LOGGING IN THE DOUGLAS FIR REGION. 153 
apart, the inner sides being hewed in such a way as to form a trough 
10 inches wide at the bottom and 30 inches wide at the top. Cross 
skids, placed at 10-foot intervals, are used to- support the road across 
depressions, and braces are used to prevent spreading. Where the 
road is embedded in the ground skids and braces are not necessary 
except at the joints. Where possible inferior species are used as con- 
struction material, the logs being 60 or TO feet long and from 14 to 30 
inches in diameter at the top. In some cases a wider road is neces- 
sary or preferred, making the use of three or more strings of logs 
necessary. Two logs are placed in much the same way as above, 
and a third log embedded in the ground between them. The outside 
logs are from 14 to 30 inches in diameter at the top, the bottom log 
a little smaller. 
The labor cost per linear foot for these improvements ranges from 
$0.25 to $0.50 for a pole road, and from $0.50 to $0.75 for a chute 
road. One operator is of the opinion that pole roads can be con- 
structed at a labor cost of $0.30 per linear foot; chutes at a labor 
cost of $0.50 per linear foot. In one case the labor cost of building 
1,000 feet of pole road amounted to $250, which is at the rate of $0.25 
per linear foot. The road was constructed on steep, side-hill ground 
and consisted of two strings of logs. Two small canyons had to be 
crossed, which required two spans of 100 feet each. -Two logging 
engines, working toward each other, were used, the time required to 
complete the stretch of road amounting to six days. 
COST. 
It is not practicable to deal with the cost of reading per thousand 
feet except in a very general way, since the work is carried on under 
so many different conditions. 
Labor cost. — A road-engine crew is usually made up of an engineer, 
fireman, wood buck, chaser, and grab man. When the roading engine 
is hauling from two yarding engines, an additional grab man is 
employed. The wages paid the crew are discussed under " ground 
yarding." 
The average operating labor cost per thousand feet ranges from 
10 to 50 cents, depending for the most part on the amount of timber 
transported over the road to the landing and on the number of road- 
ing engine crews used. To illustrate the effects of natural conditions 
on roading costs, the following hypothetical statement is given. It 
is based on the assumption that a road engine is hauling 3,000 feet, 
that the output of 'two yarding engines is hauled to the landing, and 
that the output of the yarding engines varies with the size of the 
timber. 
