114 RAILROAD LOCATION AND CONSTRUCTION — MACKENZIE. 



Profile. — Tlie profile shows tlie cut or till at every station in 

 figures, the number of cuhic yards in every cutting and embank- 

 ment, and whether of rock or earth, the rates and chansfes of 

 grades, the land-lines and the proprietors' names, kind of country — 

 whether wooded or cultivated — names of roads and streams, 

 together with every bridge, culvert, cattle-guard, etc., all in their 

 proper places. 



Estimates. — An estimate of cost is now made, and just here 

 judgment and experience are much needed ; an inexperienced 

 man wdll estimate too low, and a timid or conservative man too 

 high. Contracts are generally given to the lowest tenderer, 

 although the engineer often know\s he cannot but fail to complete 

 the work. 



Construction generally. — In an ordinary rolling country, rail- 

 ways can be built having stone culverts, steel bridges and 56- 

 l^ound steel rails, ready for traffic, for aljout Si 6,000 per mile, 

 exclusive of right-of-way. 



Before the clearing is done, a plug is driven at every station, 

 so that if the stakes are burned the plugs may still be found. 

 After the burning is done, the stakes at the end of all curves, 

 and also a few on the tangents, are referenced by carefully 

 measuring to other stakes set outside the road-bed. From these 

 latter, the original points are found after the stakes and plugs 

 have been dug up hy the workmen. 



Every f()undation for bridge or culvert is staked out, and the 

 depths of excavation marked on the stakes. Each foundaticjn is 

 a special study, and should be tested with a boring apparatus 

 before deciding upon the character of the foundation. If the 

 bottom is gravel, or rock, nothing more is required. If, on the 

 contrary, it is soft, then loose stone, concrete, a wooden platform 

 or piles may be necessary. In no part of railway work is ex- 

 perience more needed than here. 



Earth-ivorJc. — Shallow endjankments are made up by scrapers 

 from the sides, and shallow cuts are ploughed and scraped off 

 from the top. Deeper cuttings are removed hy trollies drawn by 

 horses. 



