(a) The Division of State Aid Road Construction of the Arkansas Department of Transportation shall be headed by a state aid engineer.

(b) The state aid engineer shall be a registered engineer with at least three (3) years experience as a county road or highway engineer and a thorough knowledge of rural road problems.

(c) The state aid engineer under the direction of the Arkansas Department of Transportation shall have the following powers and duties:

(1) To advise with the county judges of the several counties on all matters of policy, use of funds, uniform standards for state aid roads, safeguards in accounting methods, and other related matters and to cooperate with the several county judges on all matters connected with the laying out and construction of the state aid system of county roads;

(2) To promulgate uniform and reasonable rules and regulations as he or she may deem necessary to effectuate a proper designation of state aid roads to be constructed in each county, the methods for determining priority of construction, the making of surveys, and the preparation of plans and specifications for the construction of state aid roads;

(3) To provide a uniform system of accounting in the expenditure of state aid road funds;

(4) To prepare and promulgate practical uniform design standards and specifications for the construction of state aid roads in such a way as to get the most miles for each dollar, with the prime consideration being to provide economical, utilitarian paved roads suitable for rural needs, not to accommodate relatively large amounts of traffic or to be designed for high speed transportation. These uniform design standards and specifications may be modified or amended from time to time as the state aid engineer deems necessary;

(5) To advise and cooperate with the county judges in the selection and designation of the county roads which are to be made a part of the state aid road system, as provided for in this subchapter, and to approve or disapprove the selection of roads to be made a part of the state aid road system by the respective county judges;

(6) To prepare and to submit to the State Highway Commission all proposed contracts to be let for the construction or reconstruction of state aid roads, but before submitting the contracts to the commission, he or she shall submit them to the county judge of the county in which the work is to be performed in order that the county judge may determine that they include, in all respects, the work the county desires to be done in the county to be paid from its share of state aid funds; and

(7) To personally, or through his or her designated assistants, supervise and inspect all state aid road projects as the work progresses. Upon final completion of any project, the state aid engineer shall cause a final inspection to be made of the project for the purpose of determining whether the project has been completed satisfactorily in accordance with the plans and specifications, and if satisfactorily completed, he or she shall approve payment of the final estimate on the project. No progress or final estimate either on a contract or a force account project shall be paid unless approved in such manner by the state aid engineer, and on all contracts or force accounts projects a percentage of ten percent (10%) of each estimate thereon paid shall be retained until final acceptance of such project.

(d)

(1) The state aid engineer shall be subject to the direction of the department.

(2) However, both the state aid engineer and the department shall be bound by the provisions of this section.