The cost of spreading will depend upon whether it is clumped upon a wood platform and spread by hand, or upon the road and spread with a road grader (§ 333). The average cost of the first process on state-aid roads in Massa chusetts is 4 cents per ton or 6 cents per cubic yard; t while with a road grader the cost of spreading is about 2 cents per cubic yard, including the hand labor in completing the leveling.
The cost of sprinkling is an extremely variable item, depending upon the source of the water supply and the nature of the subgrade. It will require at least 4, and possibly 16, cubic feet of water per cubic yard of stone. "One man with a good hand pump will raise 1,000 cu. ft. of water 16 ft. high in 10 hours into a tank from which it can be drawn off into the sprinklers. If the product of two good portable crushers is going into the road, it will take about 300 cu. ft. of water daily to puddle the macadam and an equal amount to keep the subgrade in compact condition, although in very sandy soil twice as much water may be needed. One man will therefore pump enough water for 80 cu. yds. of crushed stone and for the subgrade, at a cost of 2 eta. per cu. yd: of stone. A sprinkler holding 60 cu. ft. of water is ordinarily used, which at $4 per day for team, cart, and driver will supply all the water needed, up to a haul of 11 miles from the storage tank. A sprinkler can be loaded in ten minutes, and with the speed of team at 220 ft. a minute, or 21 miles an hour, it is easy to estimate the number of trips a day and the number of sprinklers that will be needed for different lengths of haul. Ordinarily one sprinkler is required for each roller, so that the cost of sprinkling will be 10 cents per cu. yd., which, added to the cost of pumping, makes a total of 12 cts. per cu. yd. of stone; but with a long haul in sandy soil the cost frequently runs as high as 20 cts. per cu. yd." * Cost of Rolling. The amount of rolling varies greatly with the amount and character of the filler employed (§ 346-49), and consequently there is a very great difference in the cost for different cases. Unfortunately the published reports upon the cost of rolling are very meager, and seldom fully state the items of expense included; and some are based upon time, some upon area, and others upon quantity with little or no data as to the thick ness of the course, the kind of stone, the character of binder, etc. The actual daily expenditures for operating the roller vary with the cost of labor, coal, water, etc.; and the total daily cost of opera tion depends upon the amount of work done per season, i. e., upon the number of days over which the cost of interest, storage, and depreciation is to be distributed.
On Massachusetts state-aid roads, in 1894,t seven towns owning steam-road rollers (mostly 12-ton) ran them at an average daily cost of $5.42, the maximum being $6.46 and the minimum $3.72;
and ten towns using hired rollers (mostly 12-ton) ran them at an average daily expense of $15.94, the maximum being $24.46 and the minimum $6.62. The cost for the first-mentioned towns probably does not include interest, storage, and depreciation; while that for the second, included these items and doubtless also transportation expenses and profits. In the towns owning their rollers, the average cost of rolling was 13.71 cents per cubic yard, or 4.05 cents per square yard; and the average amount rolled per day was 59 cubic yards, the maximum being 102 and the minimum 14. In the towns hiring rollers, the average price was 25.1 cents per cubic yard, or 8.8 cents per square yard; and the average amount rolled per day was 71 cubic yards, the maximum being 139 and the minimum 31.
The total cost of the mad varies with the amount of grading and drainage required, the length improved in a single season, the length of railroad and wagon haul, the specifications, etc.
New Jersey. In northern New Jersey, the total cost of trap macadam roads 4 to 6 inches deep, where the rock was obtained near the road, ranged from 20 to 45 cents per square yard; and telford roads consisting of 8 inches of telford and two courses of broken stone 2} and inches thick respectively, cost from $1.02
to $1.29 per square yard. In the southern part of that state, where the stone is transported 20 to 70 miles, 8-inch trap macadam roads cost from 23 to 70 cents per square yard, the average being from 50 to 60 cents per square yard.* Massachusetts. The average cost of 220 miles of state aid road in Massachusetts built from 1894 to 1899,t reduced to the equivalent cost of a "standard mile" (15 feet wide), was $9,931.23 per mile for construction and engineering expenses, exclusive of cost of administration and the salaries of the chief engineer and two assistants. The maximum average for the roads in any township was $20,257.48 and the minimum $4,871.30 per "standard mile." The above gives an average cost of $1.126 per square yard, a maximum of $2.302, and a minimum of $0.564.
In Massachusetts in 1897, 52 miles were built in 187 towns (townships), the average cost of the several items being as shown in Table 24, page 2411 An examination of the reports for other years indicates that the above exhibit is fairly representative, except that the expenditure for stone is smaller than the average. In the state-aid roads built from 1894 to 1899, the cost of the broken stone was equal to 55 per cent of the total cost of the road, but in later years the amount of stone used was decreased.
New York. In the State of New York in 1898, 22 miles of state-aid macadam roads were built in six sections, with an average cost of 84.0 cents per square yard, the maximum being $1.085 and the minimum 64.8 cents. The roads consisted of 4 inches of native stone, and 2 inches of trap rock bound with lime stone screenings.*