APPENDIX VI.

REPORT OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE INTERIOR.

OFFICE OF THE COMMISSIONER OF THE INTERIOR,

San Juan, P. R., August 20, 1917.

SIR: In accordance with the provisions of section 13 of the act of Congress entitled "An act to provide a civil government for Porto Rico, and for other purposes," approved March 2, 1917, I have the honor to submit the annual report regarding the operations of the department of the interior during the fiscal year ending June 30,

1917.

PUBLIC WORKS AND GENERAL ENGINEERING.

The bureau of public works of this department has direct charge of the construction and maintenance of all insular roads, bridges, culverts, harbors, bulkheads, and water fronts (with the exception of the port of San Juan) and of the investigation of the physical conditions of franchises and permits involving technical questions relating to railroads, bridges, piers, and general engineering construction, as well as the supervision of the construction and maintenance of municipal roads.

This bureau is by far the most important division of the department of the interior, and the chief of the bureau, who is designated by law as the superintendent of public works (which designation, by the way, is a misnomer) occupies the most difficult engineering position in Porto Rico. The bureau handles the problems of insular road and bridge construction and maintenance, which are constantly becoming more difficult of adequate solution because of the continuously increasing traffic of automobiles and trucks and the present inability of the insular treasury to finance the reconstruction of such portions of the insular highways, which, being subject to the heaviest traffic, require a more solid and permanent pavement.

WEATHER.

The weather conditions for the year just ended have been worse from the stand point of damage done to the public works than for many years past. Unusually heav rains set in early in July, when the fiscal year had hardly begun, which lasted all through the fall, as late as the first half of December, greatly damaging the surface of the roads, causing landslides, and weakening and partly or totally destroying some bridges and culverts.

The strong winds and extraordinary rainstorm which occurred August 22, 1916, when the wind blew with a velocity of 90 miles an hour during several hours, did great damage all over the island, destroying the telegraph and telephone lines, uprooting trees, and intercepting the traffic over the public roads for more than 24 hours. This storm was followed by severe cyclonic disturbances during the rest of the month of August. The removal of the landslides produced by this extraordinary weather, which fell generally all over the island, cost about $16,000. This expenditure was immediately necessary in order to restore the public traffic. Besides this, other heavy expenditures were required and made for repairing a good number of struc tures which had been badly damaged, notably among them the pile bridge over the Manati River at Barceloneta, which was twice partly washed out, the Estero River wooden bridge at Mayaguez which was completely carried away, restoring the macadamized roadway and to clean out obstructed ditches. The total of these expenses amounted to about $35,000, which had to be paid out of the annual appropriation for maintenance of roads and bridges. This unexpected additional expense was partly made up to the department by a deficiency appropriation of $30,000 passed at the last session of the legislature held during the past winter.

The most seroius single item in the list of damages was the destruction by flood on July 14, 1916, of the 90-meter span, reinforced concrete bridge over one of the mouths of the Grande de Arecibo River at Arecibo. The flood, one of the highest recorded, scoured the pile foundations of the bridge to a depth of 30 feet, causing the collapse of seven sections, each 10 meters in length. The bridge was nearing completion, so that the event involved not only the loss of the money spent in building the part destroyed

but also the rendering almost useless, until the bridge is rebuilt, of another bridge and portion of the insular road leading from San Juan in to the city of Arecibo.

The excessive rain also interfered greatly with contractors in furnishing broken stone for the maintenance of the roads, which in turn caused delay and increased expense to the department's own work of maintenance.

Fair weather has prevailed since January 1, and the dry spell has been, in fact, so pronounced during the first four months of the present calendar year as to greatly inconvenience the work of placing stone on the roads for resurfacing the macadam, a factor which has operated to make the cost of doing such work higher than in other years.

It may be said, in short, that the weather during almost the whole of the fiscal year has been unfavorable for the work of road maintenance.

The following table shows the appropriations available for maintenance, repair, and construction of roads and bridges in the island and the amounts actually paid out from such appropriation during the year. As shown later, the amount appearing as a balance in the first item is virtually taken up by accounts pending payment.

Before entering on a detailed explanation of the construction work done during the year a detailed statement of the partial expenditures on road and bridge construction during the fiscal year is given below:

In the above amount of $191,296.44 are included the following expenses, which have been paid from appropriations other than those for road and bridge construction: Completion of bridges, Pitahaya, Juan Martin, and La Burra Creeks, on the Luquillo-Fajardo Road, paid from the appropriation for maintenance and repairs of roads and bridges, fiscal year 1916-17.. Construction and repairs of bridges and culverts as described under "new construction" in road maintenance, paid from the appropriation of maintenance and repairs of roads and bridges, fiscal year 1916-17.. Construction of the suspension bridge over the "Orocovis" River at Barros

Total....

$3,901.85

12,903. 80 958.75

17, 764. 40

If the amount of $17,764.40 included in the total expended is deducted, the total will then be $173,532.04 expended for surveys and new constructions and repairs of bridges, which is the total shown in "General statement of appropriations and expen

ditures."

From the above it will be noted that most of the work done was in bridge construction and little in road building, which is further emphasized in the following statement, where the length of macadamized roads built during the year is detailed.

The total cost of the bridges completed and opened to the public use during the fiscal year and the span of each is given in the following statement. The bridges are all of reinforced concrete with the exception of that over the Orocovis River, which is of wood and steel.

The following is a brief description of the different roads and bridges constructed during the year, being considered in the order in which it appears on the preceding lists.

YAUCO-LARES ROAD.

The contract for the construction of a portion of this road and a reinforced concrete bridge over Vegas River was let during the year 1915-16 for a total of $45,027.03. During the previous year 1.5 kilometers were macadamized, beginning at kilometer 9.4 where construction was stopped in 1909, and during this fiscal year another portion of 4.1 kilometers as well as the bridge was completed and the road up to kilometer 15 has been open to traffic since December.

The work done by the contractor included also a large amount of earthwork between kilometers 15 and 18, but this portion was not macadamized for lack of funds, as it was necessary to make substantial repairs and improvements to the many culverts of dry stone masonry previously constructed, and to increase the slopes on cuts in order to avoid future landslides as far as possible. Many protecting walls on sharp turns were also constructed.

The contract as finally liquidated amounted to $58,148.29, from which $3,067.59 were deducted for stone placed alongside the road by the department and used by the contractor, and the balance of $49,080.70 was paid from the two appropriations for the construction of this road and the bridge over the Vegas River.

MARTIN PEÑA-BAYAMON ROAD.

For the completion of this road the legislature in 1915 appropriated the sum of $55,000. From this amount the cost of construction by contract has been paid as follows:

For work done during fiscal year 1915-16.
For work done during present fiscal year..

Total cost of construction of 5.5 kilometers of road..

$18,741. 54

14,354. 88

33,096.42

This road was completed and opened to traffic in March, 1917, but little traffic can make use of it until the bridges over the Bayamon River are completed.

LAS PIEDRAS-SAN LORENZO ROAD.

This road is 12 kilometers long and a portion of it, from kilometers 6 to 12, was to be completed under contract for the amount of $21,779.85. The work was commenced during the previous year, when the contractor completed all culverts, about 90 per cent of the excavations and the macadamizing of 1,620 lineal meters.

However, the financial condition of the contractor did not permit him to continue the work, and he agreed to have it finished by the personnel of the department under the following conditions:

(a) That the work was to be finished by administration.

(b) That all money spent by the department of the interior for material and labor in finishing the construction and in maintaining the section finished by the contractor, was to be charged to him.

(c) That the final liquidation of all work done on this road be made according to the original contract unit prices, the contractor to receive the balance, if any, between the actual cost and the value according to the contract; but if the actual cost were higher than the amount shown in the final liquidation the contactor's bondsmen were to pay the balance within 30 days after due notice.

The work done by administration is progressing and the road will soon be completed, when the final settlement will be made. The total amount expended during the year is $11,356.07.

BARCELONETA-FLORIDA ROAD.

Of the total length of this road, 10 kilometers, 9.5 kilometers were completed previous to the present fiscal year; the remaining 540 meters were constructed by administration at a cost of $2,479.34, which expense was paid from the appropriations for this road, $2,088.45, and from maintenance of roads, $390.89; total, $2,479.34. The road is now completed as far as the village of Florida.

CABO ROJO-SAN GERMAN ROAD.

The item appearing under this heading, of $962.74, expended during the present fiscal year, is to cover the amount retained on the contract for work done during the previous year, when the road was completed, as explained in the previous report, and paid to the contractor during this fiscal year.

PONCE-ADJUNTAS ROAD.

The item of $584.26 shown under this head is also the 10 per cent retained as per contract, which was not paid until this fiscal year had begun.

VIEQUES ISLAND ROAD.

The amount expended for construction work on this road was $3,078.90 and the work done consisted in quarrying, crushing, and transporting stone using convict labor.

Plans are being prepared to start the construction of a section of about 5 kilometers. BRIDGES OVER ARECIBO RIVER AND 2 KILOMETERS OF MANATI-ARECIBO ROAD.

These two bridges, over the Arecibo River on road No. 2, Manati-Arecibo, were to be built under contract for $33,846.76, but on account of extra work on excavations and the addition of one span of 10 meters to the bridge over La Boca, which was first designed as 80 meters long, the final liquidation amounted to $39,054.53.

The contract for this work included the construction of one 90-meter reinforcedconcrete bridge near Arecibo and over a mouth of the Arecibo River called Boca