24 BULLETIN 193, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



The total cost of the four sections would be, at 6 cents per cubic 

 yard below Mayhaw Bayou and 8 cents per yard for the upper 

 section, $302,780. If the cost of each section is to be divided among 

 the districts drained through that section in proportion to their 

 areas, the total cost to each will be, according to the estimate: 

 District No. 3, $61,175; No. 10, $36,450; No. 11, $151,174; No. 12, 

 $15,639; No. 13, $4,860; No. 17, $1,215; No. 18, $9,112; No. 19, $5,637; 

 and No. 20, $17,518. 



The improvement of Taylors Bayou will necessitate building a 

 bridge across the new channel at La Belle. This bridge is estimated 

 to cost $7,100, which sum should be distributed among districts 

 Nos. 3, 11, 12, and 20, in proportion to their areas. The amount to 

 be charged to each would then be as follows: District No. 3, $910; 

 No. 11, $4,770; No. 12, $710; and No. 20, $710. The cost of tliis 

 bridge has been included with that of excavation for the Taylors 

 Bayou improvement in the ''Estimate of cost " rather than with 

 the estimates for other bridges. 



ESTIMATE OF COST. 



The summarized estimate of total cost for each drainage district 

 proposed for Jefferson County is given herewith, including the cost 

 of operating each pumping plant. The acreages benefited do not 

 include the areas covered by ditches and spoil banks. 



Clearing right of way for all ditches located in the woods has 

 been estimated at $50 per acre; this includes the cost of blasting 

 all stumps 12 inches or more in diameter in the path of the dredge 

 ditches and of grubbing all stumps, large and small, from the paths 

 of the lateral ditches. The purchase cost of right of way 100 feet 

 wide for the outlets for districts Nos. 20, 25, and 28, at $5 per acre, 

 is included in the estimates. Excavation of ditches 8 feet or more 

 in bottom width is estimated at 8 cents per cubic yard and smaller 

 ditches at 10 cents, but the enlargement of Taylors Bayou below 

 Mayhaw Bayou and on Hillebrant Bayou below Bayou Din is 

 estimated at 6 cents per cubic yard. These prices are based upon 

 average contract prices where payment is made in cash and not in 

 bonds of the district which the contractor must accept at par and 

 sell at a discount. The amounts of excavation were estimated by 

 determining the average depth of cut, to the nearest half foot, from 

 the profiles of the ditches. Where the material is to be placed in 

 a levee, the price is increased 2 cents per yard to provide for putting 

 all dirt on one side of the ditch and smoothing the embankment. 



The cost of drainage pumping plants varies widely with the type 

 of machinery, the character of foundation, and the expense of trans- 

 portation to the site. The costs estimated for the plants in Jefferson 

 County are average values from a large number of estimates made 



