78 OVERHAUL. 



Estimating Overhaul in Earthwork. 



By H. P. Gillette, Associate Editor Engineering News. 



In railroad excavation it has been the custom to specify a 

 limit of haul within which the contractor received a given 

 price per cubic yard, as 20 cts. per cu. yd., but beyond which 

 limit he received an additional price, as 1 ct per cu. yd. for 

 each 100 ft. of overhaul. This limit is termed the "free 

 haul" limit and was usually fixed at 500 ft, or in some cases 

 at 1,000 ft. 



Due to the work involved in figuring this overhaul, and due 

 to trouble arising from disputes over interpretation of speci- 

 fications relating thereto, the overhaul clause has been very 

 generally dropped from specifications. This we believe to be 

 a mistaken policy in most cases. Where cuts are so heavy that 

 steam shovels are used for practically all the work, then the 

 element of haul is practically negligible, for, with contractors' 

 locomotives and cars used with steam shovels, the cost of haul- 

 ing varies little with the distance hauled. In such cases the 

 overhaul clause can well be omitted. 



In railroad work, where the cuts are generally made to bal- 

 ance the fills, earth is often moved with drag or wheel-scrapers, 

 one-horse carts, two-horse wagons, or with small dump cars 

 on rails. Wheel-scrapers are ordinarily considered cheaper 

 than carts up to hauls of 500 ft; hence contractors accus- 

 tomed to bidding with the purpose of using wheelers largely, 

 felt the necessity of having some clause in specifications that 

 would enable them to tell to what extent wagons or carts would 

 be used on any given job. Engineers very justly met this de- 

 sire by the insertion of an overhaul clause. Had they not in- 

 serted some such clause protecting the contractor, the result 

 would have been either a refusal to bid at all on the part of 

 reputable contractors, or an unduly high price if they did bid. 

 It may sound strange in these days of fierce competition and 

 often of "cut-throat prices," to speak as if contractors ever had 

 a voice in the matter of specifications, yet exactly such a state 

 of affairs has at times existed. For example, in one locality 

 the contractors held a meeting at which they voted not to bid 

 upon any work where the specifications did not give a double 



