In August 1917 a contract was let by the State Highway Department to
Warren Construction Company of Portland for macadamizing a five and
seven-tenths mile section of the John Day Highway between Condon and
Thirty Mile Creek. The contractor was paid on the basis of cost plus ten
per cent for labor and plus five per cent for materials.
Rock was quarried and crushed at two different points on the job and
trucks and teams were used for hauling. The old road was scarified and
re-dressed prior to laying the macadam. A dry macadam six inches thick
was laid over the five and seven-tenths miles. The average width of the
surface is about fourteen feet.
The State paid the entire cost of this work amounting to $28,673.43 and
it is thought that about $1,500.00 per mile will be required for
maintenance and re-dressing during the next few months.
C. A. Harrington was resident engineer and inspector for the Department
on this work.