EXCAVATING MACHINERY USED IN LAND DRAINAGE. 13 



Cook and bunk boats: 



Material $663. 90 



Labor 453. 66 



Equipment 646. 35 



Total 16, 500. 00 



In connection with a drainage project in southwest Louisiana a 

 steam-operated, floating dipper dredge, equipped with a 1-yard 

 dipper, 40-foot booni, and convertible power spuds was employed in 

 the excavation of about 10 miles of ditch which varied in width from 

 18 to 50 feet and in depth from 4 to 6 feet; 15-foot berms were speci- 

 fied. The cost of the dredge on the work is said to have been $10,000. 

 Two shifts of 10 hours each were run, but the actual number of days of 

 operation was not recorded. The crew and monthly rates of pay, 

 including subsistence, were as follows: Two runners, at $100; 2 

 cranemen, at $60; 2 firemen, at $60; 1 deckhand, $40; 1 cook, $30, 

 The material excavated was a hard, stiff clay. The total amount 

 excavated in about 8 months was 147,000 cubic yards. The average 

 cost, per month, of operation was as follows: 



Labor $510 



Board 100 



Coal 262 



Repairs 200 



Oil and supplies 50 



Interest and depreciation 342 



1,464 

 Cost per cubic yard, $0.0796. 



On another project in southern Louisiana there was employed a 

 floating dipper dredge with a 5 by 22 by 73 foot hull; 8 by 10 inch 

 double-cylinder hoisting engine; 6 by 8 inch, double-cylinder reversi- 

 ble swinging engines; 1^-yard dipper, and 40-foot boom. The ma- 

 chine was equipped with bank spuds. The cost of the dredge, 

 ready to operate, was $13,000. The ditches averaged about 30 feet 

 wide and were from 5 to 6 feet deep. The land was nearly level and 

 the water surface was easily kept within a foot of the ground surface. 

 The material was a top muck underlain by an alluvial mud which was 

 hardly solid enough to hold its shape when dropped from the dipper. 

 There were few submerged logs or stumps. The dredge was operated 

 the year around for 2 years. No record was kept of the actual time 

 of operation. The average output per shift (12 hours) on a 30-foot 

 ditch 5 feet deep was 1,200 cubic yards, at a cost as follows: 



Labor (4 men) $10. 50 



Fuel, 6 barrels oil, at $1.75 10. 50 



Repairs, oil, and grease 5. 50 



26.50 

 Cost per cubic yard, exclusive of interest and depreciation, $0.0221. 



