RAILROAD CONSTRUCTION 261 



The following standard classification is in extensive use : 



(i) Earth. — Loam, sand, gravel or clay. Material that can 

 be handled with a pick and shovel, or that can be plowed 

 readily. 



(2) Hardpan. — Very dense clays and gravels, cemented with 

 iron oxide. Soft shales that are easily worked may also be 

 included. 



(3) Loose Rock. — Shales and other rock that can be quarried 

 without blasting, although blasting may be resorted to occa- 

 sionally. 



(4) Solid Rock. — Material requiring blasting for removal. 



The contract price per cubic yard for the removal of earth 

 or rock usually includes excavating, hauling, and placing the 

 material in a fill or a waste pit. It is not customary to pay for 

 making a cut and also to pay for a fill made from the same 

 material; in other words, payment for a given cubic yard is 

 made but once. Grading contracts may have an ''overhaul" 

 clause which provides that for all earth hauled more than a 

 specified distance ("free haul"), the contractor shall be paid 

 a stated sum per cubic yard for each 100 feet of overhaul. On 

 logging operations the length of free haul ranges from 100 to 

 500 feet. 



The price paid for moving material varies greatly in different 

 regions and is influenced by the length of haul, the kind of 

 material moved, the character of classification, the degree of 

 accuracy used in actual classification and the season of the year, 

 the cost of winter work being about 25 per cent higher than that 

 of work done during the summer. 



The following prices were paid on logging railroad operations 

 and represent general contract prices on work of this character. 

 The average work on logging roads except on the Pacific Coast 

 usually presents no special problems and can be performed with 

 simple equipment which does not require a heavy financial 

 outlay. Loggers are able, therefore, to contract with local men 

 on favorable terms. 



