HISTORY OF THE TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT ... - CTR Library

THE TEXAS HIGHWAY DEPARTMENT
The Texas Highway Commission. appointed by the Governor, establishes
and sets the policies of the Department, authorizes and approves
the expenditure of highway funds and employs the State Highway
Engineer, who acts as Executive Officer for the Commission.
The District Engineer is appointed by the State Highway Engineer
and is charged with the responsibility of carrying out the policies
of the Highway Commission, forming programs of work and moving them
through construction to provide an adequate highway system for the
District, and properly maintaining the system of roads.
The District Headquarters at Pharr is the center of control and
supervision of all operations for the 10 counties of the District.
The basic programming and planning are done at District Headquarters.
while the surveys, plans and specifications. and construction are
supervised by the Resident Engineers. and when construction is
completed the District Maintenance Division takes the road over
for supervision and maintenance.
Within the District Headquarters organization are several divisions.
such as the Accounting Department. which prepares accounting
records of all construction and maintenance operations, prepares
salary payrolls for all personnel, prepares payrolls for payment
of all material and supplies purchased for the District. maintains
records of all supplies in stock and prepares records of all equipment
and its operation.
The District Warehouse is the purchasing and supply department for
the District operations. The warehouse stock is made up of hundreds
of items regularly used by the District.
The District Sign and Carpenter Shop makes and paints all the highway
signs used in the District. It also maintains all office. warehouse
and shop buildings in the District.
The District Right of Way Section handles the acquisition of all
right of way needed for highway purposes. The counties join the
Highway Department on a 50-50 basis in purchasing right of way on
all State and U.S. highways and the counties furnish all right of
way for farm-to-market roads.
The District Shop is responsible for the maintenance and repair
of all District equipment, some 750 major units.
The Permit Office handles all overload and oversize permits for
trucks on the highways. It also handles permits for utility installations
on the right of way in keeping with Commission Policy in
addition to issuing issues entrance permits for residences and
business operations as allowed by Commission Policy.
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