made, however, and theirprice tags label them as the "bargains"of the overall highway improvementpicture, especially in terms of safety.

Throughout the nation, much atten-tion is focused upon the national sys-tem of interstate and defense highwaysprogram. With its target date forcompletion looming ahead only sevenyears from now, this emphasis is welldeserved. Other projects, equally am-bitious and worthwhile, are the workof the states, counties, and cities.

All of these superhighways will de-crease the pressure on presently over-warlced roads and streets. The factremains, though, that Saone of theselarge projects is going to do away

with the conventional thoroughfare.

Term 'Minor' Is Relative

vVith this firmly in mind, the Cali-

fornia Division of Highways has for

many nears channeled certain of its

funds into a minor improvement pro-

gram to increase the safety of the

motorist who invariably uses conven-

tional roads and streets for at least

part of his travels by automobile.

(These projects are "minor" only

in proportion to the funds expended;

they are frequently "major" to the

people most closely concerned.)

ARany of these roads were built 50

years ago, before the advent of the

~O rd m

BEFORE: Cold Creek Bridge on Route 2b near Ukiah, California was the scene of 95 acciden}s (74

persons injured, four killed) in six years. The realignment of fhis section of the road is being designed,

but the accident record necessitated immedio}e improvement.

AFTER: Accidents at this location were reduced from seven to two per year by replacing the concrete

bridge railing on the offending side with a continuous metal beam strip and correcting the super-

elevation (project cost: $4,006).


motor vehicle, and some of their fea-tures are anything but synonymouswith safety at the speeds in use today.Certain of these roads are not equippedto handle the increased volume oftraffic safely. The elimination of theirmany inadequacies cannot be achievedovernight, of course, but if a maxi-mum number of areas can be affordeda little improvement from time totime, the results will be fruitful froma safety standpoint.The funds for minor projects un-

fortunately do have to compete withthe heavy financial demands of thesuperhighways. The judicious distri-bution of these funds then becomesan important issue. The division ofthis small pie has been worked out asfairly as possible by assigning the ap-propriate priority to troublesomespots.

This process can best be shown byoutlining the procedure used in oneof California's 11 districts. In the13,000-square-mile area of one district,8,428 .reports of accidents on statehighways were received from 9 Cali-fornia Highway Patrol area units and27 police departments in 1964.

Reports Are Reviewed.

The ensuing collection of reportswas reviewed, and tabulations weremade with the general approach that—as a starting point—when three ormore conflicts occur in a calendaryear, the .location is to receive con-sideration as a potential "problemspot." This approach considers thattwo conflicts at one point can be co-incidental, but beyond that, there maybe some other factor that should bereviewed.

Also, whenever driver statements orthe "opinions and conclusions" of theinvestigating patrol officer indicateany cause other than driver error ormechanical failure as the primary fac-tor in the accident, a review of thesite is made promptly, regardless ofthe number of previous incidents arthe lack of them.

All accident reports are read, coded,and posted on accident profiles as adaily procedure. These profiles pro-

The traffic engineers who evaluafe potential minor improvement spots rely upon information retordetlon accident profiles for part of their studies. Seen here are Don Foster, Assistant District iraffic Engineer

(left), and Blair GeddES, District Tragic Engineer, both of District 3.

vide at-a-glance information of thepoints of recurrence in the district,and tell whether an area has been freeof conflicts in previous years orwhether there have been occasionalproblems over a long period of time.Reports are maintained (in current

files with a folder for each year) fora period of five years. Each profilesheet is placed in location order forreference by the district. As a visualreminder, a map is on display andmarkers are used to indicate eachproblem point as it develops. Thisallows for the review of all problemspots in the district simultaneously.As spot locations are improved, theflags at those points are removed.Once a flag goes up, a detailed study

is begun. All past accidents are re-viewed hack to the time when anymajor change was made in the road-way—or if none have been made inthe last few years—then back to thefive year starting point of the accidentfiles. The reports are studied, and acollision diagram and/or summaryprepared as indicated. Even if a def-

finite pattern is obvious, a field studyis generally carried out.

Onsife Inspection

if no pattern emerges, onsite inspec-tion may be especially helpful in pro-viding insight as to a possible approachand tentative solution. In the field re-view, it may be useful to answer cer-tain questoins: Has native shrubberyor tree growth created a restriction ofvision? Has traffic volume increasedto multiply the changes of a conflict?Has general speed increased so tratapproach speed is too high for condi-tions? Has some other factor influ-enced the situation or created a dis-traction? Is the condition obvious tothe approaching traffic or is driver aidneeded? Is there a daytime or night-time aspect to the problem?

Clarification of the problem itselfis a major influence in the district`srecommendations for improvement.Ho~u can the spot be made safer?Should the district clear roadsidegrowth? Add signs? Delineate? Re-construct? Or should the improve-ment be a combination of several pos-sibilities?

.1 ul y—August 1965 33

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Accident sites are pinpointed on district maps to provide instant information concerning the troubleso

spots within fhat area.

Although improvements are indi-vidually adapted to a particular site,they generally fall into the 10 cate-gories which follow:

1. Delineation2. Protective guardrail

3. Intersection channelization

4. Reconstruction

5. Safety lighting6. Flashing signals

7. New signals8. Modified signals9. New signals with channelization

10. Modified signals with channel-

ization

Some minor improvement projects,are undertaken for "operational bet-terment." By altering signals to coin-cide with the current traffic flow, andby assigning the right-of-way, thecapacity of the intersection is in-creased and the stream of traffic ismore orderly. Any resulting increasein safety is largely incidental, but im-portant because a driver is less inclinedto take chances when he knows that

4

his turn to proceed is forthcoming.He is less inclined to become short ofpatience and to make a "chance" ma-neuver that is imprudent. If his emo-tions rule the situation instead of hisgood driving sense, that driver invari-ably becomes a poorer driving risk,and the site where this occurs withfrequency may achieve a reputationas a problem spot.

More Than One Solution

The problem spot, once its identityis established, may actually lend itselfto more than one solution. Because ofthe financing available for spot im-provements, however, the district islikely to choose the least costly meas-ure that can be expected to copefavorably with the problem, therebyspreading the funds to cover as manytroublesome locations as possible. Thesaving grace of using an economicalapproach is that if a certain improve-ment falls short of the desired results,further improvements can always bemade at a later date.

There are three specific sources offunds for minor improvements withinthe means of the California Divisionof Highways. Projects exceeding $50,-000 in cost are placed with othermajor construction projects in the an-nual fiscal-year planning budget sub-mitted to the California HighwayCommission for approval. Naturally,funds from this category are. reservedfor prime locations where a simpleand less costly solution would do littleto eliminate accident hazards. Interme-diately priced projects, costing from$5,000 to $50,000 are financed fromany available contingency funds. Thisalso requires a commission vote. Proj-ects under $5,000 are financed througha fund set up for minor improve-ments, the formalities of which aresimpler. Other financial aid for spotimprovements may come from thecity or county involved, or from thefederal government.

Beginning JuIY 1, 1965, projectscosting $5,000—$50,000 will be fi-nanced from a special Traffic SafetyFund. This will provide a total of$3,000,000 per year.

Federal authorities in fact, encour-aged recently by statements from£'resident Lyndon B. Johnson, haveadvocated an accelerated program foraccident reduction, and California'sspot improvement campaign is butone program which has been accel-erated to comply with these nationalambitions.

92 Locations Studied

Aware of the various methods avail-able for project financing, the districtstudied 92 separate locations in 1964.In most cases, both accident diagramsand accident summaries were pre-pared. Then, after a field review ofeach site was completed, 35 projectswere chosen to receive immediate ac-tion. The cost of improvements at

these spots ranged from $251 for pur-

chasing and installing 50 feet of guard

rail to $195,000 for modernizing and

coordinating the signal system at all

intersections of a state highway which

passes through a town of 15,000 popu-

lation.

One project, illustrative of the mid-

dle range, was completed at a cost of

approximately $25,300 (of which the

34 Calif~r~ia Highways and Public Works

city involved contributed approxi-mately $15,500 of the total). It wasundertaken at an intersection wherea series of accidents had occurred inthe two-year period preceding the im-provement. An accident review andsummary substantiated the conclusionthat the majority of reported acci-dents involved vehicles attempting tomake left turns. Traffic at the inter-section was conerolled by atwo-phase,full trafFic-actuated signal with mastarms having eight-inch indications. I1-lumination was provided by mast armmounted luminaires on each corner ofthe intersection. Stop signs were inplace on each leg of the intersection.The south leg of Peck Road and

the east leg of Valley Boulevard weredivided with an eight-font concretecurbed median. Painted crosswalkswere in place across both legs of Val-ley Boulevard. A separate right turnlane existed on the south leg of PecicRoad as shown in the before photo-graph. Both streets were zoned for35-mile-per-hour speed.

Left Turns Cause Congestion

The field investigation emphasizedthat congestion and delay resultedfrom left turn movements on all legsof the intersection. The lack of leftturn channelization limited throughtraffic to the curb lane, which resultedin prolonged clearance time forthrough traffic and caused the leftturns to be made primarily during theamber signal periods. The delay toleft-turn vehicles also affected cross-street traffic, since such traffic had towait until the intersection was clearof the left-turning vehicles from thecross street.

The advised improvement con-sisted of the modification of the exist-ing controller to provide for fourauxiliary movement controllers, me-dian signals nn Peck Road with 12-inch green arrow sections, walls-waitsignals on each leg of the intersection,replacement of the old signal headswith 12-inch sections, and left-turnchannelization on each of the fourlegs.

BEFORE: Peck Road-Valley Boulevard intersection in EI Monte, California.A high incidence of acciden►s took place at this intersection before a minorimprovement project eliminated uncontrolled left }urns from four directions.

«~ r r

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An "after" study was made to eval-uate the effectiveness o~ the altera-tions. The total number of accidentsdeclined 39 percent (from 64 to 39).Intersecting accidents were reduced89 percent (from 9 to 1), and ap-proaching accidents declined 94 per-cent (from 37 to 2). Accidents in-volving injury declined 35 percent,and the number of persons injureddeclined 44 percent. Overtaking acci-dents, however, increased 71 percent(from 17 to 29).

A'significant reduction in the totalnumber of traffic accidents took placein spite of the increase in accidentsinvolving overtaking vehicles. Theleft-turn approaching type of colli-sion was almost completely elimi-nated.

Traffic Volume Increases

Another factor to consider in con-trasting the "before" period with the"after" period is that an increase of19 percent in the total traffic volumeoccurred in the space of the few yearsunder consideration. The decrease inaccidents following the improvement

AFTER: Peck Road-Valley Boulevard intersection. With left turn channeliza-fion, improved signals, etc., the motorists right of way is more clearly

defined. Accidents have decreased 39 percent (from 64 fo 39).

is, of course, even more substantial inthis light.

A leg-by-leg breakdown of thetraffic shows the following increasein volume for the before and afterperiods:

Before After

West leg of Valley Boulevard 4,249 4,595

East leg of Valley Boulevard._ 4,385 4,548

South leg of Peck Road._.... __. 5,070 6,549

North leg of Peck Road __________ 4,126 5,462

17,830 21,154

Based on the significant reductionof both the intersecting and approach-ing type collisions, especially in viewof the increased traffic volume, thisimprovement was considered a suc-cessful attempt to better a spot loca-tion.

Unfortunately, installing new ormore sophisticated signals does notalways result in fewer accidents at in-tersections, although it is sometimesdifficult to convince the lay trafFiccritic of the pitfalls of this seemingly

magic formula.

For instance, in a study which eval-uated 140 projects in 1962, the over-all accident reduction approximated32 percent. But this total is rathermisleading because safety was im-proved in 108 of the 140 projects. Inthe remaining 32 cases, the anticipatedimprovement did not materialize. And,

in two-thirds (or 21) of the projects

in which the after accident rate was

higher, new or modified trafric signals

without channelization were involved.

In fact, 21 of the 59 new signal proj-

ects (36 percent) resulted in a wors-

ening of the accident picture.

MasTer Evaluation

The outcome of spot improvement

projects is forwarded to the Division

of High~~ays Headquarters in Sacra-

mento to become a part of a master

evaluation which is carried nut by the

Traffic Department.

During the calendar year 1964,

minor improvements reported by all

11 districts totaled 301. These projects

involved a total expenditure of about

$8,200,000. About 37 percent of the

money was spent for reconstruction.

TIZis included easing of curves, widen-

ing of narrow roadways, widening ofbridges and culverts, increasing sightdistances, etc. The next largest expen-diture (of the total figure) was for theinstallation or modernization of trafficsignals. The signal projects usually in-cluded safety lighting and often theconstruction of intersection channel-ization. Substantial sums were alsospent for erecting median barriers.

The majority of these safety im-provement projects were initiated asa result of the continuous surveillanceof the California state highway systemfor high accident locations, as men-

tioned throughout this article. The

types of projects completed in 1964are shown below:

TYPES OF PROJECTS

Projects Under Construction or With

Design Complete as of December

31, 1964

Projects over $5,000

Types of projects Number Total cost*

Signals_______________53$2,342,900Flashing beacons______0Lighting____ _0Delineation___________687,800Guardrail___ __0Channelization________12382,900Reconstruction________223,410,300Miscellaneous_________10322,400Median barriers_ _ _ _ _ _ _2265,300

Totals____________105$6,811,600

* Includes share of cost borne by local agencies.

It should be mentioned that many

other projects were also constructed

during the year to improve traffic op-

eration, reduce delay, increase capac-

ity, and the like, but these projects

have not been included in 301 projects

reported above-unless the locations

had experienced adverse accident rec-

ords prior to the improvement.

At the end of the year, there were

another 105 projects, with an esti-

mated cost of $6,811,600 either under

construction or with the improve-

ment design completed. Their type

and cost is given below:

It should also be noted that many

other improvements, which also have

a safety aspect, are made on a day-to-

day basis by state forces exclusive of

the minor improvement program.

These include the erection of curve

warning signs, the improvement of

striping and delineation, and the in-

crease of sight distance by removing

shrubbery and other obstructions.

Although the cost of any one of these

improvements is nominal, the sum

total of all such improvements amounts

to a substantial safety benefit.

The actual safety benefit which will

result from the 301 projects completed

in 1964 is only arbitrarily calculable,

but projections indicate that about 800

to 1,000 fewer accidents per year

should be occasioned. The total re-

duction during the life of each project

PROJECTS COMPLETED

January 1, 1964, to December 31, 1964

Projects under $5,000Projects over $5,000All projects

NumberTotal cost*NumberTotal cost*NumberTotal cost* Types of projects

Signals____________________42$48,40047$2,350,40089$2,398,800

flashing beacons___________1727,80017,3001835,100

Lighting____ ____1122,800320,8001443,600

Delineation________________it10,900249,3001360,200

Guardrail__________________3050,700S103,40035154.,100

Channelization_____________2358,90017759,30040818,200

Reconstruction__ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _3478,300202,955,000543,033,300

Miscellaneous______________2455,5006110,10030165,600Median barriers__14,90071,464,80081,469,700

Totals________________193-

$358,200108-

$7,820,400--

301$8;178,600

* Includes share of cost Uorne by local agencies.


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Identifying the high accident locations on California's 12,414-mile state highway system is increasinglyfacilitated through the use of electronic data-processing equipment, as shown by Richard Bjorklund of

Headquarters data processing.

would exceed the yearly a=nount bymany times. By averaging the expe-riences to date, we find that each proj-ect can be expected xo eliminate aboutthree accidents per year, or about 30in 10 years.The present accident reduction

through minor improvements is about25 percent (despite increased traffic

volume in the "after" period), asshown in the tabulation below.

It is interesting to note that anearlier survey of the accident reduc-tion attributable to minor improve-ments showed a 32-percent decline inaccidents, but justification for lesserseeming results (25 percent) lies inthe fact that the worst locations were

Number of accidentsNumber of projects per year Percent

reduction

Improved Worsened Total Before AfterType of improvementin

accidents

New signals________________ 76 49 125 1,125 965 14Modified signals____________ 14 8 22 485 409 16New signals with channeliza-

tion_____________________ 33 23 56 717 583 19Modified signals with chan-

nelization________________ 34 3 37 824 550 33Flashing signals____________ 35 10 45 437 338 23Safety lighting_____________ 30 11 41 300 173 42Delineation________________ 13 0 13 125 69 45Protective guardrail________ 9 0 9 45 15 67Intersection channelization __ 29 5 34 596 464 22Reconstruction and miscel-

laneous__________________ 40 10 50 395 237 40

Total of all projects_____ 313 119 432 5,049 3,803 25

improved first. Further studies involy-ing percentages are bound, by thenature of the program, to show di-minishing returns.With the knowledge on the safety

program increasing every year, we donot expect to wrap up the minor im-provements program in the foresee-able future. Changes and refinementswill occur in the program throughproject evaluation and research.Our efforts to improve the tech-

niques of identfying high-accident lo-cations are increasingly aided by theuse of electronic data-processingequipment. Computer listings of inter-section accidents and accident concen-trations in 0.10-mile increments werefurnished to the districts in 1964.

Computer Use Expanded

An evaluation is being carried outthis year to test the feasibility ofgreatly expanding the use of computerlistings in the minor improvement pro-gram. It is expected that these listingswill supplement, and in some casessupplant, the present methods of handposting and visual inspection of acci-dent strip maps. At present, both handposting and computer listing are car-ried out, with the comparison of oneset of data serving as a convenientcross check for the other.On the whole, it may be concluded

that minor improvements are an effec-tive means of reducing accidents. And,although the number of accidents-before and after—at any one locationis usually too small. to provide a sta-tistically reliable base, a definite con-tribution to safety has been proved inall research to date.The only word of caution to, be

exercised in a program such as this isthat each project should be evaluatedon its own unique merits. There is nopredictable manner in which to judgethe outcome of any particular im-provement. Good results, however,can be expected with most projectsby using a logical approach to theproblem, the solution, and by imple-menting available funds to carry outthe dictates of a soundly conceivedworking approach.

July—dugust 1965 37

Governor Edmund G. Brown is shown signing into law Senate Bill 648, which extends the life of the Bay Area Transportation Study Commission for three

years. Seated with him at the news conference in the Governor's San Francisco offices on July 12, 1965, is Senator "J" Eugene McAteer of San Francisco,

author of the legislation. the interested spectator behind the Senator is Nils Eklund, chairman of BAiSC. Newsmen at Governor's right are Earl C. Behrens,political editor of the San Francisco Chronicle, seated; and Vern Williams, radio correspondent, standing.

d rea

rans or a ion u

By RICHARD M. ZETTEL, Study Director

High in the Berkeley hills a com- The place is the picturesque Clare- land use plan to guide the future ofbination of human brains and modern mont Hotel. The research group is the the nine counties which comprise the

technology is underway with work Bay Area Transportation Study Com- hay area.that will profoundly affect the future mission. The goal is the creation of a Mindful that population studies in-

of the San Francisco gay area. regional, balanced transportation and dicate a "super-Metropolitan status


for the bay area to rank seventh inthe nation in size by the year 2000,"the study's basic aim therefore is toget ahead of these developments asfar as possible so that meaningfulchoices, based on factual .data, areavailable to those who must help shapethe future.

It was primarily to meet this.. chal-lenge that the study commission wasset up by the 1963 session of the Cali-f~rnia Legislature. An additional rea-son was a 'requirement of the 1962federal-aid highway law providingthat after July 1, 1965, no highwayproject involving federal aid, be itinterstate highway or secondary road,may be approved by the Secretary ofCommerce, unless it is based on a con-tinuing comprehensive transportationplanning process carried on coopera-tively by states and local communities.

The federal law providing aid fortransit also requires that "a unified orofficially coordinated transportationsystem as a part of the comprehen-sively planned development of theurban area" must be developed if thearea is to qualify for transit funds.

Total TransporTafion

Aware that every resource must becalled into consideration if its respon-sibility is to be met, the commissionwill overlook no possibilities. Be itnew freeways, new bridges or moreunderwater Bay crossings, train, bus,hovercraft, hydrofoil or helicopter,all suggestions will be carefully heardand exhaustively studied. The econ-on~y involved is an expanding one andis built upon the free movement ofpeople and goods in and around andthrough the bay area. The commis-sion's job is to point out what can bedone to help future development meet.the objectives of all concerned.

Organized on a "grass roots" basis,the 37-member commission has alreadyattracted national interest. Althoughit may be somewhat unwieldly admin-istratively because of its size (there isalso a 50-member citizens' advisorycommittee) this same factor is a po-tential source of great good will, look-

ing to the time when the commission

In the BATSC computer room, Programmers Adeline Bergeron and John Hertz confer on a set of data.

must submit its recommendations tothe general public and secure thewidespread support necessary for im-plem~ntation of its proposals.As is well recognized, numerous

transportation studies of excellent

technical competence have founderedand disappeared or have been rele-gated to the dust of library shelvesbecause the governmental jurisdictionswere not coordinated, or because theattitudes and desires of the general

The children of Carolyn and David Schiller of Orinda help their parents supply information about fhefamily's transportation pattern to BATSC Survey Interviewer Mary Johnson (right),

July—August 1965 3q

StaNs of Bay Area Transportation Study Commission apd Association of Bay Area Governments work foge}her_closely. Leff fo right, ABAG Executive Director

Warren Schmid, ABAG Planning Director James H. Hickey, BA7SC Study Director Richard M. Zetfel, and BATSC Assistant S}udy Directors Gibson W. Fairman

and Jay W. McBridge.

public were not sufficiently taken intoaccount.The commission suffers from no

such deficiency. It must make prac-tical suggestions on ways of imple-inenting its plan. Its makup is worthnoting in some detail.

Commission Makeup

There are seven at-large membersappointed by Governor Edmund G.Brown. Four members of the StateLegislature, including State SenatorJ Eugene McAteer of San Francisco,sponsor of the legislature author}zingthe commission, also are members.The other legislators are Senator JohnF. McCarthy, Marin County, and As-semblymen W. Byron Rumford andLeo J. Ryan, of Alameda and SanMateo counties, respectively.Representatives of the boards ' of

supervisors and spokesmen for themayors in the nine counties involvedin the study also have places on thecommission.

Agencies represented include theState Highway TransportationAgency, Department of Finance, As-sociation of Bay Area Governments,Alameda-Contra Costa Transit Dis-trict, Bay Area Rapid Transit District,Golden Gate Bridge and HighwayDistrict, United States Bureau of Pub-

lic Roads and the United States Hous-ing and Hoine Finance Agency. Thechairman of the commission is NilsEklund, Vice President of Kaiser In-dustries, Oakland.

To direct the manifold operationsof the study, the commission selectedthe writer, research economist of theInstitute of Transportation and "TrafficEngineering of the University of Cali-fornia. Serving as assistant directorsare Gibson W. Fairman and Jay W.McBride, both of whom have had ex-tensive experience in regional trans-portation planning.

Working in close coordination withthe commission is the Association ofBay Area Governments. In addition to

its direct representation on the c~m-mission, ABAG will cooperate in theland use portion of the commission'sstudy and will in fact play a key rolethroughout the survey. The associa-tion has been recognized as a regionalplanning agency eligible for planningassistance grants by the U.S. Housing

and Home Finance Agency. It thus

becomes the vehicle through which

such financial assistance may be made

available to the commission.

In the performance of its basic re-sponsibility to conduct a comprehen-

live study and to prepare a master,regional transportation plan for the fu-ture, the commission is explicitly lim-ited to this field by terms of theauthorizing legislation. Moreover thecommission itself has no powers of de-cision nn contemporary transportationissues, nor does it have powers of re-view over decisions of other agencies,public or private.

The commission could easily lose itsJong-range effectiveness if it becameembroiled in immediate issues of theday. Progressively as its studies pro-ceed, however, the advisory functionof the commission will become morepertinent to current decisions, becausethe outlines of its plan will begin toemerge.

Initial Work

Standing by itself, the commission'sown specific task is a grave and diffi-cultone in aregion which is really onlybeginning to examine its regional prob-

lems nn an overall basis and to developarticulated plans and means with which

to cope with them.

The commission has reached its pres-

ent status through a succession of stepswhich may be highlighted as follows:

Acting upon authority conferred bySenate Concurrent Resolution No. 20,

q.p California Highways and Public Works

approved by the 1962 session of theLegislature, the State Department ofPublic Works, assisted by a large bayarea committee of technical and citi-zens' representatives, prepared a pros-pectus setting forth broad general linesalong which such a study could pro-ceed.

Senator McAteer then introducedlegislation creating the commission.The law took effect in September 1963,but it required some months before all37 commissioners could be appointedby the many agencies and governmen-tal jurisdictions concerned. The fullcommission.thereupon held its first ses-sion in Oakland on March 20, 1964.The study director was appointed

in June, and in August the commis-sion approved a cooperative agreementwith the Association of Bay AreaGovernments and the State HighwayTransportation Agency to "provideorganizational and working arrange-ments for a continuing, coordinated,comprehensive planning process in theSan Francisco Bay area."In October the commission ap-

proved and adopted the preliminarystudy design prepared by the technicalstaff. During December the commis-sion moved its financing arrangementsto the final stages. (The authorizinglegislation did not provide for any di-rect operating funds for the commis-sion and negotiations for this purposeoccupied many weeks. )approximately $3,465,000 has been

set as the amount which will be neededto complete the study, which is nowscheduled for early in 1968.These funds will come from a com-

bination of federal, state and localsources, with the federal governmentaccounting for the greatest portion.Thus, with major problems of or-

ganization, financing and staffing be-hind it, the commission has moved rap-idly into the vital data-gathering andanalysis phase of the study in thiseffort it is working closely with themany existing planning and transpor-tation agencies operating in the bayarea. These include both District 4 andthe Urban Planning Department of theState Division of Highways, the StateDivision of Bay Toll Crossings, theGolden Gate Bridge and HighwayDistrict, the Bay Area Rapid Transit

July—August 1965

District, the Alameda-Contra CostaTransit District, the San FranciscoMunicipal Railway, the West BayRapid Transit Authority, and theMarin County Transit District; all inaddition to planning and transporta-tion agencies of the individual countiesand cities.

Existing 54udies

Actually, a considerable amount ofexcellent transportation planning hasalready been done in the bay area. But

it has often been fragmented along po-litical or geographical lines or limitedto a particular mode of transportation.All usable information from past stud-ies, as well as from present planningprograms, will be incorporated in thecurrent study. But a vast amount ofnew data must be collected and col-lated if the commission is to meet itsgoal.A truly comprehensive study re-

quires "that the economic, population,

Morning inbound tra~~ from Contra Costa County approaching the Caldecoft Tunnel.

41

.>`~ ~Peninsula commuters boarding $an Francisco-bound train at Palo Alto.

and land use elements be included;

that estimates be made of the future

demands for all modes of transporta-

tion both public and private for both

persons and goods; that terminal and

transfer facilities and traffic control

systems be included in the inventories

and analyses ."

Field Surveys

Many field surveys are being under-taken concurrently. These will includetrafFic counts and interviews along

roadsides and in buses; inventories of

road, transit, and parking conditions;

studies of truck, bus, and taxi opera-

tions.

One of the most important surveysis the home interview, which involvespersonal contact with selected fami-lies concerning trips made and char-acteristics of the household. In excessof 50,000 households will be inter-viewed, the list having been selectedat random to cover all geographicalareas and all kinds of families.

All information obtained is heldconfidential, of course, and will beused only in statistical summarieswhich will explain present travel pat-terns and help in prediction of thefuture.

The land use survey which will beaccomplished largely through analysis

~;i

of aerial photographs will be of greatinterest for genera] planning as wellas transportation analysis. Completeaerial coverage of the study area is nowbeing acquired in a form suitable forenlargement to a 1-to-200 scale. Theland use survey will be supplementedby floor area surveys.

Computer Use

All of the data mentioned, alongwith information from still other sur-veys, ~~ill be fed into an IBM 1401computer at the commission's head-quarters for summarization and sub-sequent analysis. A study of this scope

and depth would be impossible to ac-

complish manually. Literally tens of


millions of individual items of data areinvolved.

One of the important byproducts ofthe commission's work will be theability to furnish information to othertransportation and general planningagencies quickly and in the form de-sired, so that they may take advantageof the commission's vast store of datain their o~vn programs.

A second important feature is thatan adequate historical base of informa-tion will be established which willallow the commission and other plan-ning bodies to analyze the impact ofdecisions made in the future. For in-stance, with the frame of referencenow being accumulated it will be pos-sible to gauge accurately the impactof future rapid transit on bay areadevelopment.

Weighing Alternatives

However, the main objective is todevelop an acceptable and practicalcomprehensive transportation plan.Analysis of current data will permitthe development of models or mathe-matical expressions which reproducecurrent travel and land use patterns.These will then be used in predictionof the course of future developmentof the bay area and the resulting trans-portation demands.Once the basic analyses are com-

pleted it will be possible to developalternative plans of land use and trans-portation development and descrip-tions of the public policies needed tobring them about. The alternativeswill be submitted to the commissionfor evaluation and public debate inlight of the goals and aspirations ofthe region. Finally, a preferred re-gional transportation plan will be se-lected by the commission for recom-mendation to the Legislature.

Briefing Sessions

While the technical work proceeds,the commission is going forward withmore generalized aspects of the studyso that it may make a more informedchoice among possible alternatives atthe appropriate time.

Planned for action in the near fu-ture is a "briefing" on the so-called"novel" transportation methods, some

of which were mentioned earlier. Also

scheduled is a meeting to hear fromrepresentatives of business, labor andcivic groups. The general public willalso be invited to put their viewpointsbefore the commission. These meet-ings will continue and expand a pro-gram of meetings held by the com-mission at various localities during1964, when federal, state and localofficials reported on the current statusof transportation facilities and plan-ning for the bay area.

Among several important innova-tions in the commission's organiza-tional setup was the provision for aSO-member citizens' advisory commit-tee. Under the chairmanship of Stan-ley E. McCaffrey, president of theSan Francisco Bay Area Council, thisgroup is fully organized and has helda joint meeting with the commission."The advisory group is expected toplay an active part in the entire study,both in the formulation of the com-mission's final recommendations and inhelping to obtain public support forthe proposals.

Long-range Planning

The" goal set for the commission—to design a balanced transportationsystem that will serve the nine bay

area counties efficiently in the 1980's,the 90's and beyond—may be thoughtto be too remote to be practical.However, one or two points should

be leept in mind in relating the workof this commission to the future trans-portation system in the bay area.

Foremost is the fact that the com-mission does not intend to set up anyarbitrary and rigid plan, put a date of20 to 25 years from now on it, andcall it quits.

What it is aiming for is to set upsome basic goals and general guide-lines, to make specific recommenda-tions within that framework, and tomake provision for periodic reviewanti updating, probably at five-yearintervals.

This last is most important. Thecommission itself is temporary, but itmust, as a part of its responsibility,inalce adequate plans for transfer ofits planning functions to appropriatepermanent agencies.

It is believed that the people of thebay area are going to be much moredisposed to support the commission'slong-range suggestions if they knowthey are flexible enough to accommo-date factors that may not be seenclearly enough today.

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5

Commuter parking Iot for freeway bus connection al Orinda, Contra Cosfa County.

Jvly—August 1965 43

APOLOGIES TO MR. LITTLETON

On page 17 of the January—February1965, issue of Cali f ornicr Highwaysand Public IrT~orks magazine the photoof the piece of paving falling into thegap of the washout at Mears Creek onInterstate 5 was credited to the main-tenance foreman of that section.

Actually the picture was taken byRay E. Littleton, son of the mainte-nance foreman, who is a member. ofthe Redding Fire Department, FireHall No. 2, 19Q0 Placer Street, Red-ding.

The photo was. made with a Polaroidcamera, in alternate rain and snowsqualls. The referred to picture andtwo others made by Mr. Littleton atthe same time appear below.

Aerial photos are a major tool in fhe land use survey of the bay area. Intermediate Clerk Mary Hender-

son is shown making measurements on a photo preparatory to calculation of enlargement factors.

The important thing is to set the

stage now for a continuing process

that will help to shape the bay area.

into an increasingly desirable place inwhich to 1_ive as our population grows

and the economy expands. An ade-quate job of transportation planning,properly coordinated with other plan-ning efforts, will do much to assure apleasant future.

Home interviewers undergo extensive training. Instructor Louis Nackos is shown conducting one of

the classes.

44 California F-lighways and Publie Works

Right-of-Way AgentsHold 3rd AcademyThe third two-week summer train-

ing academy for Division of High-ways Right-of-Way Agents was con-ducted August 2-14 at the Universityof California's Davis campus.

Approximately 90 of the division'sjunior agents and some of its newerassistant agents from the state's 11highway districts attended this con-centrated 88-hour course of technicaltraining in property acquisition andrelated fields.

In California's highway program,most of the land required for freewayand highway construction is pur-chased from private owners. Right-of-way agents are responsible for ap-praising these properties, negotiatingtheir purchase, and managing themuntil construction begins. In the1964-65 fiscal year, approximately7,500 such transactions were made,representing an expenditure of nearly$180,000,000."As a concentrated extension of our

comprehensive in-training program,the academy's value has been proventhrough a higher level of productivityon the part of our agents, who alreadyrepresent the top 10 percent of appli-cants for aright-of-way career," saidJ. C. Womack, State Highway Engi-neer. "This is in turn reflected by sav-ings in both time and money, since itspeeds the translation of highway usertaxes into safe, modern highways andfreeways."Also, because right-of-way work

is extremely varied, our agents mustsupplement technical knowledge ofreal estate laws and values with recog-nition that rights of the public and theproperty owner must be protected.Agents must merit the public's confi-dence and good will through care,courtesy, and constructive coopera-tion."

Classroom sessions incorporated:The Right-of-Way Function; BasicEngineering; Appraisal Theory; Ac-quisition Law and Techniques; Prop-erty Management; and Administra-tion.

Senior members of the division'sright-of-way staff served as instruc-

~~►y-Angus¢ ~9~s

Rotation InvolvesKey AssignmentsJob rotation within the Division of

Highways is mandatory only at thejunior civil engineer, or entry, level.Its advantages were described in anarticle in the May—June 1963 issueof Califor7~aic~ High~zvays a7ad PzablicWorks.

In some districts the rotation policyhas been increasingly applied at higherlevels of responsibility, and for thesame reasons: to broaden the engi-neer's base of experience, and to pro-vide better qualified highway leader-ship for the future.

In recent' months the division's twolargest districts have carried out majorshifts of assignments, one involvingAssistant District Engineers (supervis-ing level) and the other involvingSenior Highway Engineers.In District 4, San Francisco, a series

of such changes involved eight Assis-tant District Engineers. Some of themoves were from traffic to administra-tion, from construction to design,from ,planning to maintenance, andfrom .right-of-way engineering toprograms and budgets. Several of themen involved had held their previousassignments for many years.More recently, seven of the Senior

Highway Engineers in District 7, LosAngeles, were reassigned to new du-ties in different units. For example, thenew administrative head in the districtmaintenance office is a transfer fromthe programs and budgets unit. Otherlateral changes involve route planning,design and materials units.

tors. Group conferences were sched-uled as evening sessions. Classes wereheld in the Physical Sciences Buildingand Olson Hall on the Davis campus,and residence was in Ryerson Hall.Rudolf Hess, Chief Right-of-Way

Agent for the Division of Highways,supervised plans and curriculum forthe academy, which offered opportu-nity for a uniform instructional pat-tern for agents who will apply thistraining in their respective districtsthroughout the state.

Bayna rd A. Switzer,Safety Head, LeavesBaynard A. Switzer, Safety Engi-

neer for the California Division ofHighways, retired on August 31, aftera 41-year career with the state.As head of the Safety Section since

1955, Switzer hashad charge of all in-dustrial and trafficsafety and fire pro-tection for the di-vision's now morethan 17,000 em-ployees. He has alsosupervised the divi-sion's Merit AwardProgram.

BAYNARD A. SWITZER The 27-year-oldemployee safety program has broughtoutstanding reduction in accidentrates and costs among division person-nel. Under Switzer, the rate of re-cordable motor vehicle accidentsamong highway employees has beenreduced by one-third, the lost timeinjury rate by more than one-half.

Prior to his appointment as SafetyEngineer, Switzer also played an im-portant role in the division's researchprogram on traffic signing, pavementmarking and speed zoning.Switzer was born at Fredalba (now

Smiley Parlc) north of San Bernardinoand went to grade and high school inHighland and San Bernardino. Helater studied engineering aX OregonState University.He joined the Division of High-

ways in 1924 as an engineering drafts-man.He was appointed district traffic

engineer at San Bernardino in 1940.He transferred to the headquarters

ofFice in Sacramento in 1950 as an as-sistant traffic engineer.

Switzer is a member of the Instituteof Traffic Engineers. He is a Mason,a member of the State Men's Club andis past regional director of the Cali-fornia State Employees' Association.

Switzer is married and has a son,Robert, and a daughter, Barbara N.Cullen, both of Victorville.

45

District 3 LosesMaintenance ChiefR. I. Nicholson of Yuba City has

retired from the California Division ofHighways August 1 terminating a 35-year state engineering career.

For the past 15 years he has been dis-trict maintenanceengineer supervis-ing a staff of 400 inthe upkeep and re-

F'~ " ;,` pair of 1,400 miles=' ~ of state highways

and freeways in the11 counties servedby the Marysvilledistrict office.

SucceedingR. I. NICHOLSON Nicholson will be

Elmo C. Meister, a senior highwayengineer who, for the past two years,has headed the locations departmentcharged with mapping adopted routesfor future freeways.

After the 1955 Marysville-YubaCity floods, crews under Nicholson'sdirection were cited for their excel-lent work in re-opening state roadsand making emergency repairs.

Born in Shasta County, he attendedthe University of California in Berke-ley majoring in civil engineering.

In 1930, he joined the Division ofHighways in Marysville, and has spenthis entire career in District 3 with theexception of a two-month assignmentin Sacramento headquarters.

He was promoted to senior high-way engineer in 1950. Before promo-tion to his present position, he was incharge of the district's federal aid sec-ondary system of roads.

He is state president of the QuarterCentury Club of the Division ofHighways and is past president ofChapter 40 of California State Em-

ployees' Association.

He helped organize the highway

district's safety committee and was its

first chairman.

Nicholson served as chairman of the

Sutter County rehabilitation commit-

tee, formed after the 1955 floods.

He is a member of the Elks Lodge,

Marysville , and the James Marshall

Chapter of E Clampus Vitus.

DEPARTMENT LOSES 29 MEMBERS TO RETIREMENTDistrictVernon A. Martin, highway main-

tenance man II, 38 years.

District IILester F. Ball, senior highway fore-

man, 43 years; Frank F. Dais, high-way maintenance man III, 42 years.

District IIIAndrew T. Hartley, Groundsman,

10 years.

District IV

Bert P. Bongera, assistant highwayengineer, 36 years; Howard• C. Farris,senior highway engineer, 38 years;Helen M. Horne, intermediate cleric,27 years; Ralph D. Kinsey, supervisinghighway engineer, 41 years; Carl R.Klinlcenberg, assistant highway engi-neer, 19 years; F. W. Montell, super-vising highway engineer, 41 years;Paul M. Morrill, assistant highway en-gineer, 34 years, George M. Pimentel,highway maintenance man II, 32. years;Charles M. Thornton, skilled laborer,11 years.

District VUdo M. Jante, delineator, 12 years;

Owen F. Maxham, intermediate clerk,5 years.

District VIEllsworth I. Van Patten, associate

right of way agent, 34 years.

District VII

Charles C. French, highway engi-

neering associate, 38 years; Abe Giv-

ens, groundsman, 9 years; Frank D.

Gore, associate highway engineer, 14

years; William V. Hesp, highway ei1-

gineering associate, 17 years; David A.

Stewart, highway maintenance man

II, 12 years.

He and his wife, Mary Frances,have two daughters, Mrs. John Wil-

1<ins of Tahoe Valley and Mrs. FloydBrocleman of Stockton, and fourgrandchildren.

District VIIIDonald S. Wieman, highway super-

intendent, 34 years.

District XViolet L. Rosa, intermediate file

clerk, 7 years; Dolph J. Vergara, auto-mobile mechanic, 3 S years.

District XIHarold D. Martin, highway tree

maintenance foreman, 28 years.

Headquarters OfficeMartha E. Harris, senior clerk, 22

years.

BridgeElynor A. De Regne, supervising

clerk I, 19 years; Edward M. Derby,associate bridge engineer, 28 years.

Shop 8James R. Mackie, automobile me-

chanic, 21 years.

IN MEMORIAM

DistrictGerald L. Belak, highway mainte-

nance man IL

District IVAh Y Fong, assistant highway engi-

neer.

Edward J. Riordan, engineering stu-

dent trainee—Range C.

District VIICarl U. Bliss, assistant highway en-

gineer.

Emory Douglas, janitor.Clarence F. Gurss, assistant high-

~vay engineer.

District XIFred Young, highway mantenance

man III.

Shop 7Charlie B. Warner, inaclline parts

storekeeper.


HIGHWAY COMMUNICATIONS MEN MEET IN CAPITAL

Representatives of 30 stales with on interest in highway communications met in Sacramento on June22-23 to discuss new developments in this field. The conference was sponsored by the Subcommittee onCommunications of the Committee of Administration, American Association of State Highway O~cials.Inspecting one of the exhibits are, left to right, Assistant State Highway Engineer Lyman R. Gillis ofCalifornia; Stale Highway Engineer Virden E. Sfa/f of Illinois, chairman of the subcommittee; Communica-tions Engineer Arnold H. Carver of California, conference chairman; and W. D. Dillon of the Research

and Development Division, U.S. Bureau of Public Roads.

Langsner ReelectedTo WAS H O Of~i ceDeputy State Highway Engineer

George Langsner, California, was re-elected secretary - treasurer of theWestern Association of State High-way Officials in June at the conclud-ing session of the association's 44thannual conference, held in Santa Fe,New Mexico.Langsner will serve with State

Highway Engineer Charles E. Shu-mate of Colorado, elected presidentfor 1965-66, and Washington StateDirector of Highways Charles G.Prahl, vice president.In addition to these three officers,

the executive committee of WASHOincludes S. N. Halvorson of the Mon-tana State Highway Commission;Chief Highway Engineer T. B. Whiteof New Mexico; William K. Holbrookof the Arizona Highway Commission;

Kozak Promoted ToDeputy Chief PostAppointment of John J. Kozak as

deputy chief engineer of the Divisionof Bay Toll Crossings was announcedrecently by E. R. Foley, chief engi-neer.Kozak, 44, an engineer for the State

of California since 1947, came to BayToll Crossings last November as aprincipal bridge engineer.In his new capacity, Kozak will as-

sistFoley in administering the division,which has a statewide responsibilityfor operation, design and constructionof toll bridges.

Superintendent and Chief EngineerR. G. Stapp of the Wyoming High-wa~~ Department; and State HighwayEngineer D. C. Greer of Texas.Idaho will he host state for the

1966 meeting.

Frederick MontellRetires i n District 4Frederick W. Montell, assistant dis-

trict engineer in District 4, retired onJune 1, 1965, after more than 41 yearsof service with the Division of High-ways--40 years of which were in Dis-trict 4.A native of San Francisco, Montell

was raised and schooled in Fresno,studying civil engineering at FresnoState College.He joined the Division of Highways

in July 1923 as a chainman on a loca-tion survey party on the YosemiteAll-year Highway in the MercedRiver Canyon and has been continu-

ously associated~'' with the division

~~ ~ ~ in a variety of en-gineering assign-

--. ments since thattime.

Montell was as-signed to construc-

x~ tion from 1933 to.' 1948, on major

projects ~n the bayFREDERICK W. MONTELL area. One of thejobs involved the East Bay approachesto the San Francisco-Oakland BayBridge.From 1948 to 1960, Montell was

head of cooperative projects with theratings of senior and supervising high-way engineer. On January 1, 1960, hewas reassigned as head of the Surveyand Materials Department, a positionhe held until his retirement. The de-partment was reorganized in 1962 asthe Engineering Services Department.

Montell is a member of the Amer-ican Society of Civil Engineers, theAmerican Public Works Association,and the East Bay Engineers. He is alsoa past master of his Masonic Lodge,past president of Chapter S, CSEA,recipient of the Samuel A. GreeleyService Award in 1954, and a memberof the Commonwealth Club.He and his wife, Cora, have a son,

Robert, of Pleasantville, New York,and a daughter, Shirley (Mrs. WilliamSoares), of San Leandro, California.

Jufy—August 1965 47

STATE OF CALIFORNIAEDMUND G. BROWN, Governor

HIGHWAY TRANSPORTATION AGENCYROBERT B. BRADFORD Administrator

DEPARTMENT OF PUBLIC WORKS JOHN ERRECA, Director

FRANK A. CHAMBERS . Chief Deputy Director

RUSSELL 1. GOONEY . Deputy Director (Management) T. F. BAGSHAW Assistant Director JUSTIN DuCRAY Departmental Management Analyst

HARRY D. FREEMAN Deputy Director (Planning) C. RAY VARLEY Assistant Director S, ALAN WHITE Departmental Personnel Officer

DIVISION OF HIGHWAYS

J. C. WOMACK State Highway Engineer, Chief of Division

J. P. MUkPNYDeputy S1afe Highway EngineerReght of Way

1. A. LE6ARRADeputy State Highway EngineerRUDOLF HESS Chief Right of Way Agent

GEO. LANGSNERDeputy State Highway EngineerHARRY L. KAGAN Assistant Chief

LYMAN R. GILLISAssistant State Highway EngineerDEXTER D. MacBRIDE Assistant Chief

J. E. McMAHONAssistant State Highway EngineerR. S. J. PIANEZZI Assistant Chief

FRANK E. BAXTERAssistant State Highway EngineerDisfric► 1, Eureka

GEORGE A. HILLAssistant Sfafe Highway EngineerSAM HELWER District Engineer

1. C. BURRILLComptrollerDisrricr 2, ReddingH. S. MILES District Engineer

HEAL E. ANDERSEN .Equipment EngineerJOHN L. BEATONMaterials and Research EngineerDisfricf 3, Marysville

C. G. BEERUrban PlannerW L. WARREN District Engineer

A. N. DUNHAMComputer Systems EngineerDistrict 4, San FranciscoALVORD C. ESTEPEngineer of DesignALAN S. HART District EngineerJ. F. 10RGENSENConstruction EngineerR. A. HAYLER Deputy District EngineerSCOTT H. LATHROPPersonnel and Public InformationHAIG AYANIAN . Deputy District EngineerC. T. LEDDENCity and County Projects EngineerC. F. GREENE Deputy District EngineerJACK E. PEDDYProject Canfrol EngineerDANA G. PENGILLYPlanning EngineerDistrict 5, saw Luis Obispo

E. J. L. PETERSONProgram and Budget EngineerR. J. DATEL District Engineer

R. V. POTTERSystems Research EngineerPAUL C. SHERIDANOffice EngineerDistrict 6, Fresno

E. L. TINNEY .Maintenance EngineerW• ~• WELCH District Engineer

DONALD P. YAN RIPER Principal Landscape ArchitectDistrict 7, cos angelesJ. E. WILStiNTraffic EngineerE. T. TELFORD District EngineerA. L. ELLIOTTBridge Engineer—PlanningA. L. HIMELHOC'H Deputy District EngineerH. R. HINEMANBridge Engineer—OperationsA. C. BIRNIE Deputy District EngineerR. J. IVYBridge Engineer—AdministrationA. W. HOY Deputy District EngineerDALE DOWNINGBridge Engineer—Southern AreaR. E. DEFFEBACH Deputy District Engineer

CALIFORNIA

HIGHWAY COMMISSION

ROBERT B. BRADFORD Chairman andAdministrator, HighwayTransportation Agency

ROGER S. WOOLLEY Vice ChairmanSan Diego

JAMES A. GUTHRIE San Bernardino

ABRAHAM KOFMAN Alameda

FRANKLIN $. PAYNE Los Angeles

WILLIAM S. WHITEHURST . FresnoJOSEPH C. HOUGHTELING Sunnyvale

JOHN ERRECA Administrative Officerand Director of Public Works

JACK COOPER, Secretary iacramento

District 8, San Bernardino

C. V. KANE District Engineer

District 9, Bishop

C. A. SHERVINGTON District Engineer

District 10, Stockton

JOHN G. MEYER District Engineer

District 11, San Diego

JACOB DEKEMA District Engineer

DIVISION OF CONTRACTS AND RIGHTS OF WAY

HARRY S. fENTON Chief CounselEMERSON RHYNER Deputy Chief (Sacramento) HOLLOWAY JONES Deputy Chief (San Francisco) REGINALD B. PEGRAM Deputy Chief (Los Angeles)

DIVISIOfd OF BAY TOLL CROSSINGS

E. R. FOLEY . Chief EngineerJ. J. KOZAK Deputy Chief Engineer BEN BALALA Design and Construction Engineer CHARLES L. SWEET Operations Engineer

HOWARD F. TOPPING Planning Engineer GEORGE F. ANDERSON Administrative Officer

DIVISION OF AERONAUTICS

CLYDE P. BARNETT Director, Chief of Division

049891-5~~ '~-s ~j jg~~j~~ p>intod ttt CALIFORNIA OFFICE OF STATE PRINTING

PCI AWARDS OF MERIT FOR TWO CALIFORNIA BRIDGES

The Prestressed Concrete Institute ~ '~ ' "has bestowed. award of merit plaques _on two of California's bridges: theMacKinnon Avenue Overcrossing onInterstate 5 north of San Diego andthe Vincente Creek Bridge on High-way 1 some 50 miles south of Mont-erey. The PCI makes its awards an-nually to recognize creative designusing prestressed concrete.

The- awards take into account orig-inality of architectural or engineeringdesign, techniques of assembly, effec-tive employment of the properties ofprestressed concrete and aesthetic ap-pea.rance.

Two of the 10 nationwide awardsoffered by the institute in 1964 werealso won by California bridges whenawards of merit were presented forthe Willow Creek Bridge on the CoastHighway 65 miles south of Montereyand by three prestressed carryingbeams over the Arroyo Seco floodcontrol channel in Los Angeles. (SeeJuly—August, 1964, issue of the mag-azine. )

Structure site of }he Vincente Creek Bridge on Highway 1 south of Monterey is a steep canyon onthe coast in an area noted for its rugged beauty. Designers endeavored to integrate if with the environ-

menf and offer a minimum of visual detraction from the natural surroundings.

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Documents

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