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~96 L '~39W3:>aa British Columbia Terrain, Expansion Challenge To Busy Location Branch British Columbia's rapidly _expanding development presents an increasing challenge to the Location Branch. Planning, surveying and designing new and im proved highways to meet the need for faster, more eco­ nomical and more convenient access to all parts of the province, are its responsibility. The ability of Location's 200 men The, fie ld survey and preliminary e The legal sur vey section of the branch to meet the challenge is indicated by design are the responsibilities of A. G. is administered by Frank Clapp, whose the fact that contract plans, specifi­ Tranfield, A. W. G. Smith, C.A. r esponsibility is to arrange for the cations and estimates were prepared Scarborough and A. E. Beaumont in survey of all highway rights-of-way for 380 mil es of construction in 1964- , cha r ge of the Regional location and and to ensur e that the legal survey 65, compared to 172 miles prepared design offices in North Vancouver, plans ar e pr operlyprocessed for regis­ in the previous fiscal year . Most of Kamloops, Nelson and Prince George, tration. this mileage was in mountainous, respe ctively. Each also has the super­ heavil y- wooded country, a tribute to vision of as many as six field survey A recent addition to the br anch is the durabtltty and efficiency of survey' crews at one time. Management of all­ the computer section, the development cr ews under difficult conditions. fie ld operations is the responsibility of and expans ion of which is the r espon­ L. D. Perkins, whose office is in s ibili ty of Peter Hunt. In this section Victoria. There are 12 field crews new programmes are continuall y being each with from 15 to 20 men. The increasedproduction results alsc developed to facilitate the wor k of from improved methods of preliminary the -planner s and designers in route planning and route selection, includ ing selection, earthwork and ali gnment the use of aerial photography and calculations. mapping and the electronic computer analysi s of comparable route projec­ Plans for all branches of the de­ tions. Here again, and in the design, partment and for certain other de­ the attention given to detail and ac­ partments as well, are r eproduced curacy by the planners, designers and by the blue print machine, under the draughts men help the branch meet its' operation of Del Card. expanding responsibilities. All of these vari ous sections are administer ed by the Dir ector of Lo­ The principal cause of the accelerat­ cation, Norman Zapf and by the ed demand for highway improvement Assistant Location Engineer , J. W. is the lar ge increase in vehicle regis­ Pomeroy in Victoria. They, of course, trati on within the past few years and appr eciate the importance of the co­ r esultant traffic congestion, especially operation and assistance of those in in the areas of urban or suburban other branches whose work makes development. However, the impact of Hil brand S ch uitema, Draftsman; that of the Location Branch possible. industrial development has been con­ North Vancouver, typifies design and sider able. New r oads have been planning work of various sections of This vast province 366,000 square surveyed and designed to access pulp the Location Branch. miles, larger than California , Or egon mill, mine and hydro electric develop ­ and Washington, is interspersed with ments , and these in one year alone Final design and preparation of con­ many good, high speed roads. Roads have incr eased the work commitment tract drawings, special provtsions to the which have improved beyond r ecogni­ of the branch by as much as 50 per general specifications, and final esti­ tion in the last decade are planned cent. Els ewher e road s which former ly mates for all projects are the r espon­ to still further improve the next. And ser ved adequate ly as ,40 m.p.h, ar­ s ibili ty of Maur ie Ingram and John this in spite of the challenge of some teries must now be 60 m.p. h, high­ Blackey and their staffs in Victoria. of the most difficu lt terr ain in Canada. ways: highways which formerly served John is 'al so r esponsi ble for the de­ The manner in which the Location adequately as 60 rn.p .h, highways must velopment and expansion of the re­ Branch has helped meet this challenge now be 70 m.p.h, fr eeways with full­ cen tl y inaugur ated planning section, is obvious to all who use the ,highways. dir ectional high-speed interchanges which studies the need and feas ibility and connecting frontage roads. of highway development. Cover picture by photographer Gordon Whittaker, symbolizes year-round fi eld work of the Location Branch: 2 Minister's Message THE ROAD-RUNNER Volume 2 December,l965 Number 5 Published Quarterly by Department of Highways-British Columbia 1690 Main St., North Van couver Ray Baines-Executive Editor Arthur J . Schindel-Editor Associate Field Edi tors Paul Connor .. North Vancouver Adam Kloster ' . ..... Nort h Vancouver ' Da ve Wardell ' , , , Burnside .J. \\'. Morris , ' Na naimo R. G. Mu lcaster , Courte nay, Egon Willig . ' Bridge Maintenance' In a few days Christmas will be here and I Bill Ry an ,' North Vancouver, would like to extend to every employee of the De­ Lloyd Burgess . New Westm inster Ross Ellis '. .. .. .... .. .. Chilliwack partment my best wishes for that Holy Season. We Don MacSwcen Kam loops think of Christmas as a time of reunion, family Mu rray Ramsay Sal mon Arm gathering, warm firesides and good eating. I know. Dave Bowrn-m ' , Revelstok e it won't be that way for many of our personnel who AI Desimone ' . Vernon ' will be spending long, cold days and colder nights Fred Evans . Kelowna keeping highways open and safe for holiday travel­ Pete Fuoco Penticton ers in the best traditions of public service. To them H. R. Walker Merritt especially I would like to bring greetings and thanks DaVE Roberts . ' , Lillooet on behalf of the people of British Columbia. And to Denis Hill ' Williams Lake all, may I con vey my warmest wishes for a Merry Dorothy Wil kins Gra nd Forks Christmas and Happy and Healthful New Year. Bert Staite ' Rossland Bill Higgins Nelson P. A. Gaglardi, Minister Fred Angrignon New Den ver Irene Labelle .. .. .. .. .... Crest on S. J . T ognela Cran brook Sa m Caravetta : Fernie DEPARTMENT CLEARS SPECIAL Joh n Edgar .. Golden VEHICLE CHRISTMAS EVE Bill Ingram ' Victo ria The Prince Geor ge Regional Office sent the followin g memo Steve Sviatko , , Smi thers to the Approvin g Officer in Victor ia last week: Clyde Smaaslet Pouce Coupe "We have received an inquiry from a Northern community Earl Lund . , Prince George regarding the use of a special vehicle on British Columbia Pat Tondevold Fort St..1ohn Highways later this month. Pat O'Toole Te rrace .AI Park , ' Prince GEorge The application comes from Mr. S. Claus whowill be driving 'So Price Prince George a special sleigh-type vehicle, or cutter, rapidly throughout George Harper Quesnel the province before and after midnight, December 24th. The George Kent Vanderhoof vehicle, drawn by eight reindeer, would ordinarily required Pat Du nn ... .... Burns La ke a special permit for B.C. highways but we understand that Roger..McKeown , Prince Ruuerl where pavements are bare, it can become airborne. While Mr. Claus plans to make a gr eat many stops during his trip there would seem to be no problem about parking if he is to keep to his tight schedule, he w1ll undoubtedly on the highway. We understand he usually parks the vehicle have to exceed speed limits. The R.C.M.P. has indicated its on the roots of buildings where he calls. willingness to overlook this. The Department of 'Commercial Transport sees no problem. The overall length is under 50 feet and height and width are In the event that Mr. Claus' vehicle might cause damage well within. the .legal limits. Mr. Claus will be carrying a to highway pavements he has pos ted a bond with the Depart­ heavy load but the axle-loading formula does not apply to ment-a lar ge Chr istmas stocking. We r eali ze that this is runners. In any case, as we stated ear lier , the vehicle is unusual but we feel we can accept it as his good will seems airborne part of the time. In this connection we understand to be beyond question. the Federal Transport Department has issued Mr. Claus a special clearance to use the standard flight-ways within While the vehicle and some aspects of the trip may con­ his operational ceiling. travene certain highway regulations, we recommend that we, In the Vancouver area Mr. Claus may wish to use the along with other agencies COncerned, make special concessions fr eeways in the event of bad flying weather. While animals in view of the important nature of Mr . Claus' mission." are normally prohibited from the freeways we believe he will be maintaining speeds consistent with other traffic. In fact The Approving Officer in Victoria concur red. 3 New Dease Lake Five Lane Project At Kelowna Completed Maintenance Th e South Okanagan District crews under District Engineer Mr. A. L. Fr ee­ Camp Built bairn re centl y completed 5.5 miles of five lanes on Highway No. 97 north of Kelowna. Location was done by Resi dent Enginee r B. J. Penner and his survey crews . Expansion of the Department is typi­ under J. E.

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