2k
ENGINEERING
TECHNICAL
INFORMATION
SYSTEM
NOTESTECHNICAL REPORTS
DATA RETRIEVALMANAGEMENT
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
FIELD
VOLUME
pp
12
NUMBER
3
Notes
Fi-eld
ENERGY
AND CONTROL
ROAD DAMAGE
CONTRACTOR-DESIGNED BRIDGES
-COST SAVINGS
IN
FOREST SERVICE
AL ASKA
MARCH
UýS
ma
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
1980
UýS
ENGINEERING
Volume
Information
contained
in
this
12
has
FIELD NOTES
Number
3
been developed
for
of employees
guidance
respon-sibility
of
the
cooperating
for
The
States
the interpretation or use
of any
by other than
its
own
employees.
names in this publication is for the information and
firm or corporation
reader.
Such
use
does
not constitute an official endorsement or approval
of the
or service
product
of others
that
text in
must not be
may be
the
publication
construed
by
as
FSM
except
engineers
and engineering
intended
by the United
States Department
of Agriculture
to the exclusion
suitable.
or policy
not
of this information
its
use of trade
convenience
The
publication
its
and
Service
contractors
Department of Agriculture-Forest
The Department of Agriculture assumes no
Federal and State agencies.
United
exclusively
the personal
represents
recommended
references.
Because
technicians
opinions
or approved
should
of the respective
procedures
of the type
read each
of material in the
issue
however
for engineers.
FOREST SERVICE
U.S.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE
Washington
D.C.
20013
author and
mandatory instructions
this
publication
publication
all
is
ENERGY
San
PREDICTION
AND
CONTROL
OF
ROAD
DAMAGE
Leonard B. DeZZa-Moretta P.E.
Dimas Equipment
Center
Development
in-vestment
Forest Service manages one of the largest in terms of both
If our annual
mileage and dollars road systems in the world.
could be reduced
in Forest Service road maintenance
by
of
$1
million
could
be
realized.
a
savings
nearly
just
percent
the
we must first reduce road damage
To reduce road maintenance
and
maintenance
vehicles
and
of
weather
moisture
effects
traffic
in
terms
of
the
and
be
measured
damage they cause
practices must
then weighed in a long-term investment balance.
The
1
1
low-ered
We can define a road in a way that can be related to subsequent
A road is simply a useful path of
measures of damage to it
all other definitions
are secondary.
rolling resistance
Once
A wheelbarrow is pushed along a plank for this simple reason
off the plank pushing the wheelbarrow becomes extremely difficult.
re-sistance
If road values
Road damage causes increased rolling resistance.
in
defined
and
measured
terms
of
and road damage are
rolling
units of
then they are being measured in equivalent
units
the
destructive
measure
These energy
can
processes
energy.
Other measures of destruction
that cause road damage.
such as how
can
many vehicles passed or how many times any event occurred
if
event
the
amount
of
each
same
have meaning only
imparts
energy.
Otherwise the events are not measures of the amount of
evaluations.
since they cannot be summed for accumulative
destruc-tion
flex-ural
The value of an energy comparison is that it can measure causes and
effects
separately or together the energy does not have to be
in the unit of
out
called
by that name it has only to be contained
of
A
slab
can
take
a
number
For
measure.
example
pavement
The number of reversals
stress reversals before it cracks.
depends upon how hard and how far it is bent and therefore upon
This unit of measure is
how much energy is imparted per cycle.
of
the
the
area
loop
generated during flexure.
hystersis
given by
Pro-ceedin
Insti-tute
Myles R. Keynote address of Workshop on Lessening
Waste in the Road-Tire-Vehicle-Driver
System 1976.
available from University of California Berkeley
s
Studies.
Transportation
1Howlett
Energy
o
1
be-cause
ef-fects
In
practice we measure the bending of the slab on its elastic
foundation
by the axle load
from the elastic properties inferred by
a
Benkleman beam the California Bearing Ratio
or a plate
bearing test thus a specific kind of failure is related to a
This is sound engineering and I respect it
specific input.
a
plausible model is used to relate dominant causes and
further statistical methods are used to measure the effects
of random elements not included
in the model.
CBR
pres-ence
Since
statistical theory is based upon random behavior
the
hidden determinate law in a statistical study means that
a
increasing the sample size with ever-larger experiments will not
Not until the statistical model includes
bring increased accuracy.
the determinate
law
as closely as it can be formed from dimensional
analysis or other intuitive engineering methods will accuracy be
increased.
of
cor-related
object
when
therefore
the respected
CBR test is used as a
parameter
predict gravel
loosening which occurs from
shear--not from flexure.
This has gone on for 30 years and can go
on for another 30 years but it is still invalid.
It will never
measurable
dont become
a
more
correlations
that
give
answer--just
better with larger sample sizes.
I
to
re-lated
re-late
Determinate
relations
be erased from a study by ignoring
generalize so that the effects can be
by several alternate
paths without always having
to know a priori which
Instead of debating
path is correct.
whether flexure or shear causes a specific road damage
we can
the damage to the energy wasted by both of these and escape
the
dilemma.
We can
to causes
them.
cannot
however
prac-tical
To
scientifically
investigate
any phenomenon
steps have to be taken
1.
Isolate
out.
the
system to
Correlate what goes
taken place within the
2.
have
determine
in
and
what
what
comes
two
goes
out
distinct
in
and
with
what
what
comes
changes
system.
We
a
tire/road system only energy is going in or coming out.
cannot find what goes in and what comes out from inside the
system--these must be observed at its boundary.
Energy to sustain
tire and road rolling resistance and soil slip can be measured for
vehicle and separated
a
into tire energy and
road energy at the
tire/road boundary.
Only interface slip between the tire and
The remaining or loose slip energy is
gravel wears the tire.
imparted to lower layers of gravel and is the cause of road
In
dete-rioration
by
traffic
damage.
2
If we bear down on a rubber eraser
explain the slip concept2
6.08 troy pounds of slip force are needed to
so that 5 pounds
it
is
moved 2 feet
move it and
0.61 meter we expend 5 x 2--or
If we
10 foot-pounds
1.38 kilogram-meters--of slip energy.
force
the
double
the
double either the
or
distance we
slip energy
and consequently also the amount of rubber eraser and paper that
is worn off in the process.
To
at the rubber/
changes take place where the slip takes place
in
the
of
interface and
case
roads
gravel
paper or tire/road
the
tire.
Whether a
also in the lower layers of gravel beneath
the
tire and road
tire slips
ft/mi longitudinally
or sideways
difference
in
behavior
in
either
the
eraser/
materials show no
has
no directional
energy
paper or tire/road experiments--slip
bias in its effects.
The
x
investigative
step one has to look inside the
what
the
If the
road is
road system to find
energy input does.
tire
will
loosen
and
the
too dry even a pure rolling
it
changes
If the
in rolling resistance energy will measure this damage.
the
water content is near the Proctor condition
rolling tire will
and
this
is
described by similar
change
compact the gravel
of
State
American Association
Highway Officials tests for
If we apply power or brakes to induce slip we can
energy.
undo the compactive
effects of rolling.
As to
the
second
stand-ard
com-paction
sur-face.
effects of rolling and slipping are mutually opposed and for
any given Proctor condition of moisture and compaction a ratio
of tractive
force to normal compactive
force will define the net
the
wheel upon the road
effect compactive or loosening of
A neutral
ratio will vary with the Proctor condition.
The
p
If the net effect of the
tractive wheel on the
important point is
is a loosening the next tractive
wheel will slip
road surface
more and surface loosening will continue and accelerate.
The
p
tolerate normal road deterioration if we avoid extremes.
losses do not occur on tight roads since they behave like
Gravel loss is not the same for each passing vehicle
pavements.
it occurs
it occurs drastically if it occurs at all and
only
when the road is too loose to sustain the traffic.
I am ignoring
aggressive tires that throw gravel and grader operators who blade
are separate problems.
gravel off the road--these
We can
Gravel
The
amount
soil
of
aggregate
rolling resistance and slip energy expended in the
the
roads surface
can be used to macromeasure
Develop-ment
2DeZZa-Moretta
Leonard
Variables to Tire
Operational
ISTVS Regional
Carson City
Meeting
Available from Forest Service Equipment
1974.
Nevada
Center San Dimas California.
Wear
paper presented
at
Relating
3
deterioration. When the deterioration
another is correlated the slip energy
from one road condition to
input can also predict the
further deterioration from an expected load of traffic.
Road
maintenance
could be correlated with traffic load and character
to
prevent loss of surfacing material when the road surface is too
loose to sustain high traffic stresses.
The game is not over because we cannot effectively
control the
traffic.
We can roll the road water it and then retain the
water by using stabilizing agents and by using daytime blade
maintenance
to prevent further drying of the road.
The traffic
that insists on using the road when its moisture is too low should
contribute dollars to pay for the damage caused
also the road
after a rain by suitable rolling or traffic.
can be recompacted
Since gravel losses are either drastic or not at all the payoffs
are worth considering.
dried-ou
As long as we consider only axle loads and ignore energy inputs
all traffic will be classified as damaging
the alternate
loosening
and healing effects of traffic will be ignored and none of the
Roads will be bladed
protective measures will be carried out.
when relatively dry causing them to dry out further.
These
rather
dusty roads will be left to be compacted by traffic
than being rolled after a rain to achieve proper healing.
con-trol
ignore shear energies we will not be able to
because we will have no valid method for predicting
or measuring the amount of damage that can be inflicted when the
road is unfit for such traffic.
If we define
a roads condition
in energy terms we can describe
it by a number that is verifiable
and tangible to bargainers.
by others
As
long as
we
traffic
As long as we can measure how much energy is being wasted we do
not need to become lost in debate over the detailed mechanics
of
the waste and damage processes.
The fact that waste energy and
changes in material properties show good correlations in
all natural processes
when properly defined all these
is a good basis for solving our
are
accountable
energy
processes
road maintenance
to work.
problems by putting energy mechanics
practi-cally
4
CONTRACTOR-DESIGNED
BRIDGES
PRODUCE SIGNIFICANT
COST
SAVINGS FOR THE ALASKA REGION
Frank
Regional
W.
Muchmore
Structural
R-ZO
P.E.
Engineer
be-cause
construc-tion
term Alaska often conjures visions of ice and
snow polar and Kodiak bears moose and caribou Eskimos gold
The oil pipeline
mines pipelines high wages and higher prices.
the
mines
have
closed
is finished.
Most of
down mainly
gold
costs.
of excessively
However all
high operating
Extremely high
projects throughout Alaska share one image
costs when compared to similar projects in the lower 48 states.
Forest Service bridge construction
projects are no exception to
this image.
Traditionally
the
FOREST
TRANSPORTATION
SYSTEM
transportation
system in southeast Alaska is
located
on the
islands of the
primarily
unique
this
area
of
the
Alexander Archipelago
Region with no
leaving
network.
of a
land
interconnecting
transportation
Development
in
this
island
environment
system
presents many
transportation
logistical planning becomes critical and the
challenges
in obtaining materials tools and
equipment that would
below
for
down
be taken
granted
can and often does become
a
logistical nightmare.
The
I
SERVICE
Forest
in
Service
that it
is
diffi-culty
norm-ally
is-land
a
50-cent item may take days to get and cost hundreds
For example
to the worksite.
In
of dollars in charter plane fares to transport
most cases heavy equipment and materials must be barged from
off-loaded at low tide and reloaded on trucks.
to island
Any other contact with civilization is limited to radio float
con-structed
plane
or
weekly
mail boat
service.
long-term road bridges are
and
double-lane structures.
Most
as both single-lane
and
streams
and
-rearing
require
bridges span salmon-spawning
during
against streambed disturbance
special precautions
All of these conditions contribute to the high cost of
projects in Alaska.
bridge construction
The
Alaska
Regions permanent
construc-tion.
5
PROCEDURES
USED
alter-native
past several years the cost of constructing
permanent
bridges in southeast Alaska has been between $85 and $140 per
square foot $914.96 and $1506.99
per square meter of deck area.
These high costs prompted the Forest Service to investigate
methods of bridge design and construction.
Over
the
road
pre-pared
be-tween
Forest Service
does not maintain a structural design staff in
Region.
Bridge designs and drawings are usually
by design groups in other Forest Service Regions or by other
Federal agencies that are often unfamiliar with the equipment
materials weather
logistics and other construction
parameters
Several years or more may elapse
unique to southeast Alaska.
the completion of the design and the start of construction.
time contracts
the
are advertised continually
By
changing market
conditions often make it economically impractical to use previously
selected bridge material.
of a design procedure that
Development
could take advantage
of current construction
materials market
as well as a particular
contractors methods equipment
and operations
should yield significant
In addition any
savings.
that
in
contractors
have
experience
bridge work in this
may already
southeast
Alaska
environment
enable
them
to produce both
unique
may
and
estimates
cost
based
on
similar
designs
projects already
into account
the Region-10
Taking these considerations
Staff
the
of
the
Engineering
turn-key concept
adoption
proposed
for selected bridge
This calls for contractor
projects.
for both design
by a registered professional engineer and
construction
of the bridge structure.
The
the
Alaska
con-ditions
com-pleted.
responsi-bility
DESIGN
SPECIFICATIONS
con-sulting
require-ments
to
submit a
were prepared that allowed contractors
Specifications
their
bid on
own design proposal Alternative B as well as the
Government design
The design specification
was
Alternative A.
modeled on specification
requirements for the engagement of
The basic
engineering bridge design services.
were
1.
Highway
2.
Conformance
Bridges
Design
by
Adherence
3.
considerations.
to
except
a
to
the
as
AASHTO
Standard
modified in the
registered
minimum
professional
clearance
for
Specifications
specification
design
engineer
span
and
and
other site
topographic site map and a foundation
investigation
report are
bid opening
included in the contract
documents.
At the
time of the
the contractor is only required to submit a rough outline of his/her
of the
bid offer by the Forest Service
proposal after acceptance
A
6
pro-cedure
prior to performing any work the contractor is required to
submit a complete set of design calculations detail drawings and
this
for approval.
In practice
construction
specifications
has worked
quite well although approval of designs has been
design did not meet all
delayed several times when the.submitted
and
had
contract
to be returned to the
the AASHTO
and
criteria
correction
In
and
resubmission.
spite
contractor several times for
of this no serious delays have been experienced.
but
con-struction
of the
lump-sum bid item was used for design and construction
earthwork
and
structure
itself including approach
roadway
items when these items are not included as part of a
job.
large road construction
A
CONTRACTOR-DESIGNED
PROJECTS
Pats Creek Bridge
procedure was first implemented in May 1975 for construction
of the Pats Creek Bridge on Wrangell
Island located south of the
The Governments
of Wrangell
southeast Alaska community
fig. 1.
three
3
A design
called for
Alternative
1/2-foot-deep
steel plate girders for the 73-foot 22.25-meter simple
side spans and a
span with 15-foot 4.57-meter cantilevered
bidders
Alternative
B design
The low
deck.
concrete
specified five 12 1/4- by 51-inch 0.311- by 1.30-meter treated
concrete
deck.
glu-laminated stringers also with a cast-in-place
which
included the design cost was
The low bid for Alternative
A table 1.
The
6
percent less than the low bid for Alternative
took advantage
of a less costly structural
contractor obviously
system i.e. glu-laminated girders enabling the contractor to
submit a lower bid than for a steel girder bridge.
This
1.07-meter-deep
cast-in-place
B
Harris River
and Fubar
Creek
Bridges
for
Steel plate girder structures were designed by the Government
which
River
and
Fubar
both
of
are
Creek
bridges over the Harris
figs. 2 and 3.
located on Prince of Wales Island west of Ketchikan
cantilevered
side
to
be
were
topped by a
The center span and
spans
deck.
The
low
bid
for
the
treated glu-laminated wood
of six precast-concrete
Alternative
B consisted
1.68-meters deep for the
bulb T-girders 5 1/2-feet
Harris
River
Bridge and 4 1/2-feet
125-foot- 38.1-meter- long
the
shorter
100-foot
30.48-meter span at
1.37-meters deep for
contractor
and
Fubar Creek.
Both Government
designs utilized steel
foundations.
The low bid for
sheetpile abutments and steel H-pile
than
the
low
bid
for
Alternative A.
Alternative
B was 3 percent less
Due to the lack of heavy lifting equipment in southeast
table 1.
girders to be prohibitively
Alaska one would expect heavy concrete
contractor-designed
post-tensioned
7
Figure
1
--Pats
Tongass
Figure
Creek Bridge Stikine
National Forest.
2.--Harris River Bridge Ketchikan
Forest
Tongass National
Area
Area
in excess of $50000 to mobilize a
It normally costs
expensive.
100-ton 90.72-metric ton or larger crane in southeast Alaska
which must be barged a thousand miles 1609 kilometers each way
from Seattle.
However the low bidder happened to have a 110-ton
8
TABLE
Z.
COMPARISON
Project
OF
BIDS
FOR
High
FOUR
Bid
PROJECTS
All
SIX BRIDGES
Bids
Low
Bid
Pats Creek Bridge
A--Government
B--Contractor
Percent Difference
Alt.
Alt.
401.2
378.6
5.6%
Design
Design
350.4
320.8
8.5%
282.0
264.4
6.2%
Harris River Fubar Creek Bridges
A--Government
B--Contractor
Percent Difference
Alt.
Alt.
Q0
Gravel Creek Newlunberry Creek
A--Government
B--Contractor
Percent Difference
Alt.
Rapids
In
thousands
5.2%
1371.4
1298.9
5.3%
1241.9
1204.0
3.1%
Design
Design
522.6
385.0
26.3%
383.4
345.0
10.0%
315.4
289.0
8.4%
Design
Design
709.1
657.1
7.3%
664.4
595.5
10.4%
640.1
533.9
16.6%
Bridge
A--Government
B--Contractor
Percent Difference
Alt.
Alt.
1489.3
1411.3
Design
Bridges
Alt.
Sarkar
Design
of doZZars
rounded
off.
Figure
3.--Fubar Creek Bridge Ketchikan
Tongass National Forest.
Area
99.79-metric ton crane and earthmoving equipment on a state job
adjacent to the proposed Forest Service project.
Therefore no
equipment mobilization cost would be incurred and thus the reason
for
the
Gravel
low
Creek
bid.
and Newlunberry
Creek
Bridges
5
In the case of the drainage structures
over Gravel and Newlunberry
Creeks on Prince of Wales Island figs. 4 and
the Alternative
A
Government proposal consisted of construction
of a
arch at Newlunberry Creek and a
open-bottom
and -constructed
structure
at the Gravel
Creek site.
Alternative
B left design and construction
responsibility for both
structures with the contractor.
The low contractor bid was for
Alternative
with the design
for Newlunberry
Creek consisting of
five 14-inch by 52-inch by 52-foot- 0.36-meter by 1.32-meter by
15.85-meter- long treated
glu-laminated stringers with a treated
Panelized Bridge System
glu-laminated wood deck the Weyerhauser
The Gravel
supported by a steel pile cap bearing on steel H-piles.
Creek Bridge design
shared the same features using slightly larger
glu-laminated stringers due to a longer span of 64 feet 19.51
The low bid Alternative
meters.
B for the Gravel
and Newlunberry
Creek Bridges was 8 percent less than the low bid for Alternative
A
table 1.
Surprisingly a 52-foot 15.85-meter
glu-laminated
bridge was less costly than a 25-foot 7.62-meter span
arch.
Government-designed
contractor-designed
B
open-bottom
10
Figure
4.--Gravel
Tongass
Figure
Sarkar
Rapids
Creek Brýdge Ketchikan
National
Forest.
Area
Creek Bridge Ketchikan
5.--Newlunberry
National
Forest.
Area Tongass
Bridge
6
The Sarkar Rapids Bridge located on. the west side of Prince of
with a Government
Wales Island fig.
was initially advertised
11
Figure
6.--Sarkar
Rapids Bridge Ketchikan
National Forest.
Area Tongass
re-ceived
concrete
bulb T-girders
design calling for six precast prestressed
with precast concrete
abutments and an intermediate pier resting on
Due.to excessively
high bids
cast-in-placeconcrete footings.
and
new package
for this design
the bids were rejected
a
This
time the
was advertised
adding the contractor design option.
low bid which was for a contractor-designed
bridge came in well
The contractor design
under the bids for the Government design.
called for steel box girders and a treated
glu-laminated wood
and
intermediate pier bents consisted of
Abutment
panel deck.
into rock with wide flange steel pile
steel pipe columns socketed
B was 17 percent below the low
The low bid for Alternative
caps.
There was no convenient
bid for Alternative
A table 1.
large
this explains the higher
for this job undoubtedly
crane available
structure
In
bid price for the
addition a
prestressed concrete
resulted in girders only 42 inches
box girder design
very innovative
1.07 meters deep for the 80-foot 24.38-meter spans and 100-ton
truck
loading.
BID ANALYSIS
under the contractor-designed
All of the design proposals accepted
firms
have
been
consulting
engineering
by
prepared
options
to compare between projects due to the
Bid prices are difficult
roadwork that have been included in the
varying amounts of approach
the
same amount of
bid
items.
on each project
However
lump-sum
design option as
roadwork was involved for the Government-furnished
AE.
12
Government-designed
the
In all cases the
option.
contractor-designed
bridge bid items were in the traditional pay-item format
with bid prices for each item of work while the
Table 2 shows
bridge bid items were in lump-sum format.
the
The low bidder
relationship of the low bids on each project.
on the
project did not necessarily have the lowest bid on the
bridge-only items nor the high bidder the highest.
Obviously
pricing of individual items was frequently used rendering
an analysis of the bridge-only
unreliable.
items correspondingly
In Government
contracting the bottom-line figure is the deciding
factor in awarding the contract.
As a result of the unbalanced
the
trends
exhibited
the average
of all bids are
by
only
here.
Table 2 summarizes the savings realized.
Net saving
shown is the total difference
in bid prices less the estimated cost
of the unused Government design.
for
contractor-designed
un-balanced
bid-ding
con-sidered
VALUE
In
attempt
an
Rapids
Bridge
further
included
to
a
ENGINEERING
reduce
value
INCENTIVE
fourth project
Sarkar
incentive
clause.
engineering
costs
the
cost-reducing
of the
basic clause used by the
This clause was a modification
United States Army Corps of Engineers.
Simply stated it allows
the contractor
after award of the contract
to submit
If
the
proposals.
accepted
by
Government the net cost
reduction
is shared with
the contractor.
The net savings from the
first two accepted
proposals under each contract
are shared at a
50-50 ratio the next two at a 55-45 ratio and subsequently at
60-40 ratio with the larger share going to the contractor.
a
con-struction
This
incentive
clause
contracts
savings
realized
to
has
been
however
included
no
date.
in
proposals
several other road
have been submitted
nor
signifi-cant.
SUMMARY
The
savings realized on the first four projects have been
A net dollar savings of $137100
resulted after deduction
of the
costs
of
the
unused
Government
The trend
design
designs.
net saving
of about $9.00 per square foot $96.88
shows an average
11 percent
per square meter of deck surface or approximately
when contractor-furnished
were
used.
Additional
designs
projects
have been advertised
for only contractor-designed
bridges and no
Bids received have been comparable
alternative Government design.
to those described above.
contractor-furnished
with contractor-designed
experience
projects
savings have been realized by the use of
significant
However remember
designs.
Region-10s
the
1.
Region-10
has
not
had
a
bridge
13
design
staff
has shown
TABLE
COMPARISON
2.
Low
Date
5/75
Government
Project
Pats
Design
Creek
282.0
Bridge
6/75
Gravel
1241.9
PROJECTS
Bids
Estimated
Cost
Contractor
Design
264.4
Dollar
of
Government
Net
Dollar
Less
Savings
Difference
Government
Percentage
Difference
Difference
6.2
17.6
11.0
6.6
3.1
37.9
25.0
12.9
Design
Design
Cost
Sarkar
1204.0
Creek
Newlunberry
Creek
Bridges
315.4
289.0
8.4
26.4
5.0
21.4
640.1
533.9
16.6
106.2
10.0
96.2
Rapids
Bridge
In
BIDS--FOUR
Harris
Bridges
8/77
LOW
Road
Hydaburg
River-Fubar
Creek
7/76
OF
thousands
of
doZZars
rounded
off.
Region-10s
how-ever
2.
methods
Logistics and high mobilization
procedures
uneconomical
for
and
often
Region-10
make
lower 48
conditions
and
This has not been a panacea or cure-all for all of
bridge problems and was not intended as such.
It has
been successfully used to supplement the normal procedures
bridge construction.
3.
for
costs
15
THE
HOBO
ENGINEER
Comments by
Clifford MiZZer
Regional
Engineer
R-4
Engi-neers
This
framed and hanging in the Regional
in Ogden when I arrived
to follow behind
JimUsher. I dont know if Jim inherited it from minor
The paper on the back of the frame is
Husky or not.
and
when
I
moved it recently a piece fell off
brittle
the
author
and date.
revealing
poem was
office
The poem was written by two of Region-4s engineers
Frank Allen and Ted Keller in 1937.
Frank was working
for the Forest Service as early as 1929 both men have
now tied up to the Great Unknown.
The way of life
in
the
that
our
lived still
expressed
predecessors
poem
some
dreams
of
expresses
today.
TXP
Z10
engineer
I
sometimes think Ill quit this life
And settle down and get a wife by Jove
Sometimes I think that I would love
To have some place
I
could call home
And settle down no more to
Hell that very thing Ive tried
And found myself dissatisfied.
Ive often tried to settle down
To office work and live in town
And act like civilized folks do
Take in the shows and dances too.
But Id no more than get a start
Till wanderlust would seize my heart
And in my night dreams I would
see
The great white silence calling me.
And at the chance Id never fail
To drop it all and hit the
trail
roam--But
17
Back
With
to
the
solitudes
transit level
again
and
chain
lead
the
life
once more
simple
And do the same thing oer and oer
Day after day and week after week.
Sometimes we go to town to seek
A little fun and
sometimes--well
Sometimes we raise a little hell
To
rod
We dont mean to but then you see
When weve
been out two months or three
In
silent places where the face
Of white man seems so out of place.
Well when we hit the Great White Way
Our joyful spirits get full sway
We
into one night
try to crowd
The joys of many months.
Taint right.
Well maybe not
tis not for me
To shape our
final destiny.
But when our last survey is done
And tied up to the Great Unknown
And to the Chief our records brought
Of lonely work with danger fraught
Of hardships cheerfully endured
That best results might be secured
Against all this our little sprees
Will seem as ponds compared to seas.
And the Angels will decide
Theres a balance on the credit side
And God I think will drop a tear
And bless The Hobo Engineer.
18
INVITATION TO READERS OF
FIELD NOTES
Every
reader
a
is
you would
of an article for Field Notes.
author
potential
If
have
you
news item
a
or
ac-curate
short
article
Material
share
to
with
Service
we
engineers
invite
you
send
to
for
it
Field Notes.
in
publication
like
submitted
the
to
Office
Washington
for
should
publication
be
reviewed
the
by
Washing-ton
Office to
Regional
respective
and of
informative
material
submitted
however
short
Office should
drawings
is
Coordinator
also
Field
to
from
vary
to
several
personnel
R-1
and
Forests
should
Melvin
All
to
all
technically
7113. The length
several
typewritten
material submitted
ideally
to
of
pages
the
should
illustrations
retirees.
or the Regional
number
submit
Office directly
Service
Forest
Office Manager
be original
of copies sent
to
If
to
all
you
your
not
Station
currently
Technical
Engineering
office.
Regional
are
and
on the
Data Systems
Copies of back
issues
are
Office.
material
for
publication
or questions
concerning
Field Notes
Coordinators
Dittmer
R-2
Royal
R-3
Juan Gomez
Coordinators
and
double-spaced
increase the
Regional
sentences
short
timely
FSM
or negatives.
available from the Washington
their
current
is
Forest Service Engineers
to
distributed from the Washington
ask your
list
interest
information
news items are preferred.
be typed
Area Headquarters
mailing
or
prints
glossy
Field Notes
may
articles
the
that
see
M.
Ryser
should direct
R-4
Ted Wood
R-9
Rich
Wilson
R-5
Paul Stutes
R-10
Jack
Van Lear
WO
R-6
Kjell
R-8
Michael Martin
questions
Bakke
concerning
format editing
Al
Colley
publishing dates
and other
problems to
Forest
Service
Attn
P.O.
-
USDA
Staff
Engineering
Gordon
L.
RP-E Bldg
Rome Editor
Box 2417
Washington
Telephone
D.C.
20013
Area Code
703
235-8198
U.S.
GOVERNMENT
PRINTING
OFFICE
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