24 BULLETIN 193, U. S. DEPAETMEXT OF AGEICULTTJRE. 
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 this 
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 ail 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 haK 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 
