DESIGN MEMORANDUM NO. 4-97

TO:                       Chief District Engineers
                             Design Engineers
                             Active Consultants

FROM:                 John B. Sacksteder, Director
                             Division OF Highway Design  

DATE:                  January 22, 1997

SUBJECT:            Plan Development

The following changes in plan development are effective immediately:

1.)     The use of the project item number has become common usage through a project’s implementation in the Six Year Plan to its ultimate construction. By recommendation of Don Dempsey in the Roadway Plan Review Section and with concurrence of the Division of Construction, the full construction numbers for projects will no longer be required to be shown on every sheet of the plans. The full construction numbers will only be required to be shown on the front layout sheet, the first plan sheet, and the first cross-section sheet. The project item number as shown for construction will be shown on these three sheets also, but will be the only number required on all other sheets. This will virtually eliminate the last minute changes of the construction number prior to letting, particularly when federal programming is involved.

2.)     The metric cell library has included for some time the "METRIC" sidebar to be used on plans. However, it appears that very few designers are plotting plans and including the stamp. This requires the staff to hand stamp plans as metric prior to letting. The "METRIC" sidebar should be placed inside the right-hand border of the layout sheet and first plan sheet in the middle of the page with the letters parallel to the right edge. Further information on this can be obtained on the Division of Highway Design’s Net Home page.

3.)     There are many special notes and special provisions now applicable only on National Highway System routes. To aid the effort of putting final proposals together, "National Highway System" is to be shown directly on the layout sheet above the control of access note on applicable projects.

JBS:jad