Minnesota Highways, January 1958

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VOL.  7,  NO. 3
1246  University Ave., St. Paul  4, Minn.
JANUARY,  1958
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Administrative
Post Is Filled
The Highway department's
newly created post of administrative director has been filled with
the appointment of Eugene B.
Smith who, for the past four
years, has been a member of the
United States delegation to
NATO.
He assumed his new duties
December 16 to direct administrative activities in the department's
non-engineering divisions — Administration, Safety, Public Information, and Finance. He will
coordinate administrative activities in the four divisions and relieve the directors of a share of
their administrative burdens
which have increased materially
with the department's expanding
highway program.
He also will be concerned with
rganization, management, and
focedures throughout the de-
artment.
A 1941 public administration
graduate of the University of
California, at Berkeley, Smith has
spent most of the time since then
in personnel and general administration with the Department of
the Army and Department of
Defense.
In Paris, his most recent assignment was the very responsible one of being the U. S. representative on NATO's Infra-Structure Payments and Progress Committee. This committee is responsible for approving planning,
financing and construction of mutual defense projects in Europe
such as base facilities, air fields,
naval bases, petroleum pipelines,
communications, radar warning
and training facilities.
Establishment of these facilities
for the benefit of the alliance
(as distinguished from national
interests) has been one of NATO's
most successful accomplishments,
Smith said in commenting on the
recent public concern over NATO's continued effectiveness.
.Entering the War Department
_ lortly after his graduation from
the University of California,
Smith spent two years in personnel administration in the Office of
the Secretary of War before joining the Army Air Corps in 1943.
He commanded a supply squadron
Million Construction Program Adopted
on Okinawa. He was promoted to
the rank of captain at the time
of his separation and now is a
major in the Air Force reserve.
Returning to the War department
as a civilian employee in 1946, he
was sent to Germany for three
years where he was personnel director successively for the U. S.
constabulary and Munich Military post.
For the following three years,
Smith was at Camp Roberts, California, as director of personnel
and then deputy comptroller.
In 1953, the Department of Defense sent him to Paris to serve
in the Office of the Deputy Comptroller of Defense for Europe. He
was a member of a team studying
the defense capabilities and requirements of the various NATO
member nations. The team recommended U. S. policies on military aid to our allies in NATO.
This was followed by his appointment as the U. S. representative
on the Infra-Structure Payments
and Progress committee.
Smith is married to the former
Martha Jeanne Sandor of Wal-
senburg, Colo. They have three
children, Alan, 7; Judy, 4%; and
Jeffrey, 3. The family plans to
live in Minneapolis. At the University of California, Smith was
the middleweight member of the
intercollegiate boxing team and
he was on the track and debate
teams in high school and junior
college.
New Features Set
For Department
Engineer Meeting
Use of more guest speakers and
a discussion of photogrammetry
and aerial surveys are new features scheduled for the annual
conference of Minnesota Highway department engineers February 17, 18, and 19 at the Pick-
Nicollet hotel in Minneapolis. At
one of its meetings, the Construction division also will introduce a panel type of discussion, used last year at the Maintenance division meetings. More
than 160 persons are expected to
attend the conference.
The opening general session at
9 a. m. February 17 will be attended by engineers from the
Construction, Bridge, Maintenance, Lands and Right of Way,
and Materials and Research
divisions, and representatives
from the Administration division.
Scheduled speakers at the
opening session will be Hugo
Erickson, Minneapolis city engineer, extending a welcome; Commissioner Zimmerman, Assistant
Commissioner A. O. Torgerson,
Deputy Commissioner Frank
Marzitelli, and Assistant Chief
Engineers J. C. Robbers and C.
C. Colwell. Chief Engineer John
Swanberg will preside. At a noon
luncheon that day, W. B. Mc-
Kendrick, member of the national Highway Research board and
project director of the Illinois
Test road, will speak.
(Continued on page 3)
For the 1959 fiscal year,
to be the biggest in its history, the Minnesota Highway
department has adopted a
record-breaking $96 million
construction program. The
program, covering anticipated work on state trunk highways, interstate routes, and
county and municipal state
aid systems, was announced
by Governor Freeman and
Commissioner Zimmerman.
The fiscal year will extend
from July 1, 1958, to June 30,
1959.
The announced program is
nearly $15 million bigger than
the 1958 fiscal year program
(currently under way). Thirteen
million dollars of the increase
results from added work on the
Interstate system and approximately $2 million from additional work planned for regular
trunk highways.
Commenting on the big schedule of projects, Governor Freeman expressed confidence that
"Every section of our state will
benefit tremendously from the
improvements which will be undertaken."
The $96 million program is
divided into these basic categories:
Regular trunk highway construction
projects      $39,828,500
Interstate highway
construction projects         28,897,400
Trunk   highway
maintenance
betterments         1,045,000
All    trunk     highway  improvements   	
State-county and
state-municipal
construction    ....   26,200,000
All   state  and
state-aid   improvements
Q,770,900
$95,970,000
For trunk highway improvements, work will be placed under
contract by June 30, 1959 on almost 700 miles of regular trunk
highways, plus 47 bridges. To
pay for these projects, $18,012,-
450 in federal primary, secondary and urban funds will be used,
along with $21,816,050 in state
funds. For the 73 miles of work
(Continued on page 2)