20 BULLETIN 53, U. S. DEPAETMENT OP AGEICULTUEE. 



gravel to micaceous clay. This road had been graded to a width of 24 feet 

 in cuts and 18 feet in fills, and the drainage structures were all completed 

 before the object-lesson work was begun. 



The sand for use in surfacing was loosened with plows, loaded with hand 

 shovels, hauled approximately 1^ miles in slat-bottom wagons, and spread 

 with grader and by hand. The subgrade prepared for surfacing was 20,020 

 feet long and 16 feet wide, making a total area of 35,590 square yards. The 

 same area was given a sand-clay surface 6 inches thick after compacting, with 

 a crown of three-fourths of an inch to 1 foot. For the surfacing 4,820 cubic 

 yards of material was used, approximately 3,000 cubic yards of which had to 

 be purchased. The cost of labor was $1.25 per day, and of teams $3 per day. 



The total cost of the work was $1,799.61, which is at the rate of $0.0506 per 

 square yard. The principal items of cost were : Loading sand, at $0.0605 per 

 cubic yard, $291.61 ; mixing surfacing materials, at $0,001 per square yard, 

 $37.25; shaping, at $0.0015 per square yard, $53.25; spreading sand, at $0.0137 

 per cubic yard, $66 ; hauling sand, at $0.2546 per cubic yard, $1,227 ; purchase 

 of sand pits, $105.25 ; and general expenses, including water boy, etc., $19.25. 

 The cost of superintendence, which is included above, was 6.32 per cent of the 

 total cost. 



Lexington, N. C. — ^A sand-clay surface was constructed at Lexington on 

 Fifth Avenue south from Center Street, toward the southbound railroad station. 

 The work was begun on July 22, 1912, and was completed on August 22, 1912. 

 The adjacent land is rolling and the natural soil is clay of a plastic nature 

 but lacking in toughness. 



The first work was grading. The earth was loosened by means of a trac- 

 tion engine and a road plow, loaded and hauled with drag scrapers, wheel 

 scrapers, and wagons, and spi*ead with shovels. The maximum cut was 4 

 feet and the maximum fill 3 feet. The maximum grade was reduced from 

 3 per cent to 1 per cent. 



The equipment consisted of 3 No. 2 wheel scrapers. 6 No. 2 drag scrapers, 2 

 plows, three 14-cubic-yard dump wagons, one 12-horsepower traction engine, picks, 

 shovels, etc. The average haul for excavation was 150 feet and the maximum 

 haul 400 feet. The sand mixed with the clay for surfacing was obtained from 

 a pit and hauled for an average distance of 3 miles in 1-cubic-yard slat-bottom 

 wagons. The quality of the sand was excellent for the purpose for which it 

 was used. Free labor cost $1.25 and $1.50, and foreman $3 per 10-hour day. 

 Convict labor was estimated at $1 per day, and teams cost from $2 to $3 per day. 



The total length graded was 3,000 feet, and the width graded, both in cuts 

 and fills, was 30 feet, making the total area graded 10,000 square yards. The 

 entire length of 3.000 feet was surfaced for a width of 18 feet, making the 

 area surfaced 6,000 square yards. The compacted depth of surfacing material 

 was 4 inches and the crown three-fourths of an inch to 1 foot. The earth 

 excavation amounted to 3,975 cubic yards, and the sand used for surfacing 

 amounted to 815 cubic yards. The total cost of the work was $1,177.46, which is 

 at the rate of $0,196 per square yard of surfaced area. The principal items 

 of cost were: Excavation, 3,975 cubic yards, at 11 cents per cubic, yard, 

 $440.35; hauling 815 cubic yards of sand, at 80 cents per cubic yard, $652; 

 spreading 815 cubic yards, at $0,016 per cubic yard, $12.75; mixing the sand 

 and clay, $60.60; sprinkling, $6; and general expenses, $5.75. 



Aransas Pass, Tex. — A section of Commercial Street extending east from 

 Wheeler Avenue to the city limits was given a sand-clay surface during the 

 past fiscal year. Excavation was started on November 21, 1912, and the work 

 was entirely completed by December 16, 1912, with the loss of only one day 



