USA > Massachusetts > Bristol County > Attleboro > Reports of town officers of the town of Attleborough 1939 > Part 14
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Under a separate W. P. A. project several newly accepted streets were con- structed, part of the construction having begun in the latter part of 1938. The streets constructed were Church Street, Mary Street, Payson Street, Davis Avenue, Prince Street and Blackbourne Road, a total of 8,610 square yards. Under City forces portions of three streets were reconstructed namely, Ashton Road, Parker Street and Clifton Street, a total of 3,640 square yards.
Included in our regular maintenance program, the following streets received an asphalt treatment with a covering of peastone: Water Street, Sanford Street, Hayward Street and Elizabeth Street, a total yardage of 5,100 square yards.
The following streets received an asphalt treatment with a sand covering: Upland Road, Payson Street, Mulberry Street, Foster Street, East Fourth Street, Second Street, Grove Street, and several streets where trench work necessitated repair, a total of 9,230 square yards.
On Read Street between Morgan Street and Garden Street a condition existed which for years had been troublesome and at times dangerous. Surface water from the area on the northerly side of the road drained on to Read Street and during the winter would cover the entire travelled way with a heavy coating of ice, reating a serious hazard to traffic. To eliminate the condition, in spite of costly maintenance, drainage lines and catch basins were constructed to collect this excess water and carry it to a culvert near Morgan Street.
Because of the proposed construction of a manufacturing plant on the Manchester property adjacent to Olive Street and the Railroad, it was found necessary to relocate and replace with a new service system an old drainage line which served the center of the city, and ran diagonally across the property to the Ten Mile River. The new drainage line was constructed of 27" double strength vitrified pipe, its new location running parallel with the Railroad right-of-way to the base of the Olive Street embankment, then along the base of the embankment to its intersection with the old drainage line on Ellis Street. The total length of pipe placed was 1,060 feet, with construction of three manholes.
In the latter part of the spring the project for making concrete drainage pipe was closed. During the summer much of the supply on hand was used and in the early fall the making of pipe was resumed, using Welfare labor.
There were two sewer extensions constructed during the year. The first extension was made on Clarence Street, from Ellis Street to Kimball Street, 200 feet of pipe having been placed and one manhole constructed.
Another sewer extension was made on Major Street and Martin Street. Construction started on Major Street and continued to Martin Street a distance of 213 feet, then along Martin Street to East Street a distance of 286 feet. Two manholes were also constructed.
The demand of property owners for the construction fo granolithic walks and installation of granite curbing, under the W. P. A. setup, has again demonstrated the popularity of this work. It is anticipated that in the coming year an equally large amount of sidewalk and curb will be placed, if funds are set up for this work.
During the year two new pieces of equipment were purchased for the High- way Department. They are as follows: machinery and equipment for the operation of the screening plant, and a new sand spreader for use in spreading sand on streets.
Previous to 1939 the department had always purchased all the sand which was required for construction and maintenance also a portion of the graded stone. The approximate annual cost for the sand purchased was $1,800.00. The ap- proximate annual cost for stone purchased was $200.00. After considerable study and investigation of various plants it was concluded that a very substantial sav- ing could be effected by the construction of our own screening plant. A plant was designed for our specific requirements with its location at our so-called Bliss' Pit.
In June excavation for the foundations of the sand bins was started. Con- struction and installation of machinery was carried on by our own City men. The supervision on the installation of the machinery was furnished by the New
183
ANNUAL REPORT
England Road Machinery Company from whom the mechanical equipment was purchased. The plant was completed in October and by the end of the year 800 cubic yards of material had been screened, 85 per cent of which was sand. The purchase cost of this material would be approximately $450.00.
At the South Attleboro stone crushing plant, work was begun in the middle of December to build a new motor house in a new location, near the crushing ap- paratus. Also, a new concrete pit is to be built for the crushing apparatus. When the project is completed, the operation of the crusher will be simplified and the structure of permanent construction.
For a number of years the 30" re-enforced concrete elevated sewer conduit in Hebronville caused considerable concern. This structure which is 560 feet long showed considerable deterioration, particularly at the expansion joints and at the supprting bents. Because of leakage at the expansion joints several attempts had been made to repair the joints, which was effective to some extent but the fact remained that it was only a temporary measure and either a replacement or an extensive reconditioning was necessary to eliminate the hazardous conditions.
In June bids were received for the complete reconditioning of the structure. The contract was finally awarded to the National Gunite Contracting Company of Boston. Specifications called for the placing of a new re-enforced concrete shell around the outside of the present conduit and rebuilding the supporting structures and expansion joints. The concrete was placed under pressure with a wire mesh re-enforcement being used. The new concrete shell is two inches thick.
The construction required less than a week for completion and during the construction period the sewage was diverted into a newly constructed settling basin from which the effluent was directed into the Ten Mile River. All sewage was treated with chlorine in the settling basis.
It should be stated here that chlorination was an important feature in this work because of the fact that the Ten Mile River is the source of water supply for the Town of East Providence. Our own State Health Department, the Rhode Island State Health Department and officials of the East Providence Water Department were very cooperative and we are assured that the work received their entire approval.
The project has proven satisfactory and successful in eliminating a condition which could have seriously interrupted the entire sewer disposal service of the city. The bid price of the National Gunite Contracting Company of Boston for this work was $4,400.00.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Equipment
Following are my recommendations for the purchasing of new equipment to replace old units or as new additions to our present fleet. Several of my recom- mendations have been made in previous reports, and by repetition I wish to stress their importance.
1. Bulldozer-This is an auxiliary unit for attachment to a tractor for use in all grading operations. It eliminates laborious and costly hand grading, and the increased amount of material which it can handle reduces the time of con- struction enormously.
2. One twelve-ton Gasoline Roller-At the present time we have two road rollers. One is a steam roller which is 24 years old and has been in continual ser- vice. This has been accomplished only through excessive maintenance costs in the past several years. This roller should be replaced. The gasoline powered roller has been reconditioned and several years' service may be anticipated without unreasonable maintenance cost.
3. One small Tandem Roller-A roller of this type is used mainly for patch- ing of roads and sidewalks. Its use, however, is not limited to maintenance work. In new construction it could be used advantageously for light work where it is not feasible or possible to use the heavy rollers.
4. Mechanical Rotary Sweeper-With the small allotment of money made each year for the sweeping and cleaning of streets, it is impossible for us to extend the area of such operations outside of the business area with the present antiquated
184
ANNUAL REPORT
method of hand sweeping. The purchase of an inexpensive mechanical sweeper is the only possible way of extending this service with the limited funds available.
5. Road Drag-This is a comparatively simple and inexpensive piece of equipment which is used in shaping road surfaces previous to the application of asphalt. Its use insures a smooth, uniform road surface.
6. Three portable sidewalk snow-plowing units-Every year we are con- fronted with the problem of obtaining enough privately owned horses to do the necessary snow plowing on the city sidewalks. After we do obtain the horses the cost of maintaining them throughout the winter months would represent a substantial part of the cost of the three recommended units. May I stress again the point that each portable unit would take the place of two horse-drawn plows. If a storm should be severe and require continuous plowing for more than eight hours, the motorized unit would be available for any length of time, whereas the horse-drawn unit would have to be sent in for several hours of rest before resuming work. The portable plows have been demonstrated here and there is every reason to believe that they would prove to meet every requirement of performance and economical operation.
7. Thirty-ton trailer-Again I wish to recommend the purchase of a trailer for transporting our power shovel and other heavy loads. Ever since we pur- chased the power shovel it has been necessary to hire a trailer every time we wished to move the shovel from one location to another. It is quite possible that a used trailer could be purchased at a reasonable figure.
8. The following trucks should be replaced with new equipment: 1-1929 Ford 1 1-2 Yard Truck 1-1930 Chevrolet 1 1-2 Yard Truck 1-1933 Chevrolet 1 1-2 Yard Truck
It is not advisable to keep these trucks any longer. They can hardly be depended upon for anything but the lightest work and the maintenance costs are excessive. I recommend that the above mentioned trucks be replaced with new trucks of the following sizes :
1-5 ton Truck, dump body with hydraulic hoist 2-2 yard Trucks, dump bodies with hydraulic hoists
9. At the present time we have a one-half cubic yard power shovel. Since obtaining this unit we have been able to increase the volume of construction tremendously at no additional cost, except for material. Consequently unit costs of construction have decreased sharply on projects where we operated the power shovel. We are thoroughly convinced that on any project requiring ex- cavation either on location or from a gravel pit the only economical procedure is to use the power shovel.
The opportunities for the use of a power shovel have been increased to the extent that a shovel of larger capacity is necessary if we are to take full advantage of the savings made possible by the use of this unit on every project where it is possible to operate a power shovel. I therefore recommend that the present 1-2 yard power shovel be turned in toward the purchase of a new 3-4 yard power shovel before our heavy construction season opens in 1940.
10. As noted previously in this report our screening plant at Bliss' Pit was completed in the fall and nearly a thousand yards of material were screened. In 1940 we anticipate the use of 15,000 cubic yards of sand, graded stone and crushed stone. Much of this material was formerly purchased. With our crushing and screening plants we plan to produce all of this material ourselves.
All the material which is run through the plants is usually handled twice; first from the pit to the plant, and second, from the stock piles of finished product onto trucks for disposition to the various work locations. The work of handling may be done with either a power shovel or a loader, the loader being the most practical unit for this work. If we were to employ our power shovel for this work during our best season, also if hand excavation were resorted to, unit costs of construction would increase to a point where certain types of work would be impracticable.
185
ANNUAL REPORT
For all around efficiency and satisfactory operation I recommend the pur- chase of a self-propelling, self-feeding, elevating bucket loader with a capacity of three cubic yards per minute. This unit can also be converted into a snow loader for clearing snow from the streets. This would be particularly desirable for the business area.
IMPROVEMENTS
1. Highland Avenue from Washington Street to the Rhode Island line should be reconstructed in the near future. In 1938 a survey was made by the State in anticipation of the construction being done in 1939 as a Chapter 90 project. Be- cause of curtailment of funds by the State this work was not done. For the past several years the roadway has been a hazard to traffic. These conditions have not been due to lack of maintenance, for every effort has been made to maintain the existing roadway. Ground water and poor foundation material require the reconstruction of the road and the installation of drainage lines and structures to carry off the excess water. Rhode Island has reconstructed their portion of this road which is a connecting link between state highways in both States. I recom- mend this project be given serious consideration in the coming year.
2. In 1937 we resurfaced Bank Street from Park Street to Sanford Street using a pre-mixed bituminous material which was rolled on over the old roadway to a depth of 1 1-2". It has proven itself to be very satisfactory and we obtained a smooth, even surface over one which previously had been very uneven. I recommend that Park Street from the Railroad arch to County Street be resur- faced using a pre-mixed asphalt material similar to that used on Bank Street.
3. As noted before in this report great strides have been made in the re- construction of our rural roadways. We still have many miles which are in need of repair. The improvement of these road-ways should not be regarded lightly and i recommend that funds be made available in the coming year to continue our Road Improvement project.
4. A subject which has been the topic of discussion at various times was the advisability of developing one of the platted streets running between Washington Street and Newport Avenue near the Rhode Island line. One reason for developing one of these streets would be to provide access to South Attleboro with a future sewer trunk line and a water belt line. In addition to this it would provide a cross country link between the two state highways. After a study of the territory, I would suggest Collins Street as being the most logical choice for development. I am including this item in my report to emphasize the importance of considering future improvements, should any roadway be developed in this area.
Various statistics pertaining to the highway Department are given in the following tables:
H-SIDEWALKS AND CURBING GRANOLITHIC SIDEWALKS AND GRANITE CURB
By City Forces
Location
Str. Curb Lin. Ft.
2. Ft. Cor.
Circle Curb. Lin. Ft.
Gran. Walks Sq. Yds.
School Street.
16.70
1
28.49
Shaw Avenue.
34.43
Bank Street.
35.96
Peck Street
22.00
Park Street
25.60
Maple Street.
11.90
Pleasant Street
11.00
Olive Street.
12.66
Totals
16.70
1
119.12
62.92
+
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ANNUAL REPORT
W. P. A. SIDEWALKS AND CURBING PROJECT
Location
Str. Curb Lin. Ft.
2- Ft. Cor. Circle Curb
Lin. Ft.
Gran. Walks Sq. Yds.
Beacon
11.00
3
39.69
Benefit Street .
216.65
6
218.35
Carpenter Street
87.30
6
11.00
407.25
Claflin Street
13.25
106.43
Clarence Street.
303.30
8
10.80
259.52
County Street.
38.45
2
9.35
Curtis Avenue
44.87
2
43.53
Davis Avenue.
413.30
8
243.76
Dean Street.
14
635.76
Dennis Street.
144.86
2
41.35
Dexter Street .
61.00
52.16
Dunham Street.
75.46
1
112.07
East Street. .
38.00
Elizabeth Street.
122.15
3
130.16
Emory Street.
139.36
5
Florence Street.
1
57.38
Foley Street.
4
164.86
Forest Street
321.70
15
11.76
1,237.66
Fourth Street .
2
133.74
Garden Street.
740.66
14
29.91
209.25
Gardner Street.
259.70
2
8
9.95
359.42
Hebron Avenue.
273.66
5
11.00
Hodges Street.
58.10
Holman Street
2
39.80
Holden Street .
1,589.58
40
261.34
Hope Street
79.31
1
157.33
Horton Street.
318.77
14
288.06
Howard Avenue
5
140.36
James Street.
58.27
4
59.91
Jefferson Street.
54.25
John Street
130.55
6
277.75
Lamb Street.
54.80
38.40
Linden Street
34.00
2
313.57
Maple Street.
580.84
16
21.99
690.23
Martin Street
38.10
2
35.70
Mary Street.
45.03
2
42.07
Mechanic Street.
130.45
2
33.04
Mulberry Street
186.23
6
76.18
Newport Avenue
71.00
2
374.76
No. Main Street.
149.97
Orange Street .
163.53
4
71.50
Palm Street.
275.04
4
225.33
Park Street .
84.63
Park Avenue.
143.41
Parker Street.
354.62
6
11.72
338.77
Pearl Street.
2
79.88
Peck Street .
14
300.03
Perrin Street.
23.75
Pine Street
8
506.48
Pleasant Street.
260.15
6
327.81
Prince Street
283.75
Payson Street
223.02
4
124.87
Elmwood Avenue
99.76
69.28
Hazel Street.
768.73
Mendon Road.
50.74
99.98
Blackbourn Road
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ANNUAL REPORT
Robert Street .
35.40
2
43.31
Ruggles Street.
155.90
21.98
174.31
Second Street .
30.05
Shaw Avenue.
31.53
South Main Street.
273.56
16
1,049.87
State Street.
12.57
Tanager Road.
194.26
6
167.32
Thacher Street
73.65
4
11.00
134.49
Third Street.
2
125.08
Union Street.
4
224.08
Upland Road.
261.01
8
413.21
West Street.
465.50
9
176.10
Wolfenden Street
186.80
2
14.14
507.73
Totals
10,412.02
323
200.42
13,338.15
STREET LIGHTING Number and kind of lights in use January 1, 1939
Kind
Number Cost
1000 C. P
92
$94.00 each
Sunset to 11:30 p. m.
1000 C. P.
33
16.00 each
11:30 p. m. to sunrise
250 C. P.
5 45.00 each
All night lights
100 C. P.
45 22.00 each
All night lights
60 C. P.
1215
16.50 each
All night lights
60 C. P.
20
16.50 each
All night lights under railroad arches
Traffic Blinkers
3
28.00 each
24 hour flashing service
Street lights placed during 1939 60 Candle Power
Date Placed
Street
Date Placed Street
January 5 South Main St.opp. Dodge-
March 23
Alder Street
ville School
March 23
Cor. Westgate and Nor-
January 5 So. Main St. near Thurber Ave.
March 24
Palm Street
January 5 Highland Street
December 15 Rosewood Avenue
January 5
Mulberry Street
December 15 Hawthorne Avenue
March 23
Payson St. at Blackburn Road
December 15 Althea Avenue
March 23
Payson St. at Ashton Rd.
December 15 Knight Avenue
March 23
Parker Street
100 Candle Power December 15 North Main Street-on new Parking Area
Number and kind of lights in use December 31, 1939
Kind
Number
Cost
1000 C. P.
92
$94.00 each
Sunset to 11:30 p. m.
1000 C. P.
33
16.00 each
11:30 p. m. to sunrise
250 C. P.
5
45.00 each
All night lights
100 C. P.
45
22.00 each
All night lights
100 C. P.
1 47.00 each
All night lights
60 C. P.
1230
16.50 each
All night lights
60 C. P.
20
16.50 each
All night lights under railroad arches 24 hour flashing service
Traffic Blinkers
2
29.04 each
folk Row
December 15 Hackett Avenue
188
ANNUAL REPORT
SEWERS, OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE
Caretaker at Beds.
$1,355.71
Maintenance and Improvement of Beds:
Labor .
$292.42
Material
26.60
319.02
Insurance
97.70
Taxes:
Town of Seekonk
74.50
City of Pawtucket.
14.21
88.71
Maintenance and Operation of Sewer System
Labor
205.99
City of Attleboro-Water Charge
100.00
Material
143.79
449.78
$2,310.92
SEWER CONNECTIONS
Total connections Jan. 1, 1939. .1911
Buildings served.
2123
Connections added during 1939. 28
28
Total
1939
2151
SEWER EXTENSIONS
Street
Size
Length
Clarence Street
200
feet
Major Street.
212.91 feet
Martin Street.
286.10 feet
HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT Conparison of Itemized Expenditures for
1920
1937
1938
1939
Resurfacing
$ 13,850.45
$ 6,918.71
$ 5,090.64
4,538.64
Drains Maintenance.
1,556.53
1,996.26
1,858.32
2,583.07
Street Sweeping
2,611.32
939.19
796.61
863.32
Street Patching.
9,572.84
4,305.45
3,887.03
4,253.79
Street Cleaning.
7,998.46
2,438.31
1,679.93
1,335.08
Sidewalk Maintenance.
5,142.73
938.80
731.04
692.76
Equipment, Maintenance and Repair.
426.52
191.48
663.28
Road Rollers
1,757.95
853.89
563.66
979.82
Highway Auto Mainte-
726.70
286.49
917.55
743.74
Road Oil and Tar.
22,188.37
2,217.54
2,052.15
2,961.39
Bridges, Fences and Cul- veits .
608.04
1,123.60
1,341.66
1,714.93
Crushers.
185.42
362.62
529.89
1,025.03
Ten
Mile River and
711.26
44.65
66.58
104.65
Insurance. .
2,062.41
1,590.49
724.13
1,657.13
Rent, Maynard St. Land
69.60
Vacations.
393.28
544.68
384.17
380.26
Signs, Clock and Numbers
344.00
344.04
279.51
111.43
Incidentals.
48.35
39.65
74.76
Snow and Ice.
11,073.23
2,647.71
7,311.24
6,185.15
Unexpended Balance of 1919 Appropriation
19,981.13
Thacher Brook
nance.
189
ANNUAL REPORT
Deferred Barn, Stone
and Gravel Charges.
955.95
Crosswalks.
222.11
Care of Common.
335.85
Express, Freight, etc.
349.65
$102,697.28
$ 28,027.30 *
$ 28,445.24 $ 30,868.23
208.21
$ 27,819.09
New Equipment .
3,665.80
6,000.00
6,000.00
3,475.00
(Listed as Machinery,
Tools, etc., 1920)
Repair Division-Labor and Material . .
9,000.93
(Paid by Special Accounts
in 1920-1937-1938)
** $106,363.08 $ 33,819.09 $ 34,445.24 $ 43,344.16
*Highway Maintenance accounts used for City's Contribution to W. P. A.
** These totals exclude Sidewalks and Curbing.
WATER DIVISION
This has been an exceptionally busy year for our Water Department. Ex- tensive additions have been made to our water supply system. The large per- centage of new work was done under a W.P.A. project calling for over seven miles of new water mains ranging in size from 6" diameter to 10" diameter pipe, of which approximately four miles were completed this year. The locations were well distributed over all sections of the city and included mains which were of vital importance for the protection of certain sections of the city.
A portion of this project remains to be completed in 1940 and it is my earnest desire that funds be made available so that the work as outlined in the project may be completed in the coming year.
In addition to the new construction of main line extensions this department takes care of the installation of all new private service lines and replacing of old service lines. Maintenance of the entire water supply system constitutes a major item in this work program and consists of an available 24-hour service to the community.
I wish to extend my appreciation to the North Attleboro Highway Depart- ment for the excellent work which they are doing at the Hoppin Hill Reservoir. This work is being done as a result of an agreement between the City of Attleboro and the Town of North Attleboro, by which the city agreed to contribute $1,000.00 toward the improvement of the roadway which crosses the Reservoir at the upper end. This agreement also obligated the Town of North Attleboro to take over the entire future maintenance of this highway. The construction consists of the following: repair to roadway, construction of stone retaining wall, erection of new guard fence and riprapping of slopes.
RECOMMENDATIONS
Improvements
1. As stated in a previous report a portion of the outer brick covering on the standpipe was removed as an emergency measure because of large sections of the brick covering falling down. This is merely a temporary measure and as recom- mended previously the tank should be waterproofed inside and the outside should be entirely reconditioned. It is of utmost importance that the existing conditions
190
ANNUAL REPORT
be remedied as soon as possible. Every effort should be made to prevent an emergency which would require expensive, continuous pumping of our entire city water supply. I also recommend a study being made relative to the con- struction of an additional standpipe.
2. I recommend the installation of an additional 12" water main from the pumping station to Highland Avenue. There is at present only one main which supplies South Attleboro and it is hardly necessary for me to go into detail re- garding the consequences should the single present main be closed in the event of an emergency.
3. We have had considerable trouble with persons who have tampered with the locks on the door to the gate house at the stand pipe. In some cases entrance has been made into the gate house where there is located the controlling devices for water entering and leaving the standpipe, and any tampering with the valves would result in very serious consequences as it controls the supply to the entire city. Everything has been done in the way of purchasing locks which were guaranteed to be tamper proof, but to no avail, since even the best lock available was opened within a few days.
In view of the past experiences, I recommend that a seven foot chain link fence with barbed wire top be placed around the standpipe to prevent, if possible any access by outsiders to the standpipe.
Equipment:
1. I recommend the replacement of a 1929 Ford pick-up truck with a new truck of the same capacity and style. The old truck has had ten years of con- tinual service and cannot be depended upon.
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