The Rise And Decline Of The Ol})mpia Oyster 



would be put in, using untreated lumber. This had to be 

 strong enough to hold the cement. Then sand, gravel, and 

 cement would be loaded on floats or scows and taken out 

 to where it was to be used. At first, a hand operated ce- 

 ment mixer was used. Later power driven mixers 

 speeded the construction. The cement was poured into 

 the forms at low tide, carefully leveled on top, and by 

 the next tide, it would be hardened enough to be ex- 

 tended. 



This work continued year after year. Even in summer 

 there are only an average of twenty days each month 

 that the tides are low enough to allow work on the beds. 

 It took thirty five years, beginning each year with the 

 first daylight tides about the first of April until the dark 

 tides in September, working from four to ten men, to do 

 the job. 



Another thing that delays the dike work is the weath- 

 er. Especially in the spring, one may have several loads 

 of rpud, or if constructing dike, several floats filled v/ith 

 material, and a storm suddenly come up and play havoc. 

 The mud Vv^ashes from the scows or material washes off 

 and goes scooting down the bay. The storm sometime 

 lasts for days, and all that can be done is to wait for 

 better weather. 



The investm.ent that is necessary to accomplish this 

 work is tremendous. My own investment in development 

 of the dike area has been approximately five thousand 

 dollars per acre. I would say that the average cost of 

 construction of all diked land is over four thousand dol- 

 lars per acre. I have about one-half mile of cement dike, 

 fourteen inch base, eight inch top, four feet high; numer- 



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