378 



AMERICAN FORESTRY 



SIMPSON LOGGING CO.'S BRIDGE IN CONSTRUCTION STAGE. 



HILLS OF THE OLYMPICS. 



BEGINNING OF FOOT- 



Once you get your country mapped 

 you have a splendid basis from which 

 to work on the preliminary reconnais- 

 sance for the railroads. It usually pavs 

 well to go over as closely as possible 

 the route to be taken by the road and 

 get thoroughly familiar with the topo- 

 graphic details that will control the fu- 

 ture road. For instance, suppose, after 

 you have gone a mile or so, following a 

 tentative grade of, say 2 per cent, you 

 will find that by increasing your grade 

 one-half foot to the hundred you can 

 gain a bench, which will give much 

 lighter construction for a considerable 

 distance. This will be a vital control 

 in the laying out of the road, either 

 necessitating an increase in grade, or a 

 new starting point for your climb. In 

 general, the whole line must be laid out 

 in reference to the points of chief diffi- 

 culty or where the greatest saving can 

 be made in cost of construction without 

 impairing the value of the road as an 

 outlet for the timber. The latter point 

 is one which must never be lost sip-ht 

 of. 



You must thoroughly understand 

 logging to successfully construct log- 

 ging roads. It is just here that the con- 

 tracting surveyor or engineer falls 

 down. His ideal is the road itself. 

 Yours must be the logging operation as 

 a whole. Your cost must be governed 

 by the amount of timber to come over 

 the road and the probable expense of 

 logging it. When possibly you will 

 want to limit yourself to a 16-degree 

 curve and a 3 per cent grade on main 

 lines, but quite often you will have to 

 depart from these limits and will be en- 

 tirely justified in doing so. 



Having threshed out the main line, 

 you are ready for the preliminary sur- 

 vey, and I want to say right here that 

 out in this country the day when rail- 

 roads could be laid out by eye, and with 

 curves run in with a tape, is past. It 

 is real railroad engineering; a transit 

 should be used on main lines, while a 

 good compass and hand level will serve 

 very well for the spurs. You must be 

 able to give a pretty close estimate on 

 each mile of proposed construction 



