Cost of Masonry

COST OF MASONRY. Labor Required in Quarrying.* "The fol lowing table shows the labor required in quarrying the stone [gneiss] for the Boyd's Corner dam on the Croton River near New York City. The stone to be cut was split out with plugs and feathers." Market Price of Stone. Any general statement concerning the market price of stone can not be of much value, since market conditions vary with the locality, and since the forms of the blocks vary greatly for different classes of stones and for different quarries. Further, although stone is nominally sold by the cubic yard or the cord, it is usually measured by weight; and the weight given for a cubic yard by one quarry frequently lays 20 per cent more wall than the same nominal quantity of a similar stone from another quarry. The following prices (f.o.b. quarry) are given mainly to show the relative cost of different grades of stone.

Cost of Gutting Granite.

Boyd's Corner Dam.* "The aver age day's work of a man in cutting the face of granite pitch-faced, range, squared-stone masonry of the Boyd's Corner dam, as deduced from three and a half years' work in which 5,200 cubic yards were cut, was 6.373 square feet, the dimensions of the stones being 1.8 feet rise, 3.6 feet long, and 2.7 feet deep; and the average day's work in cutting the beds to lay Finch joints was 18.7 square feet. The granite coping, composed of two courses—one of 12-inch rise, 30 inch bed, and 3i-feet average length, and one of 24-inch rise, 48-inch bed, and 21-feet average length, the top being pean-hammered, the face being rough with chisel draft around it, and the beds and joints cut to lay Finch joints, required 6.1 days' work of the cutter per cubic yard.

"In cutting the granite for the gate-houses of the Croton Reservoir at Eighty-sixth Street, New York City, in 1861-2, the minimum day's work for a cutter was fixed at 15 superficial feet of joint. This included also the cutting of a chisel draft around the face of the stone, which costs per linear foot about one fourth as much as a square foot of joint, making the actual limit equivalent to about 17.7 square feet of joint. On this work, the proportion to be added

to the cost of the cutters to give the total cost was as follows, the average for 19 months' work: for superintendence 8 per cent; sheds and tools 7; sharpening tools 11; labor moving stone in yard 10; drillers plugging off rough faces 4; making a total of 40 per cent to be added." "Below is given the cost of cutting several kinds of masonry for the New York Department of Docks, in 1874-5. Between December 1873 and May 1875 with an average force of 40 stone-cutters, 2,065 yards of granite of the following kinds were cut in the Department yard: "1,524 yards of dimension stone were cut into headers and stretchers. This stone was cut to lay }-inch beds and joints, the faces being pointed work, with a chisel draft 14 inches wide. The headers averaged 2 feet on the face by 3 feet in depth; and the stretchers averaged 6 feet long by 2 feet deep, the rise being 20, 22, and 26 inches for the different courses. The average time of stone cutter cutting one cubic yard was 4.53 days of 8 hours; and the average cost of cutting was $27.54 per cubic yard ($1.02 per cubic foot).

"310 yards of coping were cut to lay }-inch beds and joints, pointed on the face with chisel draft same as headers and stretchers, and 8-cut patent-hammered on top, with a round of 34 inches radius, the dimensions being 8 feet long, 4 feet wide, and 2i feet rise. The average time of stone-cutter cutting one cubic yard was 6.26 days, and the average cost of cutting $38.07 per cubic yard ($1.41 per cubic foot).

"231 yards of springers, keystones, etc., for the arched pier at the Battery, were cut. These stones were of various dimensions, part being pointed work and part 6-cut patent-hammered. The average time of stone-cutter cutting one cubic yard was 6.88 days, and the average cost of cutting was $41.85 per cubic yard ($1.55 per cubic foot).