Laborers' wages, $1.50 per day; superintendence, $10.00 per day. Water was found about one-fourth of the distance, but did not seriously retard the work. The soil was of average compactness. TABLE XXXIV. ACTUAL COST OF LABOR AND MATERIAL. Gaskets. Laying Pipe. Superintendence. TOTAL. Gaskets. Laying Pipe Superintendence. TOTAL. Laborers' wages, $1.50 per day; superintendence, $10.00 per day. Much of the work was in wet trenches, requiring about one man in every ten at the pump. In some of the deep trenching the static level of the water was five feet above the grade line. The soil was tolerably compact, except where water was found, where there was quicksand. Table XXXV, taken from the Report of the Bureau of Sewers of Chicago, 1891, shows the cost of the sewers built in the City of Chicago in 1890. These sewers are on the combined plan. TABLE XXXV. NEW SEWERS AND CATCH BASINS BUILT IN CHICAGO DURING THE YEAR 1890 The cost of the entire Combined Sewerage system of the City of Chicago, up to and including 1890, is shown by the same report to be about $2.65 per foot. The system consists of about 784.737 miles, of which 360.694 miles are constructed of brick and 424.043 miles of vitrified clay pipe. From the annual report of the city engineer of Providence, R. I., 1890, it appears that the average contract cost of labor per foot on the different sizes of sewers built in Providence during the last three years has been as follows: 8 inch pipe in basin connections... 12 66 .$0 63 66 sewer.. 1 20 4.00 Rock excavation per cubic yard The average cut for 12 and 15 inch pipe sewers was about 12 feet, for brick sewers 13 and 15 feet, with the exception of the 40x60 inch sewers, when the average cut was about 24 feet. The excavation was mostly in sand and gravel. Maintenance of Sewerage. The cost of cleaning and repairing sewers, the cost per mile, and number of miles; also the number of catch basins and man-hole chambers distributed in the three divisions of the City of Chicago, according to the report of 1890, is as follows: The cost of repairing sewers during the year was $14,648.97, being an average of $18.67 per mile. The cost of cleaning was $107,873.34, making the average cost $137.46 per mile. The total cost of both repairs and cleaning was $122,522.31, an average cost of $156.13 per mile. Accounts, as found in the reports of Sewer Departments, are rarely classified so that the cost for maintenance and repairs of the Separate System can be isolated. The cost of maintenance is very slight, however, being confined almost entirely to the cost of an inspector who has the care of the system and inspects it at frequent intervals. According to the report of the Sewer Commissioners of Brockville, Ont., the yearly cost of a system of about nine miles, costing about $100,000.00 is $400.00, $200.00 of which is for repairs. The cost of maintenance of forty-two miles of sewers on the Separate System, in Memphis, in 1889, is given as follows in the Engineer's report: Some of the items, particularly $1,648 for repairing flush tanks, seem to be large for an average year. Sewer Assessments. The following are some of the many plans adopted for assessing the cost of sewers: 1. By a general sewer tax, paying for the sewers as fast as they are built. 2. By issuing bonds and providing for their gradual payment by a general tax. 3. By assessing the property benefited. 4. By paying for the sewers by a general tax, and charging for permits to connect private sewers. 5. By assessing the property adjoining the sewers in proportion to the frontage of each lot. 6. By assessing the adjoining property in proportion to the area of each lot. |