1842.] 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL. 



187 



of repairs for each wagon was from Is. 3(/. to Ij. 6d. per week, no less than 

 97 out of 103 wagons requiring extensive repairs in one month. In addition 

 to the repair, the lubrication or greasing of the wagon is a considerable item 

 of expense. Supposing the plant sold after the completion of the work, it 

 would perhaps produce— raUs S/. per ton ; chairs in proportion ; large wagons 

 13/. ; small wagons lU. ; and sleepers 9rf. each. 



From all I can leain, and judging from my own experience, I calculate 

 that the cost on each work for rails is about lid. per cubic yard, and for 

 ■wagons Irf.t 



Before I proceed to consider the cost of haulage or horsing, I will give 

 what Mr. Day says on the subject, in his Treatise on Railways, although not 

 in his exact words :— " Taking resistance at 150th part of insistent weight 

 for tempoiary roads, and horse power at 150 lb., to travel 12 mUes loaded 

 and 12 with empty carriages, at the rate of 2i miles per hour, and allowing 

 a fourth for weight of wagons, a horse wiU convey 64^ cubic yards one mile 

 per day, which, at 7s. per day, including attendance, is equal to IJrf. per 

 cubic yard ; and that the effect of ascending a gradient of 35 ft. per mile 

 will double the cost, 74 ft. treble, and 105 ft. quadruple it."— The cost is not 

 in the ratio of the relative distance, as the haulage to and from the tip and 

 guUet apply as well to short as to long distances. For the first mile I do not think 

 that 2id. per yard is too much for haulage, which is nearly double Mr. Day's 

 estimate.* I consider that horse power is preferable to either fixed or loco- 

 motive engines, when the lead is vmder 2.V miles, but. up to 4 miles a loco- 

 motive is to be preferred ; and when the lead exceeds that distance, it will 

 be cheaper to purchase land for side cutting, and run the surplus to spoil at 

 the commencement of the cutting, or run the top Uft into the adjoining 

 fields. The average lead for most of the railways abeady made seldom 

 exceeds one mile, which has been taken as the standard measure of cost, for 

 which the price is generally about Is. per cubic yard for the first mile, and 

 3d. per mUe additional, or lid. per half mne, beyond the first mile. 



The following are the prices at which many contracts have been executed 



+ On account of the capital required for plant being so great, it is some- 

 times the custom for the companies to find rails and wagons, the permanent 

 rails being allowed to he used for temporary purposes. The value of a plant 

 for a contract 5* miles in length, to convey 213,000 cubic yards, is nearly 

 one-third of the amount of contract, taking 12rf. per cubic yard as the price, 

 viz. for— Rails, chairs, keys, &C. . • • • *3300 



Sleepers 30" 



Wagons .■••-• "°^ 



Total 6.585 



About seven miles of rails were used, besides two miles of wooden rails 

 plated with iron for a back road, on which only the empty wagons passed. 

 The facility afforded in tipping fully warranted this quantity ot plant. Ihe 

 usual calculation for the quantity of rails required is the length, of contract 

 undertaken, if the works are lo be carried on with vigour. 



» Hursts' keep calculated at the above :— 



1 load of hay, 36 trusses of 56 lb. each, at lOSs. to 110s. per load. 



1 load of corn, beans, or oats, 5 qvs. and 8 bushels 1 qr. at 30s. per qr., and 

 wei<'hin<' 37 to 43 lb. ner bushel net, allowing S lb. for the weight of the 

 sack ; beans, whole 2"cwt. 1 qr. 12 lb. per sack, split 1 cwt. 2 qr. 3 lb. ; oats 

 1 cwt. 1 qr. per sack, at 24s. per qr. 



Keep of horses at the above price, exclusive of driving. 



per week each. ^ Xfi.^^y, l^'^'^' ^ 



1361 lb. ot hay ) 9| lb. of hay ■» 



94 of oats yiis. ISi ot oats V2s. orf. 



23 of beans ) H of beans ) 



30 horses in 12 weeks consumed 

 740 bushels of oats, 



180 ditto of beans, 



181 trusses of hay. 



42 horses in one week consumed 



69 bushels of oat»,\ (9i busheJs of oats, 

 51 ditto of beans, F „,. J 48 ditto of beans, 

 32 trusses of hay, f "^' ] 26 trusses of hay, 



3 sacks of bran. ) lot sacks of bran. 



35 horses in one week consumed 



70 bushels of oats.) (60 bushels of oats, or 70, 

 42 ditto of beans, J- or, ^31 ditto cf beans, 



24 trusses of hay. ) l26 trusses of hay. 



20 burses consumed in one week 

 35 bushels of o.its.i (38 bushels of oats, 



21 ditto of beans, V or, -J 21 ditto of beans, 

 2 sacks of bran. ) I 1 sack of bran. 



The cost of harness is 2s. per week each. 

 Repairs of ditto and shoeing 6d. 

 Farriery dnd medicine td. per week each. 

 The value of the dung pavs for the straw. 



35 horses took 2250 cubic yards 67i chairs at 3J<i. 

 55 „ 2868 „ 72 „ ^ 



55 „ 3600 „ 82 ., ^ 



55 „ 2900 „ 102 „ ii 



on some of the ?reat lines : — Midland Counties 12d. and od. per additional 

 mile; Derby and Birmingham 12irf. all through average of lead; Great 

 Western I2d. and Zd., and for ballast Is. b^d., and 6rf. per additional mile, 

 (on account of the difference in weight, say 19 cvd. to 28 cwt., between soil 

 and wet gravel). On the Newcastle and North Shields Railway the price was 

 13if., which I have divided as follows — excavations and repairs of wagons 

 Srf. ; rails and wagons 2d. ; horsing 3d. From tte above prices I think I 

 may say that the price per cubic yard may be set at I2d., which may be 

 divided into the following items ; — 



Getting and filling ...... 4^rf. 



Ganger's superintendence . . . . • i 



Repairs of temporary road . . . . . i 



Tipping .......} 



Plant, v.'agons, and rails . . . • 2i 



Horsing . . . . . • - 24 



Contingencies and profit . . . . . IJ- 



12 



In addition to the price of 4Jrf. for getting and filling, id. extra must be 

 added, if it should be necessary to resort to guV.etiiuj for the greater facility o£ 

 execution. It frequently happens that the earth to form approaches to bridges 

 is taken from the small severances of land in the immediate vicinity of the 

 bridge, and the earth moved nearly vertically, by the employment of what 

 are called " horse runs," the excavator, with his loaded barrow, being drawn 

 up a slope of planks laid often at an angle of more than 45°. The price for 

 getting the earth in this ease is generally estimated at Id. per man in the 

 hole, only one man being employed as runner, the distance from the foot of 

 the slope requiring more or less men, as the case may be. In the preceding 

 observations I have considered the prices of earthwork, barrow work, rua 

 work, and wagon work. The parts I have not touched upon are horse work, 

 meaning cartage, and tram work, and when tubs are used put or pushed by 

 men — this information probably some of your correspondents, who may have 

 the data, will supply. 



When it is considered in what a hurried manner contracts are let, the con- 

 tractor in tlie space of a few days having to satisfy himself of the nature of 

 the strata and the correctness of the levels, also the quantity, which has 

 perhaps occupied the engineer and his staff months to ascertain ; also the 

 arbitrary manner in which the conditions are framed, his materials liable to 

 be taken from him, and his work entered upon by the company at the mere 

 dictum of an engineer, it is surprising that men are to be found of energy- 

 sufficient to risk their capital for such a small chance of profit. And besides, 

 such contingencies as wet and frosty weather, rise of wages and materials, 

 and the risk of errors in calculation, both as regards clerical errors and errors 

 in the principle, whether the prismoidal formula or average depth be employed 

 in the calculation.* 



Professor Vignoles. in his sixth lecture {Joitrnal, p. 60), says that the 

 correct method is by the prismoidal formula, and that in a quantity of 332,000 

 cubic yards so calculated, and by average heights, there would be a difference 

 of 22,000 cubic yards against the contractor, and if the mean area be used, 

 there would be an excess of 44,000 cubic yards in favour of the contractor ; 

 hence, by the latter many contractors had realized, and by the former many 

 had lost large amounts. 



It is to the industry, energy, and boldness of the English contractor that 

 enables him to carry on such extensive works as are imdertaken in this 

 countr>', and has thrown the Continental railways into his hands ; and he has 

 reason to be proud of the distinction. It is a practical illustration of the 

 maxim that science is bUnd and without hands, and useless unless guided by 

 experience. Many of the contracts on the English railways have been in the 

 hands of men who could not write their own names. 



I did not, when I commenced this paper, intend saying anything of the 

 comparative cost of excavating materials of a more obdurate nature, but to 

 confine myself to common earth ; but from the interest I have taken in the 



^ There are also to be added the risk of an error in the fi.xing the vaUie 

 of the average lead, which 1 think is the most important point ot all, requiring 

 Ae exercise of the soundest judgment. An.j again, it seldom happens but 

 what the rate of the gradient varies in the englh of a contract, w ich will 

 make a great difference, as before stated a rise ot 35 ft per mile w.ll double 

 the price ot h.iulage, and to have a small descent with the load is as greatly 

 n favour of the contractor. There are besides the slips in cutting, and sub- 

 sUing in embankment, and the upholding of tunnels, and other l'f;«'f"J 

 work ; and as if all these contingencies were not enough, one of the pine pal 

 engineers, lately in his report to the directors, urged the propriety of including 

 in "the contract for work ihe i«/n< of the land required lor the railway. 



2 D 2 



