Grading & Paving

Michael C. Taylor, Michael C. Road of Difficulties: Building the Lower Columbia River Highway

...because wet weather conditions in the Northwest demanded proper drainage, the Maryhill experiments involved the use of crowning -- grading so that the surface of the road crests in the center and slopes to the sides. Also part of the design for carrying run-off from the road were drains, curbs, and gutters, and the highway represented one of the earliest rural uses of each. Pipe culverts that allowed cross drainage, drop inlets acting as catch basins to direct runoff, and box culverts to cross small creeks and permit cattle to cross under the highway safely were also in the plans. The highway's design even included the use of prototype masonry walls and guard rocks.

Although such features are standard today, the concepts were in their infancy in their infancy in the early twentieth century, and some practices have changed through the years. For example, today's engineers use super-elevation -- sloping the road towards the inside of the curve -- so that motorists needn't slow down on that curve, but Columbia River Highway designers resisted the practice, using it only for drainage.

"Any curve necessitating a super-elevation is dangerous and speed should be slackened," one engineer wrote, "and in any case should be enough to prevent side-lash to passengers in a machine at 25 miles an hour ... the general rule should be nearer a speed of 15 miles per hour."

...

In building the highway, workers graded the surface, situated drains and culverts, laid a sub-base of rock or gravel, and then installed an "impervious wearing surface" such as Warrenite, one of a number of commercial names for a form of asphalt paving. With so many steps involved, one contractor rarely handled the entire process.

Clarence E. Mershon, East of the Sandy: The Columbia River Highway

Despite continuous opposition from some taxpayers, a portion of the highway was paved in 1915.

At a meeting held in November, 1913, John B. Yeon introduced a plan to extend Baseline Road (Stark Street) to the Sandy River, and spend $900,000 on road improvements. The discussion continued through 1914. The Gresham Outlook, March 27, 1914, reported "Hard Surface Discord," and on March 31, 1914, that "Commissioners plan to go ahead with plans to hard surface Baseline." In late November, 1914, County Commissioners proposed paving the section from the Troutdale bridge to the highway [Stark Street Bridge was considered the beginning of the highway at this point], and paving the Columbia River Highway to the County line. The controversy continued, but good sense finally prevailed as voters approved the bond issue...

In an election held April 14, 1915, Multnomah County voters approved a bond issue for $1,250,000 to pave the highway from Portland to the Hood River County line. Amos S. Benson and John B. Yeon spearheaded the spring campaign, which resulted in overwhelming support for the job.

The contract, awarded June 17, 1915, called for the highway to be paved with "Warrenite" for most of its near sixty-mile length. Warrenite was an aggregate of gravel and larger rocks (2 – 5 inches) bonded together into a relatively smooth surface. The specifications provided for an eighteen foot surface with a two-foot shoulder on each side (the minimum width for the highway was 24 feet, except for the viaducts, which were 20 feet). Paving was completed in October...

The paving material, "Warrenite," a conglomeration of rock and gravel bonded with bitumen, was labeled "hot stuff" by workers on the job. The Warren Company called it "bitulithic pavement." The paving material was mixed and heated at "batch plants" set-up at various locations to provide the paving material.

One "batch plant" was located in Corbett, directly across from the old Columbian High School. Local farmers, with teams and wagons, hauled the material to the job site. In somewhat of a departure from the labor-intensive methods used to grade the highway, a mechanical roller was used to pack the paving material.

A crusher placed on the Ross farm near Chanticleer Point provided gravel for the highway. Chester 'Chet' Knieriem gained experience working there that led to a career in the road construction field. (After the job on the highway was completed, Warren Construction Company sent him to Victoria, B. C. to manage its crusher there.)

Another source of rich for the highway was the Reed Quarry near Tunnel #1. [I am not sure what tunnel Mershon is referring to here.]

At an observance near Rowena June 27, 1922 [at Mayerdale, I believe], Simon Benson, honored for his role in bringing the highway into existence, ceremoniously spread the last bit of paving mixture that completed the paving of the highway from Astoria to The Dalles.

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