P\fA to

Spend Sixty-five Million for California Swedish Lumberman '!V'ants a Lumber and Millwork Rowboat for Hilda

Washington, Jr'tly 12,-Forecasting an expenditure of $65,000,000 for lumber and millwork on non-Federal projects alone, plus an expenditure of $10,600,000 on Federal projects, the PWA has just announced that maximum exercise of the Public Works Act of 1938 will mean 72,7@,' .000 man-hours of work in forests, sawmills, planing mills and prefabricating plants. These figures are based on a study of 1,000 former PWA projects made by the Bureau of Labor Statistics and embrace more than one million payrolls.

This tremendous construction program can create extensive business for American industry, the nonFederal projects alone calling for $893,000,000 worth of materials while contract awards would total $1,667,000,000. In addition, the Federal projects can provide $108,200,000 worth of material orders and contract awards of $200,0@,0@ together resulting in arvards totalling $1,867,000,000 and establishing material orclers equivalent to $1,001,200,000. It is estimated that on these non-Federal projects alone there will be released nearly $457,000,000 in wages at the building sites granting approximately 4,869,000 man-months of employment at the Project sites'

ROY WERNICH VISITS S. F.

Roy Wernich, of Smith Wood-Products, Inc., Coquille, Ore., was a recent business visitor to San Francisco.

Homer Maris, Maris Plywood Corporation, San Francisco, sends The California Lumber Merchant some fun correspondence that grew out of a news story in the June 15th issue of this journal on the subject of special plans and plywood for rowboats, made by the Harbor Plywood Corporation, and sold by Mr. Maris. M. S. Munson, of Harbor Plywood, Hoaquim, Washington, sent Mr' Maris a copy of a lettei he received from a 'rvell known Northern California retail lumberpan that read (in Swede dialect) as follows :

"Vile de bos vas not in his offis I sneaked in to reed de Lumbermerchant vich is a corken good paper, an I seen dat you have got some plans how to make a roboat. Ve have got lots of it in de yard here an I am goin to make me vun of dem boats so dat I can take my girl Hilda for a boat ride and dat vil sure make a hit vit her to see hor'v strong I am and how good I can handle a boat' Hoping dat I vil here irom you an I I'il let you know how dis boat bisness vurks out vit me and Hilda."

Mr. Munson assumed that the dealer was "spoofing" him so he went and got a real Swede to help him, and he replied to the letter in Swedish. I\{r. Maris sent a copy of the Swedish letter also, but not having an interpreter in the office, and being a bit dubious about what advice might have been given the alleged Swedish yentleman from California, lve are holdrng that part of the correspondence back until n,e make sttre. In these days you can't be too careful.

90-Foot Span Timber Bridge Being California BuildingVolume High Erected Near Fresno

Washington, July 1l,-Because TECO connectors permit timber members a great deal lighter than those formerly associated with timber engineering to do more work, the use of efficient and inexpensive factory-fabricated timber bridges is now becoming standard procedure in many Highway Departments.

The new bridges can be designed, produced and erected under the same procedure customarily allowed with steel bridge structures.

The latest addition to this type of structure is an interesting new 9o-foot span recently purchased by the Fresno County, California, Supervisors to replace a bridge washed out this spring in the National Forest recreational area. northwest of Fresno, California.

The new bridge is from a standard design prepared by T. K. I{ay, structural engineer of the West Coast Lumbermen's Association, and is a through truss design with a 2O-foot roadway intended for an H-15 loading.

All timbers, of r;elect structural Douglas fir, except stringers and decking, have been treated by the American Lumber & Treating Co., at the Weed, California, plant with l0-ll>. creosote-oil treatment. About 4O,00O feet of lumber is required for the bridge itself.

This bridge is to be crected over Dinky Creek about 60 rrriles northeast o{ Fresno. The location is some 72 to 14 rniles east of the main highway to Huntington Lake. The former briclge a' this point was washed out during the early winter floocls. The road serves a highly popular recreation territory, at an elevation of about 5900 feet, including one of Fresno's municipal camps.

Fresno County is purchasing all materials for the bridge an<l the U. S. Forest Service forces will erect the bridge. since the road serves a National Forest area.

Prefabricated lumlter and all hardware for the bridge cost Fresno Ciounty slightly less than $4000 f.o.b. F'resno. It is estimated that transportation of materials, consiruction of abutments and erection of the bridge will bring the total cost to about $5400, or $3.@ per sq. ft. of roadway.

Timbers for the bridge have been furnished and completelv prefabricated by the Booth-Kelly Lumber Co. at Wendling, Oregon.

Los Angeles with a total valuation of $33,178,384 for the first six months of 1938 still holds second place among the cities of the nation in building construction. San Francisco is sixth with a total of $9,904,761; Long Beach, thirteenth, with $5,587,410; San Diego, eighteenth, with $4,361,182; and Oakland, nineteenth, rvith $4,313,650. New York City continues in first place with a total of $126,- 189,180. .

Building permit valuations for the twenty leading cities for the first six months of the year and comparative figures for 1937 as compared by Dunn & Bradstreet, Inc. follow:

Six Months

1938

1937

Los Angeles, Cal. $176,189,180 $137,515,583

New York, N. Y

Detroit, Mich.

Washington, D. C.

Bal.imore, Md.

Pliiladelphia, Pa.

Cincinnaii, Ohio

Inclianapolis, Ind.

WITH ATKINSON-STUTZ CO.

C. R. (Chet) Aronson, rvho was for rnany years rvith the Chas. R. McCormick Lumber Companv. has joined the staff of Atkinson-Stutz Company, San Francisco. He is assistinl in the oflice.

LOOKS OVER S. F. TERRITORY

N. J. Sorensen, manager of the Pacific Division of UniteC Sta'es Plywood Corporatron, recently spent a week at the conrpany's San Francisco branch.