1942 Road Projects

One of the biggest misconceptions about the time of World War II in the United States is that most everything pretty much stopped for the duration of the war. While this is mostly correct, due to shortages of materials for all items available, the state of Indiana still had to maintain its state highway system. The number of projects would be brought way down. But there were still needs. Especially when it came to projects that would, seemingly, help the war effort at home. The beauty of the whole thing is that even during the war, Indiana still had laws requiring publication of contracts for bidding. Hence, the newspapers of the state had listings of the projects to come.

All of the following projects were being bid by the Indiana State Highway Commission. They were published in May, June and August of 1942. The construction work would continue into 1943, and some bids were taken into 1944 for some of these projects.

Allen County: 5.625 miles on State Road (US) 24, from New Haven northeast. Concrete pavement and resurface.

Carroll County: Bridge on State Road 75. Structure 75-J-3486, 65 foot plain concrete arch over Middlefork Creek, 1.7 miles north of State Road 26.

Clark County: .692 mile on State Road 62, Sleeper Lanes between Watson and Charlestown. Concrete pavement.

Clarke County (sic): .637 mile on Dutch Lane Road entrance U. S. Quartermaster Depot at Jeffersonville. Bituminous stabilized widening and bituminous surface treatment.

Daviess and Greene Counties: 2.809 miles on State Road 45, from 1.8 miles south to 1 mile north of the Daviess-Greene County Line. Bituminous retread surface or concrete pavement.

Greene County: 4.122 miles on State Road 45 from 3/4 mile west of Scotland to 1/2 mile east of Doans. Bituminous retread surface or concrete pavement.

Green County: 4.673 miles on State Road 45 from 0.5 mile east of Doans to original State Road 45. Bituminous retread surface of concrete pavement.

Hancock and Henry Counties: 5.971 miles on State Road (US) 40 from Cleveland to Knightstown. Concrete pavement.

Jackson County: Bridge on State Road 250. Structure 250-F-3489, re-erect 75 foot St. Truss bridge with untreated timber floor over Hough Creek, .4 miles southeast of Brownstown.

Johnson County: .516 mile, east entrance to Camp Atterbury from U. S. 31 near Edinburg (sic). Concrete pavement.

Kosciusko County: Bridge on State Road 13. Structure 13-M-1864, reinforced concrete slab over Turkey Creek in Syracuse.

Lagrange County: Bridge on State Road 120. Structure 120-J-3090, Treated timber over Pigeon River – one at 18 feet, eight at 20 feet, and one at 18 feet – 2.7 miles west of Howe.

Lake County: 1.933 miles on Riley Road and Canal Street in East Chicago, Indiana. Concrete pavement and resurface.

Marion County: 1.003 miles, 16th Street from Emerson to Arlington Avenues at Indianapolis. Concrete pavement.

Martin and Daviess Counties: 4.643 miles on State Road 45 from 1.7 miles south to 3 miles north of C. M. St. P. & P. R. R. (Milwaukee Road) west of Burns City. Bituminous retread surface or concrete pavement.

Martin and Daviess Counties: 1.786 miles from proposed State Road 45 to U. S. Naval Depot Area. Bituminous retread surface or concrete pavement.

Porter County: 3.267 miles on State Road (US) 20 from 3.2 miles west to .1 mile east of N.Y.C. Railroad underpass at Porter. Concrete pavement and resurface.

Porter County: 2.802 miles on State Road 20 (US 20) from .1 mile east of N.Y.C. Railroad underpass at Porter to .6 mile east of State Road 49. Concrete pavement and resurface.

Porter and LaPorte Counties: Bridges on State Road (US) 30. Structure 30-D-540A, treated timber over Hutton Ditch, 5.3 miles wast of Valparaiso. Structure 30-E-600A, treated timber over Slocomb Ditch in Wanatah.

Pulaski County: 5.841 miles on State Road 39, from State Road 14 north 6 miles. Compacted aggregate surface.

Vanderburgh County: 1.230 miles on Twelfth Avenue, Broadway and St. Joseph Avenue in Evansville. Concrete pavement.