On the basis of 100 cu. yds. daily output, the cost of mixing and placing the concrete was as follows:
| Per day. | Per cu. yd. | |
| 5 men loading stone | $ 7.50 | $.07½ |
| 2 men loading sand | 3.00 | .03 |
| 4 men charging mixer | 6.00 | .06 |
| 2 men loading concrete into buckets | 3.00 | .03 |
| 1 man dumping concrete from buckets | .50 | .01½ |
| 10 men loading and wheeling concrete | .00 | .15 |
| 1 man dumping wheelbarrows | 1.50 | .01½ |
| 3 men spreading and ramming | 4.50 | .04½ |
| 2 enginemen | 5.00 | .05 |
| 1 fireman | 2.00 | .02 |
| 1 waterboy | 1.00 | .01 |
| 1 foreman | 6.00 | .06 |
| 10 men making forms | 25.00 | .25 |
| 1 ton coal | 4.00 | .04 |
| ——— | —— | |
| Total | 85.00 | $.85 |
In addition there were 8 men engaged in mixing and placing the 2-in. facing of mortar as stated above.
CHICAGO DRAINAGE CANAL.—The method and cost of constructing some 20,000 ft. of concrete wall by contract in building the Chicago Drainage Canal is compiled from records kept by Mr. James W. Beardsley. The work was done on two separate sections, Section 14 and Section 15. In both cases a 1-1½-4 natural cement concrete was used with a 3-in. facing and a 3-in. coping of 1-3 Portland cement mortar.
Section 14.—The average height of the wall was 10 ft., and the thickness at base was one-half the height. The stone for the concrete was obtained from the spoil bank of the canal, loaded into wheelbarrows and wheeled about 100 ft. to the crusher; some was hauled in wagons. An Austin jaw crusher was used, and it discharged the stone into bins from which it was fed into a Sooysmith mixer. The crusher and the mixer were mounted on a flat car. Bucket elevators were used to raise the stone, sand and cement from their bins to the mixer; the buckets were made of such size as to give the proper proportions of ingredients, as they all traveled at the same speed. Only two laborers were required to look after the elevators. The sand and cement were hauled by teams and dumped into the receiving bins. There were 23,568 cu. yds. on Section 14 and the cost was as follows:
| Typical force. | Wages per 10 hrs. | Cost per cu. yd. | |
| General force: | |||
| Superintendent | 1.0 | $5.00 | $0.026 |
| Blacksmith | 1.1 | 2.75 | 0.016 |
| Timekeeper | 0.5 | 2.50 | 0.007 |
| Watchman | 0.6 | 2.00 | 0.007 |
| Waterboys | 3.9 | 1.00 | 0.022 |
| Wall force: | |||
| Foreman | 0.9 | 2.50 | 0.013 |
| Laborers | 8.6 | 1.50 | 0.073 |
| Tampers | 2.3 | 1.75 | 0.022 |
| Mixer force: | |||
| Foreman | 1.2 | 2.50 | 0.017 |
| Enginemen | 1.8 | 2.50 | 0.025 |
| Laborers | 6.7 | 1.50 | 0.057 |
| Pump runner | 1.0 | 2.00 | 0.010 |
| Mixing machines | 1.7 | 1.25 | 0.012 |
| Timber force: | |||
| Foreman | 0.6 | 2.50 | 0.008 |
| Carpenters | 4.7 | 2.50 | 0.057 |
| Laborers | 1.2 | 1.50 | 0.010 |
| Helpers | 5.3 | 2.50 | 0.075 |
| Hauling force: | |||
| Laborers | 2.6 | 1.75 | 0.026 |
| Teams | 6.3 | 3.25 | 0.116 |
| Crushing force: | |||
| Foreman | 0.5 | 2.50 | 0.007 |
| Engineman | 1.7 | 2.50 | 0.023 |
| Laborers | 3.5 | 1.50 | 0.032 |
| Austin crushers | 1.7 | 1.20 | 0.011 |
| Loading stone: | |||
| Foreman | 1.7 | 2.50 | 0.023 |
| Laborers | 32.9 | 1.50 | 0.280 |
| ——— | |||
| Total for crushing, mixing and placing | $0.975 |
The daily costs charged to the mixers and crushers include the cost of coal, at $2 a ton, and the cost of oil.
The gang "loading stone" apparently did a good deal of sledging of large stones, and they also wheeled a large part of it in barrows to the crusher.
The plant cost $9,600, distributed as follows: