L 3, 2 ' '( ■ ■ ■ M k WO US TRY

W 90

labor and material

requirements K’

for sewer works roci

construction

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P reface

This study of total labor and m aterial requirem ents for the construction of sewer facilities is one in a series of Bureau of Labor Statistics 

studies of various types of construction that might be affected by future governmental action. P reviously published studies examined the following types 

of construction: Schools, highways, Federal office buildings, hospitals, civil 

works activities of the A rm y Corps of Engineers, public housing, private onefam ily dwelling units, and college student housing.

The studies are being made by the Bureau's Division of Productivity 

Measurement, Lloyd A. Prochnow, Chief, under the general direction of 

Leon G reenberg, Assistant C om m issioner for Productivity and Technological 

Developments. This bulletin was prepared tinder the supervision of James F. 

W alker, by Roland V. M urray, who also was responsible for com piling the 

data for on-site labor requirem ents. Claiborne M. Ball prepared the data on 

m aterials and off-site labor requirem ents.

The Bureau gratefully acknowledges the cooperation of officials of 

the Water Supply and Pollution Control Division of the Public Health Service, 

and of the Community F acilities Administration of the Housing and Home 

Finance Agency in supplying project payrolls on which m ost of the on-site 

requirem ents data w ere based. M r. P eter P . Rowan, who was associated 

with the Public Health S ervice, was particularly helpful in this and related 

areas.

iii

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CONTENTS

Page

Introduction ................................... .................................. ....................................... 1

Nature of survey ............................................................................................... 2

General survey fin d in g s ......... ............................................................................. 3

P roject ch a ra cte ristics........................ 7

O n-site m an-hour req u irem en ts.............................. 10

The cost of direct w a g e s ..................................... ......................................... 12

Requirements by occupation ................................. ..................... ................... 13

Apprentice m an-hours ...................................................................................... 15

Overtime m an-hours ........................................................................................ 17

Construction tim e ...................... 18

O ff-site em p loy m en t........... ............................................. ............................ 19

Cost of m aterials used .......................................... 22

Previous studies ................................................... ............................................... 26

Scope and method of s u r v e y ............................. .................................................. 28

S a m p le .................... ............................................... ....................................... 28

Man-hour estim ates .......................................... 28

O n-site m an -h ou rs ....................................... 28

O ff-site m an-hours .................................................................. 30

T ables:

1. O n-site labor requirem ents for sewer works construction,

by selected ch aracteristics, 1962-63.............................................. 11

2. O n-site labor requirem ents for sewer works construction,

by occupation and region, 1962-63 ................................................... 14

3. Percentage distribution of on-site m an-hours for sewer line

and plant construction, by occupation and region, 1962-63 . . . 16

4. Man-hour requirem ents per $1,000 of sewer construction

contract, by producing sector and stage of manufacture,

1962-63 ...................................................................................................... 20

5. Cost of m aterials per $1,000 of sewer works construction

contract, by type of m aterials, region, and type of project,

1962-63 ...................................................................................................... 24

A -l. Number of sample contracts in selected categories ........... 29

Charts:

1. Distribution of m an-hours for each $1,000 of sewer works

construction contract. .............................................................. 

2. Where the sewer works construction contract dollar g o e s ......... 6

v

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Introduction

New construction is a m ajor component of the Nation's output of 

goods and serv ices and an important source of employment. Jobs are c r e ­

ated not only at construction sites but also in many manufacturing, trade, 

service, and transportation industries which make, sell, and deliver m aterials and equipment required in construction p rocesses. Because of its fa rreaching employment im pact, a vigorous construction industry is a significant 

aid in lim iting unemployment.

To provide factual data on the m ore direct employm ent-generating 

effects of construction expenditures, the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) 

has a continuing program of studies to m easure labor and m aterial requ irements for various segments of the construction industry. Construction of 

sewer facilities was selected as particularly appropriate for study because 

of the continuing Federal interest and participation in water pollution control 

and the frequent prom inence of this type of work in Federal employmentgenerating program s.

At the time to which this industry refers, 1962-1963, Federal assistance to local governments for sewer works construction took three form s, 

implementing three different purposes. One of these was the Water Pollution 

Control program , dating from the middle 1950's, adm inistered by the Public 

Health Service of the U .S. Department of Health, Education, and W elfare.

This program provides grants to local agencies for partial financing of construction of sewage treatment facilities, including intercepting and outfall 

sew ers. The principal purpose is to provide an incentive to local comm unities 

to decrease the amount of untreated wastes discharged to water sources. The 

second continuing program was the Public F acilities Loan Program under the 

Community F acilities Adm inistration of the Housing and Home Finance Agency. 

This is a loan program designed to assist small com m unities without established credit rating to acquire needed public facilities. Although loans w ere 

available for many types of facilities, they w ere used prim arily for sewer and 

water w orks. M oreover, the sewer construction tended to be for collection 

lines rather than treatment facilities, thus complementing the pollution control 

program . The third program was the A ccelerated Public W orks Program 

which was aim ed at helping people living in econom ically distressed areas by 

providing immediate employment on public construction. The program as a 

whole was under the direction of the A rea Redevelopment Adm inistration of 

the U .S. Department of Com m erce, but grants w ere made through agencies 

already in the relevant fields, such as the two mentioned previously. Many 

different cla sses of public works w ere approved tinder this program , but 

sewer fa cilities, which accounted for over a quarter of the total dollar volume 

of approvals, made up the largest single group.

Another reason for the study is the current and prospective im portance of this work. Expenditures for sewer facilities construction have risen 

steadily to a record $1, 375 m illion in 1964. Although som e decrease 

occu rred in 1965 after the A ccelerated Public W orks P rogra m 's initial impact

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of 1963 and 1964, expenditures are expected to continue to rise. The needs 

to be met arise not only from population growth and m obility, but also from 

deficiencies in existing waste disposal system s which are the subject of much 

current concern. These deficiencies are chiefly inadequate treatment of 

liquid wastes before their return to waterways, and the existence of combined 

storm and sanitary system s in many urban areas which dump untreated wastes 

into waterways during storm s. Remedy of the latter situation alone, by separation of storm and sanitary sew ers, would cost many billions of dollars.

Nature of Survey

The study was designed prim arily to m easure the total m an-hours 

of labor required for each $ 1,000 of sewer facilities construction contract. 

These m an-hours include both on-site and off-site employment in the construction industry, and the off-site employment in industries which produce 

and distribute the m aterials, supplies, and equipment used in the constru ction. Data for on-site labor include m an-hours fo r supervisory, engineering, clerica l, and custodial em ployees at the construction sites, as w ell as 

those for w orkers in the construction trades. Data for off-site employment 

cover not only the final stage of m aterials manufacture and transport to the 

site, but all other stages of production including the extraction of raw 

m aterials.

These labor requirem ents are thus the total of those generated by 

the construction contract. However, additional employment is generated by 

a construction project other than by the construction contract itself. This 

additional work includes preparation of plans and specifications, inspection 

by government agencies, installations by public utility em ployees, and other 

appurtenant work. These other sources of employment are not reflected in 

the estim ates, which might differ slightly if total project m an-hours were 

related to total project costs. Employment created by the respending and 

investing of the wages and profits arising from the construction--the m ultiplier e ffe ct--is excluded.

This study is based on data covering construction, chiefly in 1962 

and 1963, on 138 sewer works contracts. Only new sanitary sewer fa cilities are covered; repair work and work on storm drainage systems are 

excluded, although six contracts cover work on features of combined storm 

and sanitary system s.

All of the projects were under one or m ore of the Federal assistance 

program s just described: 85 w ere adm inistered by the Public Health Service 

and 53 by the Community F acilities Administration. Thus, the study did not 

include any projects financed without Federal funds. Of the 138 contracts,

86 w ere prim arily for sewer line construction, and 52 prim arily for plant 

construction. Data for these two groups are shown separately, where considered helpful, throughout the report.

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General Survey Findings

Construction of sewer works in 1962-63 required an average of 222 

m an-hours of labor for each $ 1, 000 of construction contract amount. 

Requirements for other types of construction studied in this series ranged 

from 204 to 236 m an-hours.

Employment at the site of work on sewer facilities required 85 manhours, and off-site employment, prim arily to produce the m aterials used, 

required 137 m an-hours. The total m an-hours w ere distributed by industry 

groups as follow s:

M an-hours per $ 1, 000 of 

construction contract, 1962-63

T o ta l.........................

O n-site construction

O ff-site, to ta l............

Construction . . . . . 

Manufacturing . . . .

T r a d e .......................

Transportation . . .

S e rv ice s ..................

Other .......................

Number Percent

222 100

85 38

137 62

7 3

73 33

23 1 1

1 1 5

7 3

16 7

Man-hour requirem ents in the two m ajor types of sewer works varied only slightly.

M an-hours per $ 1, 000 of 

construction contract, 1962-63

T o ta l.................... .. .

O n-site construction 

O ff-site, t o t a l . . . . . .

Lines Plants

223 221

86 83

137 138

There w ere, how ever, some differences in the distribution of these 

hours, particularly in the pattern of on -site construction occupations. There 

w ere wide differences in total on-site m an-hour requirem ents among individual p rojects, and a substantial difference between p rojects in the South and in 

the rest of the Nation.

The study developed, as byproduct, a rough breakdown of contra ctors' costs as between wages paid to construction w orkers, m aterials 

purchased, and overhead and profit. The percentages w ere, respectively,

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Chart 1. D istribution of Man-Hours for Each $ 1 0 0 0 of Sewer W orks Construction C ontract, 19 6 2 -6 3

Total Man-Hours: 223 Total Man-Hours: 221

Transportation,

Trade, and Services

t

Last Manufacturing Stage

(or other processing)

\

PRIMARY

► MAN-HOURS

(168)

m

Off-site

Construction

Transportation,

Trade, and Services

t

Last Manufacturing Stage

(or other processing)

Industries

SECONDARY

MAN-HOURS

(55)

Other

Manufacturing

- ► ◄ — ►

Transportation, All

Trade, and Services Other

Industries

SEWER LINES SEWER PLANTS

PRIMARY

MAN-HOURS

(159)

SECONDARY

MAN-HOURS

(62)

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

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25, 56, and 19 for all projects covered. The wages percentages tended to 

be m ore uniform than the m an-hours worked, by project and region, because 

high m an-hour requirem ents frequently w ere associated with low wage rates 

and low m an-hour requirem ents with high wage rates. However, the p ercentage for plants was somewhat higher than for lin es— 27 and 24, resp ectively, The m aterials ratios varied little in total between the two types, 56 

in lines and 57 in plants. There w ere, how ever, great differences in the 

types of m aterials used.

The difference between total contract amounts and the com bined sum 

o f the wages paid and m aterials purchased amounted to 19 percent of the contract amounts. This residual represents the total of overhead and profit.

In this report, overhead expenses are those which cannot be directly attributed to specific p rojects, as for example, expenses for the central office and 

yard, insurance, and taxes.

In the years 1962-63, the average expenditures per year for all types 

of local public sewer facilities w ere $1, 131 m illion. This study indicated 

that at this rate of expenditure sew er construction provided about 125, 000 fulltime job s, 48, 000 on-site and 77, 000 o ff-s it e .1 Since full-tim e work is the 

exception, especially in heavy construction, the actual number of persons 

em ployed on-site was undoubtedly considerably greater.

1 The full-tim e w ork year for on -site w ork is taken as 50 tim es th

average workweek of 39.9 hours in 1962 and 40. 6 in 1963 as reported in the 

Bureau's employment and earnings se rie s. F or other types of employment 

2, 000 hours were considered a full year1 s em ploym ent.

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C hart 2. W here the Sewer W orks Construction C ontract D ollar Goes

1 9 6 2 -6 3

Supervisory,

technical, clerical 3.8

Skilled trades 7.8

Semiskilled, unskilled 12.7

Stone, clay, glass products

Metal products

Sewer plant equipment

Electrical products

All other materials & supplies

33.7

6.2

1.7

0.3

2.6

44.5

Supervisory,

technical, clerical 3.4

Skilled trades 15.0

Semiskilled, unskilled 8.2

Stone, clay, glass products 10.9

Metal products 15.9

Sewer plant equipment 13.4

Electrical products 4.8

All other materials & supplies 4.2

SEWER LINES SEWER PLANTS

UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF LABOR

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P roject C haracteristics

T oday's urban society uses a wide variety of facilities for the c o llection, treatment, and disposal of human and industrial wastes. These 

facilities range from the sm all pipes collecting household wastes to the 

large trunk lines and interceptors; from the simple sewage lagoon to the 

intricate processing com plex of the m etropolitan treatment plant; and from 

the "packaged" lift station to the m ultim illion-dollar pumping station. The 

current study included all of these facilities insofar as they related to new 

sanitary sewer system s. Repair jobs w ere excluded and also work on storm 

sewer system s. Several relief sewer jobs, features of com bined storm and 

sanitary system s, w ere included.

The 138 contracts 2 included in the study w ere distributed among 

types of facilities as shown in the following tabulation. (See appendix for 

additional details on sample selection and weighting.) Contracts are divided 

into two broad cla sses, according to whether they chiefly involved pipeline 

or plant construction.

Actual (unweighted) con 

tract amounts, 1962-63

Number of Thousands

A ll c o n tra cts .......................

Principally p ip e lin e s ................

Lines e x clu s iv e ly ..................

Lines and other (chiefly

lift stations)...........................

P rincipally plan ts......................

Sewage treatment plants . . .

Pumping stations....................

Waste stabilization ponds . . 

M ix e d ........................................

contracts of dollars P ercent

138 $45,465 100

86 24,717 54

rr 15,932 3F

25 8, 785 19

52 20.748 46

29 14,493 32

9 3, 578 8

9 910 2

5 1, 767 4

2 Because of the dispersed nature of the work, "p roject" and "co

tract" do not always have identical meanings in sewer construction. However, in this report, either w ord may be used to designate a single prim e 

general contract (or, rarely, a general and one or m ore specialty prim es) 

for construction of a specified feature or group of features of a sewer 

system .

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The 86 sewer line contracts w ere chiefly collection and trunk (or 

interceptor) lines in about equal numbers; in addition, there w ere a rela ­

tively sm all number of outfall and relief sew ers. (Outfall sew ers conduct 

the effluent from the treatment plant to a river or other disposal area; relief 

sewers in com bined storm and sanitary system s divert excess storm waters 

directly into a river to prevent overloading of the treatment plant.)

The pipelines prim arily were concrete, vitrified -clay, or cast iron. 

Smaller amounts of steel, asbestos-cem ent, and corrugated m etal pipe were 

used. In addition, one job used cast-in -p la ce rein forced concrete pipe, and 

another used brick m asonry for lining a sewer constructed by tunneling.

The "oth er" element in "lines and other" in the previous tabulation 

is alm ost entirely lift stations. These are the pumping facilities, usually 

small, required in lines where the terrain is such that gravity alone w ill not 

insure adequate flow . In addition, of course, all sewer lines require such 

structures as m an-holes and junction cham bers, to facilitate the operation 

and maintenance of the lines.

Trenching alm ost universally was used for placing pipe below ground. 

However, in one entire job and in portions of two others, tunneling was used. 

These examples do not include the many cases where relatively short se ctions of the line had to be bored under such obstacles as highways and 

railroads.

Of the 52 plants covered in the survey, about half included some 

external pipeline work, usually for interceptors or outfalls, in addition to 

the n ecessary within-plant piping connections. In each case, however, the 

plant construction predominated.

Seven of the treatment plants, representing half of the contract 

amount in this category, w ere to provide prim ary treatment only--the separation of liquids and solids, with digestion of the solids, and disposal of 

liquids without further treatment. The other 22 plants provided so-ca lled 

secondary treatm ent--conversion of the liquid wastes through biological 

p rocesses to com paratively inoffensive effluents before their disposal. Eleven 

of these, representing a third of treatment plant contract amount, used the 

activated sludge p rocess, and 11, representing a sixth of contract amount, 

used the other principal processing method, the trickling filter system .

M ost treatment plants w ere of small or m oderate size, including 

several of the small packaged equipment type, requiring hardly m ore on-site 

construction than for a foundation and a shell. However, 8 contracts of over 

$500,000 each accounted for 70 percent of the total contract amount for 

treatment plant construction. These large contracts w ere for processing 

com plexes using a variety of fa cilities. M odern la rg e-sca le sewage treatment consists of a series of physical, biological, and chem ical p rocesses 

and therefore requires several distinct types of structures (tanks, lagoons, 

buildings, m echanical installations), and of course, appurtenant piping, and 

electrical and other related work.

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The pumping station category was dominated by a single very large 

contract for a plant which included installations for primping storm water as 

w ell as sanitary sewage. The other eight contracts were for relatively small 

lift stations.

Waste stabilization ponds are shallow ponds acting as natural sewage 

treatment "plants" through the action of m icro-orga n ism s on the raw sewage. 

They usually involve no m ore construction work than excavation and diking, 

and inlet and outlet structures. Such ponds usually serve small comm unitie s--e a ch of the nine sample projects was in a nonmetropolitan area.

The five projects designated as "m ixed" in the previous tabulation 

were contracts with multiple features. The two largest represent complete 

system s, with sewer lines, lift stations, and treatment facilities.

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On-Site Man-Hour Requirements

O n-site m an-hour requirem ents averaged 85 per $ 1, 000 3 of contract amount of sewer facilities construction but varied widely by project 

ch aracteristics. (See table 1.) Some of the variations are consistent with 

those noted in previous studies in this series. A chief example of this is the 

consistently higher employment generated by a dollar of construction in the 

South com pared with the remainder of the country. To a sm aller and less 

consistent extent, higher requirements also are evident for projects outside 

of m etropolitan areas, and sm aller p rojects. It usually is assum ed that the 

availability of labor at com paratively low hourly rates in the South and in 

sm aller communities reduces the incentive for m echanization, and that 

sm aller projects reduce the opportunity for it.

The range in requirem ents for individual projects was extrem ely 

w id e--from 23 to 249 m an-hours per $ 1,000 in sewer line projects, and 

from 31 to 159 in plant p rojects. In some instances, these wide ranges 

reflected financially very profitable, or virtually disastrous, jobs as 

explained in the wage portion of this study. This is typical of high-risk 

operations such as sewer facilities work. In other instances, these wide 

ranges reflect individual project ch aracteristics.

However, the ranges radically differ for the South and the rest of 

the country. Most of the contract value of the sample for the South was in 

projects with requirem ents over 100 m an-hours per $ 1,000; for the remainder 

of the country, m ost of the value was in projects with requirem ents under 

100.

Percent of contract amount

Lines Plants

M an-hours per $ 1,000 South Other U .S. South Other U. S

T o t a l...................................... 100 100 100

Under 5 0 ...................................... 33 5 4

50 and under 100...................... 64 35 95

100 and Tinder 1 5 0 .................... 3 58 1

150 and under 200 .................... 15 0 2 0

200 and under 250 .................... 4 0 0 0

3 The "m an-hours per $ 1, 000" concept cannot be used for produc

ity com parisons because of the different physical quantities which the $ 1, 000 

may represent, owing to differences in p rices of construction. P rice differences reflect not only differences in productivity, but also differences in 

profits, and costs of m aterials, labor, etc.

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Table 1. On-Site Labor Requirements for Sewer Works Construction, by Selected Characteristics, 1962-63

Characteristics

Man-hours per $1,000 of contract Wages as percent of contract amount Average hourly earnings

United

State s

Northeast

North

Central South West United

States

NortheastNorth

Central South West United

State s

Northeast

North

Central South West

Total, all contracts . . . . . . 84.5 70.8 66.6 109.5 63.2 25.3 25.5 24.6 26.3 23.8 $3.00 $3.60 $3.70 $2.41 $3.77

Lines ................................ ................ 85.9 68.6 61.9 117.4 61.7 24.3 25.7 23.8 24.5 23.5 $2.83 $3.75 $3.84 $2.09 $ 3. bl

Plants ............................................... 82.7 72.4 71.9 99.8 66.1 26.6 25.3 25.6 23.6 24.4 3.22 3.49 3. 56 2.87 3. 70

A ll contracts:

M etrop olitan a r e a .................. 78.2 70.5 63.0 99.4 59.6 25.9 25.4 24.2 28.4 23.5 3.32 3.60 3.84 2.85 3.95

Nonmetropolitan a r e a .......... ' 93.1 71.2 70.6 122.4 69.8 24. 5 25.6 25.1 23.8 24.4 2.63 3.59 3.56 1.94 3.50

Lines:

Metropolitan a r e a .................. 74.7 60.6 57.0 98.5 58.2 23.0 23.2 22.2 23.2 23. 1 3.08 3.83 3.90 2.36 3.96

Nonmetropolitan area . . . . . 103.8 75.5 68. 1 145.5 74.5 26.4 27.9 25. 7 26.5 25.3 2.54 3.69 3. 78 1.82 3.39

Plants:

Metropolitan area ................. 83. 1 75. 1 7 0.7 100. 7 65.5 30.0 26.4 26. 7 35.8 25.5 3.61 3.52 3.78 3.56 3.b9

Nonmetropolitan a r e a .......... C2. 1 6 4 .4 73. 1 98.8 66.4 22.6 21.9 24.5 21.0 23.8 2.75 3.40 3.36 2.13 3.58

A ll contracts:

Under $50,000 ......................... 92.0 77.6 83.4 106.4 (l) 25.7 27.9 26.2 24.4 0 2. 79 3 .6 0 3. 13 2.29 C)

$50, 000-$99, 999 .................. 94.8 52.4 71.8 131. 1 75. 7 26.1 18.4 25.6 26.6 28. 6 2.76 3.50 3.56 2.03 3.77

$ 100, 0 0 0 -$ 2 9 9 ,999 ............. 95.8 67.2 75. 1 132.8 67. 6 25.4 25.2 28.0 24. 0 2 4 .3 2. 65 3. 75 3.73 1.81 3.59

$300, 000-$499, 999 ............. 84.6 66. 1 65.4 107.3 (*) 23.2 21.9 23.9 23. 2 l1) 2. 74 3.31 3 .6 6 2. 17 C)

$500, 000-$999, 999 ............. 64. 7 65.2 0 (>) 47.6 21.5 25.0 f1) t1) 18.6 3. 31 3.84 (l) f1) 3.90

$ 1,000, 000 and over .......... 84.9 (l) 64.2 99.6 70.0 28.4 C) 24.4 30.8 26. 1 3.34 (l ) 3.80 3.09 3.73

Lines:

Under $50,000 ......................... 93.3 77.6 84. 3 o (*) 27.5 27.9 30.0 C) (•) 2.94 3.60 3.56 0) (l )

$50,000-$99,999 .................. 99.3 (') 74. 1 127.0 78.4 26. 7 (*> 27. 1 25.9 29.9 2.69 (*) 3.66 2.04 3.81

$100, 000- $299, 999 ............. 104.1 66.5 71.8 147.1 73.1 26. 7 25.8 28.4 26.2 25.7 2.56 3. 77 3.95 1.78 3.51

$300, 000-$499, 999 ...... 88.4 64.6 62.4 123.9 <*) 23.6 22.6 23.2 24.6 (*) 2.67 3.49 3.72 1.98 0 )

$500, 000-$999, 999 ............. 55.4 (!) (\) (!) 41.7 20.2 (l) 0 C) 16.3 3.65 C ) (') t1) 3.90

$ 1,000, 000 and over ..... 81.3 (*) (l) (l) (*) 24.1 t1) (*) f1) <‘ ) 2.97 t1) t1) (') 0

Plants:

Under $50,000 90. 7 O 82.9 97.2 (‘ ) 24.0 (*) 23.5 24.4 (*) 2.64 0) 2.83 2.51 t1)

$ 5 0,000-$99, 999 .................. 83.2 (*) 0 (') (*> 24.6 (*) C) (>) h 2.96 (l ) O f1) (l )

$ 100, 0 0 0 -$ 2 9 9 ,999 ............. 81.0 64. 4 81.1 100.2 62.8 23.0 23.9 27.4 19.0 23.0 2.84 3. 71 3.37 1.90 3.67

$300,000-$499, 999 ............. 78.4 0 C) 86. 5 (*) 22.5 (l) (*) 21.6 (*) 2. 88 (l ) t1) 2.49 (l)

$500, 000-$999, 999 ............. 75.2 0 (') (*) C) 22.8 (*) (*) (’ ) (’ ) 3.04 (l) h 0) (l)

$ 1,000, 000 and over .......... 8 7. 7 (*) 6b. 2 (*) C) 31.6 0 25.5 C) (*) 3.60 (l) 3. 74 C) t1)

1 Fewer than 3 contracts in category.

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The Cost of D irect Wages

Wages paid to on -site construction w orkers constituted about 25 p e rcent of total construction contract amount, and this figure tended to be quite 

constant by region and other characteristics (table 1). This reflects a tendency observed in previous studies in this series; high m an-hour requirements 

tend to be associated with low average hourly earnings and vice versa. For 

example, m an-hour requirem ents in the South are double those for the other 

regions for lines constructed in nonmetropolitan areas, but average hourly 

earnings are alm ost one-half as much. The result is a wage requirement 

differing only slightly from the national average.

This tendency of variations in hours and rates to offset one another 

is illustrated further in the following tabulation, which shows that half of all 

the projects (with somewhat m ore than half of the weighted contract amounts) 

have wage percentages within 5 percentage points of the national average.

Lines Plants

W ages as a Number of Percent of Number of Percent of

percent of projects contract projects contract

contract amount studied amount studied amount

T otal .................. 86 100.0 52 100.0

Under 1 0 .................. 2 2.5 1 1.1

10 and under 20 . . . 23 30. 8 13 8.7

20 and under 30 . .. 40 47. 2 29 61.5

30 and under 40 . .. 16 15.8 8 28.4

40 and under 50 . .. 5 3.7 1 .3

In addition to reflecting possible differences in productivity, the 

extrem es in this table tend (since contract amounts are fixed) to represent 

unusually profitable or unprofitable job s. The extrem es m ay also reflect 

large differences in percentages of m aterial costs in contract amounts, due 

to job ch aracteristics. Sewer facilities construction tends to be one of the 

m ore speculative types of construction, chiefly because of the below -groundlevel nature of much of the w ork. Unexpected encountering of water m ay 

increase costs greatly by requiring extensive pumping; rock m ay require 

drilling and blasting; unstable soils m ay require heavy shoring. In the p resent study, field representatives heard numerous complaints of losses on contracts in the course of data collection, with unfavorable soil conditions m ost 

com m only being blamed. (The speculative nature of sewer w ork contributed 

to one of the chief problem s encountered in data collection --th e difficulty of 

obtaining inform ation on work perform ed by prim e and subcontractors since 

gone out of business. Four projects in the sample studied w ere reported to 

have bankrupted the prim e con tractors.)

The portion of table 1 showing average hourly earnings illustrates 

the differences in earnings between the South and the rest of the country

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(particularly the W est), and between m etropolitan and nonmetropolitan areas. 

The extrem e range in this average in individual projects was from $ 1.48 to 

$ 4 .7 4 for sewer line construction and from $ 1.61 to $ 4 .3 1 for plants. The 

lower figure in each case represents a project in a small southern community; 

the larger figure, a project in a m etropolitan a rea --on e in the Northeast and 

one in the West.

The wages discussed in this section, and the average hourly earnings based on them, represent total gross earnings, including overtim e prem ium s, before any deductions for social security, health insurance, etc.

The wages do not represent total labor costs, which would include travel and 

vacation allowances, contractors' legally required or voluntary contributions 

to health and w elfare funds, and other fringe benefits.

Requirements by Occupation

The principal skilled trades required in sewer facilities construction are operating engineers and carpenters (table 2).

Operating engineers cover em ployees operating all types of construction m achinery except powered handtools (jackham m ers, drills, saws, 

and the like), the operators of which are separately shown. F or somewhat 

over a half of all m an-hours reported for operating engineers, the type of 

equipment was specified. Following is a distribution of these specified m anhour s :

P ercent

T o t a l................................................... 100

B ackhoe..................................................... 16

C ran e-sh ovel-d ra glin e......................... 19

D o z e r............................................ 17

T ractor (attachments, if any, not 

rep orted )................................................. 5

Pump and c o m p r e s s o r ......................... 13

L o a d e r ....................................................... 12

Pile d r iv e r .............................................. 8

Scraper ..................................................... 3

T rencher, d itch er ................................. 3

All other ................................................... 4

P rim arily, the equipment operated was of the type required for 

trenching and other excavation, and backfilling. P ile driving and pumping 

equipment w ere associated with these operations--the form er was extensively 

used for installing sheet piling, and the latter for excavation dewatering.

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Table 2. On-Site Labor Requirements for Sewer Works Construction, by Occupation and Region, 1962-63

Occupation1

United States Northeast North Central South West

Man-hours

per

$1,000

P ercent

Man-hours

per

$1,000

P e r ­

cent

Man-hours

per

$1,000

P e r ­

cent

M an-hours

per

$1,000

P e r ­

cent

Man-hours

per

$1,000

P e r ­

cent

T o t a l.................................... 84.5 100.0 70.8 100.0 66.6 100.0 109.5 100.0 63.2 100.0

Superintendents and

general forem en 6.8 8.1 6.1 8. 7 5.6 8 .4 8.3 7.6 5.7 9.0

P rofession al and tech n ica l. . 7 -8 .4 .6 ♦ 8 1.2 1.0 .9 .2 .3

C le r ic a l........... ....................... .6 .8 .7 1.0 .2 .3 1.0 1.0 .2 .4

Operating e n g in e e r s ............ 14.7 17.4 11.2 15.9 12.5 18.7 17.9 16.4 13.5 21.3

C a r p e n te r s ............................. 6.5 7.7 6. 8 9.6 5.5 8.3 7.1 6.5 6.1 9.7

Plum bers 2.1 2.4 3.6 5.0 2.7 4.0 1.3 1.2 1.7 2.7

Ironw orkers2 1.6 1.9 1.6 2.2 2 .4 3.6 1.6 1.4 .8 1.3

B ricklayers3 1.4 1.6 1.0 1.4 1.3 2.0 1.9 1.7 .5 .8

E lectricians .................... .. 1.3 1.5 1.6 2.3 1.5 2.3 1.3 1.2 .6 1.0

Cement finishers . . . . . . . . . 1.1 1.3 .9 1.2 1.2 1.8 1.3 1.1 1.0 1.6

Painters .................................. .6 .7 .6 .8 .6 1.0 .5 .5 .6 1.0

Other (skilled) trades4 . . . . 1.2 1.4 1.1 1.5 1.0 1.5 1.6 1.5 .8 1.2

Truckdrivers .................. .. 2.7 3.2 3.1 4 .4 1.6 2.5 3.1 2.9 2.6 4.1

O ilers .............. 2.4 2.9 3.2 4.5 1. 7 2.5 1.8 1.7 3.9 6.2

Helpers and t e n d e r s ............ 1.5 1.8 .3 .4 1.0 1.5 2.1 1.9 1.8 2.9

Pow er tool operators • . • • • 1.2 1.4 .8 1.2 . 8 1.1 1.6 1.5 1.1 1.8

Labor forem en 1.4 1.7 1.3 1.8 1.4 2.1 1.6 1.5 1.1 1.7

Pipelayers 5.1 6.1 4.0 5.6 2.0 3.0 7.8 7.1 4.0 6 .4

Laborers ............................... 31.3 37.0 22.2 31.3 22.2 33.4 46.5 42.4 16.8 26.6

Flagmen, watchmen . . . . . . .2 .3 .3 .5 .6 .8 .1 .1 (5) (5)

1 Skilled occupations include apprentices and working forem en.

2 P rim arily reinforcing ironw orkers; also includes structural and ornamental ironw orkers.

3 Includes manhole block layers.

4 Covers prim arily m echanics (construction equipment repair and process equipment installation) and m inor building

trades.

5 L ess than ♦ 05.

Note: Because of rounding, sums of individual items may not equal totals.

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Carpenters w ere employed as extensively in sewer plant constru ction as in some types of building construction previously studied. They were 

em ployed prim arily for concrete form work on buildings and tanks. However, 

carpenters were also employed to a significant extent in sewer line construction for installing wood shoring in trenches and building form s for ca st-in ­

place concrete pipe and appurtenant concrete sewer structures such as m anholes and outlet w orks.

Regional differences in the distribution of m an-hours by occupation 

should be interpreted with caution. They result from a variety of factors, 

among which are the different proportions of lines and plants in the region's 

projects, the chance occu rrence of jobs presenting unusual features, and 

local differences in job classification. Perhaps the m ost striking variation, 

and one which has been observed in previous studies in the series, is the 

high proportion of com m on laborers in the South.

Table 3, which shows the occupational distribution of m an-hours 

separately for sewer lines and plants, illustrates the relative com plexity of 

the two types of construction.

The pattern for lines reflects the com paratively simple operations 

of excavating, pipe handling, and backfilling. Skilled construction w orkers 

account for only a quarter of total m an-hours, and these skilled w orkers are 

chiefly operating engineers. On the other hand, com m on laborers alone 

account for 43 percent of total on-site m an-hours. This ratio is far higher 

than the corresponding ratios found in previous studies in this series. This 

fact might be a consideration when assigning priority to projects in program s 

for alleviating unemployment.

The occupational pattern for sewer plants reflects the greater and 

m ore varied skills required to construct the many different types of fa cilities in and around treatment and pumping plants. The skilled construction 

trades account for nearly a half of all on-site m an-hours, whereas common 

laborers account for only 30 percent. These ratios approach those observed 

in studies of building construction.

Apprentice M an-Hours

Apprentices in form al, registered program s accounted for only 2 

percent of the total m an-hours worked by the skilled production w orkers on 

all sewer facilities projects. The percentage for line construction was much 

lower than that for plants, where, as has been seen, there is a larger p ercentage of w orkers in trades with strong apprenticeship traditions. (National 

apprenticeship standards for heavy equipment operators and m echanics were 

not established until 1963.)

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T able 3, P e rce n ta g e D istribution o f O n-Site M an -H ou rs fo r Sew er L ine and Plant C onstru ction ,

by O ccupation and R egion, 1962-63

O ccu pation 1

L in es P lants

United 

State s

N ortheast

N orth

C entral South W est United

States

N ortheast

N orth

C entral

South W est

T otal . ......................................... 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0

Superintendents and g e n e r a l. .

fo re m e n ....................................... 8 .9 11.0 9. 3 8 .6 8 .6 7 .0 7 .0 7. 6 6.1 9 .9

P r o fe s s io n a l and tech n ica l . . . .8 1.5 1.8 . 6 :3 .8 0 . 5 1. 3 . 2

C l e r i c a l ........................................... .4 .7 . 1 .4 .6 1. 2 1. 2 .6 1 .8 (2)

O peratin g e n g in e e r s .................... 19.6 19.9 25.6 16. 7 23.8 14. 6 13.0 12.0 15.8 16.5

C a r p e n te r s ............................. 2.4 .7 .9 1.3 8 .8 14. 3 15.9 15.5 13.9 11.4

P lu m b e r s .................................. .4 0 . 3 .4 .6 5. 1 8 .6 7. 6 2. 3 6 .9

I r o n w o r k e r s .................................... .4 0 .8 .2 .6 3 .9 3 .8 6 .4 3. 2 2.5

B rick la y e rs .................................... 1.3 .6 .9 1.7 .5 2 .0 2. 1 3 .0 1 .8 1 .2

E le c t r ic ia n s .................................... . 1 0 0 . 2 . 2 3. 3 3 .9 4 .4 2. 7 2 .4

C em ent f i n i s h e r s ...................

.5 . i .7 . 3 1.3 2. 3 2.0 2. 8 2. 3 2.1

P a i n t e r s ........................................... (2) 0 0 . 1 (2) 1.5 1.4 1.9 1. 1 2 .8

O ther (sk illed ) tr a d e s .................

. 7 1.4 .6 .5 1.4 2. 3 1.6 2. 3 2 .9 .9

T r u c k d r iv e r s ................. ................ 4. 1 5. 2 3. 7 3 .6 5 .5 2.1 3 .8 1 .3 1 .9 1.5

O i l e r s ................................................ 3. 2 5 .0 3 .4 1.5 7 .7 2 .5 4. 2 1.7 2.0 3. 3

H e lp e rs and t e n d e r s .................... 1.8 .4 1 .8 1. 7 3 .0 1 .8 . 5 1. 1 2. 3 2 .8

P o w e r to o l o p e r a t o r s ................. 1. 2 .7 1 .9 .9 1 .9 1.7 1.5 .5 2. 3 1.7

L a b o r f o r e m e n ............................. 1.5 1 .3 1.9 1.5 1.0 2 .0 2. 1 2 .4 1.5 3.1

P i p e l a y e r s ................. .. 9 .6 12.9 5. 8 10. 7 7.1 1 .6 .4 .3 1.9 4 .9

L a b o r e r s ................. .................. 42. 7 37.4 3 8 .8 49. 2 27.0 29.9 27.0 28. 1 32. 5 25.9

F lagm en and w a tc h m e n ............ .4 1 .2 1.7 (2) (2) . 1 ( 2) (2) . 3 (2)

1 S k illed occu p ation s include appren tices and w orkin g forem en .

2 L e s s than . 05.

N ote: B eca u se o f rounding, sum s o f individual item s m ay not equal 100 p ercen t.

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Percent of skilled trade man 

worked by apprentices

-hours

Total Lines Plants

All skilled tra d es ........... ____ 2.2 1.1 2.9

Operating engineers ............. ...................2 .4 0

Carpenters...................... .. . . . ____ 2.0 4.6 1.5

P lu m bers ................................. ------ 8.9 18.9 8.0

Iron workers . • . . .................. ____ 1.4 0 1.6

B ricklayers ............................. ____ 1.5 0 2.7

Electricians ........... 8.3 14.5

Cement finishers........... * . . • ____ 1.0 0 1.2

P ain ters ........... ........................ ____ 1.7 0 1.8

Other skilled trades ............. ____ 5.2 .4 7. 1

In the aggregate or in percentage of total, apprentice m an-hours 

w ere significant chiefly in the plumbing and electrical trades.

Overtime Man-Hours

F or 102 (of the 138) projects, which accounted for over 80 percent 

of the total m an-hours worked in the sample p rojects, data w ere available 

for m easuring the proportion of these hours which w ere paid for at overtim e 

rates. For all projects, this amounted to 7.5 percent. The ratio for sewer 

line construction, however, was much higher than for plant construction,

10. 3 and 4. 2 respectively. On several sizable line projects, this proportion 

approached a quarter of all hours worked.

The higher proportion of overtim e hours on line construction probably is due to the m ore exposed conditions under which this work is done and 

to the location of the work on public righ ts-of-w ay. Both these conditions 

require intensive activity when weather conditions are favorable (particularly to make maximum use of heavy construction equipment) and when 

traffic w ill be disrupted the least.

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Construction Tim e

On the average, the jobs covered in this survey required a little 

over 33 weeks to com plete. The sewage plants, how ever, required a substantially longer period for construction than the lin es--4 1 weeks as com ­

pared with 28. The difference was not due to variations in the distribution 

of the p rojects, for example by cost cla ss. The relationship held for all 

sizes and locations of projects; on the average, sewer plant construction 

requires about 50 percent longer than com parable sewer line projects. These 

figures cover the total elapsed time from the start of site operations to the 

substantial com pletion of the contract. They do not include the som etim es 

extensive period of testing and rem edial work, but they do include periods 

during the course of construction when, for various reasons, no work was 

perform ed.

To m easure the distribution of employment over the period of construction, the construction time for each project was divided into 10 equal 

intervals, and data w ere tabulated on the number of m an-hours worked in 

each interval. This procedure perm itted the combination of m an-hours for 

projects of various sizes in order to obtain typical employment patterns.

The results for the two m ajor groups of projects revealed little difference in 

the timing of employment:

Tenths of construction period

Total 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

Percent of m an-hours:

Sewer lines ................ 100 5 10 13 15 14 13 11 8 7 4

Sewer p la n ts ................ 100 5 10 13 14 13 13 11 10 7 4

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Off-Site Employment

F or each m an-hour of work perform ed at the construction site of 

sewer facilities construction, an additional 1.6 m an-hours of w ork were 

required elsew here to produce and distribute the m aterials, supplies, and 

equipment used at the site. The ratio was about the same for lines and 

plants. These are rather high ratios com pared with the same ratio in other 

types of construction. This results in part from the fact that site w orkers 

are able to place relatively large values of w ork per hour on this kind of 

con stru ction --in the case of lines, by the use of heavy construction equipment; in plants, by the installation of p rocess equipment.

This off-site activity directly affects a substantial number of industries; indirectly it affects virtually all industries as the impact of the initial 

purchases spreads throughout the econom y. These effects are shown in 

table 4, which presents by industry the total m an-hour requirem ents for 

sewer works construction. P rim ary m an-hours are defined as those worked 

at the construction site and in activities closely related to the site: off-site 

employment in the construction industry, employment in the last stage of 

m aterials manufacture, and employment in the industries distributing the 

final product to the site. Secondary m an-hours are those required prior to 

final manufacture in all activities involved in producing and distributing m aterials and equipment, including the basic extraction and processing of raw 

m aterials. The distinction between the two areas m ay be useful in gaging 

the im m ediacy of the im pact of a construction proposal.

P rim ary m an-hours largely reflect m aterials usage. Thus, the 

substantial employment in the stone, clay, and glass products industry w ill 

be seen to reflect in large part the usage of concrete and clay sewer pipe. 

Secondary m an-hour requirem ents, by their definition, could be analyzed 

only with reference to the basic data on interindustry relationships.

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Table 4. Man-Hour Requirements P er $ 1,000 of Sewer 

Construction Contract, by Producing Sector 

and Stage of Manufacture, 1962-63

Sector

Total

m an-hour s

P rim ary

m an-hours

Secondary

m an-hours

A ll s e c t o r s ........... ................... 221.9 163.8 58.2

On- site constru ction......................... 84.5 84.5

A gricu ltu re.......................................... 2.2 .2 2. 0

M in in g ............................. ................... .. 4 .8 1.1 3.7

Other co n stru ctio n ........................... 7. 2 5.5 1.7

M anu facturing........................... 72.6 46.8 25.8

Lumber and lumber products .. 1.6 .7 1.0

Paper and paper p ro d u cts ......... 1.5 — 1.5

P rin tin g............................................ 1. 1 1.1

C h em icals........................................ 1.6 . 2 1.4

Stone, clay, and glass products 26. 2 22.8 3.4

P rim ary m e ta ls ............................. 11.7 5.7 6.0

Fabricated m etal products .... 6.6 3.9 2.6

M achin ery........................................ 14. 1 10.5 3.6

E lectrical p rod u cts ...................... 4 .0 2.1 1.9

Transportation equipm ent......... 1.0 .2 .7

Other m anufacturing.................... 3. 2 .7 2.5

T ransportation.................................... 10.6 4.7 5.8

T ra d e ..................................................... 23. 3 16.5 6. 8

Services ............................................... 7. 3 1.6 5.8

Other in d u s tr ie s ............................... 9.3 2.8 6.6

totals.

Note: Because of rounding, sum of individual items m ay not equal

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Total off-site m an-hour requirem ents per $ 1,000 for construction 

of the two principal types of sewer w orks—lines and plants--show little 

difference:

M an-hours per $ 1,000 of contract 

for sewer works construction

O ff- site

T ran sportaOn- site: tion ,

Type of 

facility

A ll

industries

constru ction Total

Construction

Manufa cturingtra d e, 

and

services Other

Total hours:

A ll sewer 

fa cilitie s .. . . . 222 85 137 7 73 41 16

Lines . . . . . . . . . 223 86 137 7 74 40 16

Plants . . . . . . . . 221 83 138 7 72 43 16

P rim ary hours: 

All sewer 

fa cilities ......... 164 85 79 5 47 23 4

L in e s. . . . . . . . . 168 86 82 5 51 22 4

P la n ts ................ 159 83 76 5 42 25 4

Secondary

hours:

A ll sewer 

f acilitie s ......... 58 58 2 26 18 12

L in e s .................. 55 - - 55 2 23 18 12

P la n ts ................ 62 - - 62 2 30 18 12

In the prim ary off-site category, lines require m ore m an-hours 

than are required by plants, because of the use of m aterials, such as pipe, 

of a relatively low order of fabrication, requiring m ore hours in the final 

stage. Plants use a greater value of item s, such as p rocess and control 

equipment, requiring m ore processing prior to the final manufacturing 

stage.

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Cost of M aterials Used

The cost of m aterials used in construction of the sewer works under 

study amounted to 56. 5 percent of the contract amount. F or the lines it was 

55. 7 percent and for plants, 57.4. Included in these figures are the value of 

the m aterials incorporated into the various structures; the value of p ro ce ssing equipment and other types of installed equipment; the value of supplies 

consumed; and costs of construction equipment rental or estimates of depreciation allowances. They do not include costs of purchases of overhead goods 

and services.

The proportion of m aterials cost to contract amount varied widely 

depending on peculiarities of individual jobs or their relative profitability. 

Thus, high proportions often were associated with unprofitable jobs, or with 

jobs which by their nature required little on-site construction, as for exam ­

ple, the installation of a small treatment plaint using packaged equipment. 

Three-quarters of the contracts, however, showed m aterials proportions 

within approxim ately 15 percentage points of the average:

Lines Plants

Percent m ate­ Number of Percent of Number of P ercent of

rials cost of projects contract projects contract

contract amount studied amount studied amount

T o ta l.................. 86 100. 0 52 100.0

Under 40 ................ 10 5.7 2 1.0

40 and under 50 . . 25 21.4 7 11.0

50 and under 60 .. 28 36.5 24 55. 1

60 and under 70 . . 13 23.8 10 29. 6

70 and under 80 .. 7 10.8 8 2.4

80 and o v e r ........... 3 1.8 1 .9

Table 5 presents the costs to the contractors of m ajor m aterials 

and groups of m aterials used in each $ 1,000 of sewer facilities construction. 

Minor item s are included in group totals but are not listed separately. Data 

are shown for all projects by region, and for lines and plants separately.

The table shows quite different patterns of m aterials usage for lines 

and plants. For lines, nearly one-half of total m aterials cost is accounted 

for by concrete and clay pipe and an additional one-fifth by the estimate for 

construction equipment usage. On the other hand, plant construction uses a 

wide variety of m aterials, many of a high degree of fabrication, as might be 

expected from the varied structures involved. In this respect, the two 

m aterials patterns parallel the two construction occupational patterns p re ­

viously discussed.

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Some apparent anomalies in the table are explained by the design 

and techniques of sewer facilities construction. For example, the greater 

relative use of brick and "other precast concrete products" in lines reflects 

the production of sewer m anholes. The high requirem ents of sand and gravel 

relative to cement, in reverse of the usual pattern, suggest its use as a pipe 

bedding m aterial in lines, and as a filter medium in plants.

Each of the broad ca teg ories--lin es and plants--includes elements of 

the other. This explains expenditures for pumps and m otors on line construction. Where slopes are such that sewage cannot flow properly by gravity 

alone, lift stations are required. Finally, in view of the great differences 

between the line and plant m aterial patterns, the regional variations shown 

are as much a reflection of differences in product m ix as in local usage. The 

breakdowns are thus applicable only to situations where the m ix is assumed 

to be sim ilar.

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Table 5. Cost of M aterials per $ 1,000 of Sewer W orks Construction Contract, by Type 

of M aterials, Region, and Type of P roject, 1962-63

A ll projects United United

Item United

States

NortheastNorth

Central South West States:

lines

States:

plants

Total, all m aterials • .. ............. $564.70 $530.40 $533.00 $570.50 $621.30 $557.20 $573.90

Stone, clay, and glass products •. $234.60 $156.10 $227.90 $214.70 $355.40 $337. 30 $109.30

Cement, concrete, and gypsum 

products 130.20 79.80 131.20 103.80 231.50 179.90 69.60

Concrete p i p e .............................. 88.00 33. 20 75. 20 65.60 201.40 147.40 15.70

Ready m ixed concrete .............. 29.80 30.80 38.30 29.70 18.60 16. 30 46.30

Concrete block . . ................... .. 2.50 3.20 2. 10 2. 10 3.30 2.40 2.70

Other precast concrete

p ro d u cts ......... ♦ . . . ................... 7.80 10.90 13.40 3.90 7.00 11.50 3. 30

C em en t......................... . ............... 1.60 1.40 1.70 2.00 1.00 2.00 1.20

Clay prod u cts................................... 77.40 55.50 67.00 95. 20 69.90 124.30 20. 20

Clay sewer pipe ......................... 67.80 50.70 57.30 80.40 67.80 113.40 12. 20

B rick ......................................... 8. 20 2.70 8.80 13.00 1.70 10.80 5.00

Other stone, clay, and glass

p ro d u cts........................................... 27.00 20.80 29.70 15.70 54.00 33. 10 19.50

Sand and g ra v e l........................... 17.70 10. 20 24. 20 10.80 31.60 22.80 11.50

A sbestos cement p i p e .............. 6.00 6.10 - - 2.50 21.00 7. 20 4.50

M iscellaneous aggregate......... 1.80 3.30 3.00 1. 10 .80 2.90 . 50

F ill dirt........................................... .60 . 30 .90 .60 .30 . 20 1.00

Metal products (except plumbing

and heating).................................... 105.70 112.90 90. 30 133.00 58. 20 62. 30 158.60

P rim ary m etal p r o d u c ts ........... 56.00 64.60 32.60 77. 60 30. 10 47.80 66. 20

Cast iron pipe......................... 34. 10 33.20 17.90 53.80 11.70 28.50 41.00

Steel pipe ................ ................... 8.00 11.40 6. 20 7.70 7.70 9.00 6.70

Steel sheet p ilin g ....................... 5.60 7.40 .40 8.50 3.80 1. 30 10.70

Cast iron manholes, etc. . . . 5.50 5.30 3.60 6.50 5.60 8.80 1.40

Aluminum sheet m e t a l........... 1.70 5.40 3. 20 (M . 10 (M 3.60

Copper sheet and p i p e ........... .70 1.20 .80 .40 .80 n 1.60

Fabricated m etal p rod u cts.. . . . 49.70 48.30 57.70 55.40 28. 10 14. 50 92.40

R einforcing rods and bars;

j o i s t s ..............••••••............. 15.30 13.70 20.80 15.30 10.Q0 4.70 28. 20

Structural steel ..............••••• 8.80 8.40 9.80 8.90 7.80 .70 18.70

Valves and fit t in g s .................. 8.30 9.30 10.90 9. 10 2.50 2. 30 15.70

Steel plate p r o d u c ts ......... .. 4. 20 3.40 6.70 4.60 1.10 1.70 7. 30

Fabricated sheet metal

products ................................. 3.40 .60 1.40 6.40 1.70 .60 6.70

Corrugated m etal p ip e ............ 3.30 6.20 .30 4.90 .80 2.90 3.70

Fencing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.80 2.30 2.60 1.70 .60 .50 3.40

Metal doors and fram es . . . . . 1.40 1.20 1.60 1.30 1.50 .30 2. 80

Metal windows and fram es . . 1.10 .90 1.60 .70 1.60 .50 1.80

P refabricated buildings . . . . . .60 — .40 1.00 .20 — 1.20

Sewage plant equipm ent.................. 69.90 89.90 76.50 71. 20 41.40 17.40 134.00

Pumps and m o t o r s ......... ............. 27. 20 24.00 23.40 39.70 7.30 15.80 41. 20

M echanical c o ll e c t o r s ................ 15.40 32.00 31.70 5.50 2.20 ... 34. 10

D igesters, c la r ifie r s ......... .. 10.00 16.10 8.50 4.00 19.70 . 10 22. 10

D iffusers and distribution

equipment • • • ................... 5. 10 11.70 4.70 4.00 2.50 11.40

Laboratory equipment and

instruments 2.10 1.50 2. 20 2.90 .70 .60 3.90

E lectrical generating units . . . . 1.40 2.10 1.20 1. 10 1.90 . 20 3.00

Chlorinators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1.10 1.40 1.50 .90 .70 . . 2.40

E le v a t o r s ................ .. .90 .30 - - 2.10 . 2. 10

U nspecified equipment ................ 6.70 1.00 3.30 11.00 6.30 . 70 14.00

See footnote at end of table

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Table 5. Cost of M aterials per $ 1, 000 of Sewer W orks Construction Contract, by Type 

of M aterials, Region, and Type of P roject, 1962-63—Continued

A ll projects United United

Item United

States

Northeast

North

Central South West States:

lines

States:

plants

E lectrical p rod u cts........................... $ 23. 30 $ 25.60 $ 20. 30 $ 26.60 $17.90 $ 3.30 $ 47.70

Switchboards and panelboards •. 12.80 17.40 8.50 14.00 11.60 1.40 26.80

W ire and cable ................................ 2.30 1.70 2. 70 2.30 2.10 .80 4.10

E lectrical m eters and 

instruments ••••.•••.................. 2.00 2.50 2. 80 1.70 1.50 . 20 4. 20

T ra n sform ers .................................. 1.90 .30 .90 4.00 . 10 C1) 4.30

Conduit ................ ................. 1.60 1.50 2. 10 1.60 1.30 .40 3. 20

C urrent-carrying d e v ic e s ......... 1. 20 .70 1. 20 1.60 . 30 . 20 2.40

Lighting fixtures ........................... 1.00 1.10 1.50 .80 .80 . 20 2. 10

Petroleum p r o d u c ts ......................... 14.00 14.60 13.60 12.80 16.60 16.80 10.60

Fuel and lubricating o i l s ............ 8.70 8.50 10.40 9. 10 5.70 9. 20 8.00

Asphalt p a v in g ........................... .... 4.80 5.80 2.70 3.00 10.50 7.40 1.60

Lumber and lumber products . . . . 6.70 7.30 5.50 7.90 5.00 4.40 9.40

Dimension lu m b e r ........... .. 5.40 7. 10 3.70 6. 10 4.50 4.20 6.90

Plumbing and heating m aterials 

and equipm ent.................................. 6. 20 8.60 8.90 4. 10 5.50 .40 13.40

Plumbing m aterials .................... 1. 10 2.20 1. 10 .80 . 70 . 20 2. 10

Plumbing fix t u r e s .................... .50 .70 .40 .60 . 10 — 1. 10

Heating m a t e r ia ls ......................... 5. 20 6.50 7.80 3.40 4.70 . 20 11.20

Blowers and fans .................. .... 2.40 4.60 4. 80 .90 1.00 . 20 5. 20

B oilers and radiators, warm 

air furnaces, unit heaters, 

and v en tila tors ......................... 1. 70 1.60 1.50 1.20 3.30 (>) 3.80

A ir-conditioning equipment .. .60 - - 1.40 .80 — 1.40

Chem ical products ........................... 3.60 4.60 2.90 1.50 8.20 2.00 5.60

Dynamite and caps ......................... 1.80 2.70 1.40 . 20 5. 20 1.30 2.50

Paint ................ ................. 1. 10 1.70 1. 20 .70 1.50 . 10 2.40

A ll other m a te r ia l............................. 2.10 2.60 2.10 2.10 1.50 .90 3.50

N ursery products ........................... 1.00 1.60 1.40 .90 .60 .40 1.80

Construction equipment (rental 

charges and depreciation 

allow an ces)......................................... 98.60 108.10 85.00 96.70 111.70 112.50 81.80

1 L ess than $ 0 .0 5 .

Note: Group totals include products not shown separately.

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Previous Studies

Three previous studies of labor and m aterial requirem ents for 

sewer construction have been made in the BLS covering data relating roughly 

to 1934, 1940, and 1949.4 D ifferences in scope, sampling, classification, 

and data collection in these earlier studies and the current one lim it the 

usefulness of com parisons. However, some conclusions appear reasonable: 

O n-site construction w orker wages as a percentage of the total contract 

amount w ere as low in 1962-63 as they had been at any time over the previous 

30 years; the percentage of com bined overhead and profit, on the other hand, 

was as high or higher them it had been in the same 30-year period.

P ercent of construction 

contract amount

1962-63 1949 1940 1934

T o t a l ............................................... 100 100 100

Wages to on-site w o r k e r s ........... 32 30 26

M aterials and supplies ................ 44 50 51

Other costs and profits ................ 24 20 23

Other costs include construction equipment depreciation, which was 

not shown separately in the earlier studies, and employment costs other than 

wages paid to on -site w orkers. Both of these cla sses of costs are believed 

to have increased as a percentage of total contract cost over the years.

4 "Relative Cost of M aterial and Labor in Construction of Water a

Sewerage S ystem s," Monthly Labor Review , January 1935 (based on data 

collected at around 1934), pp. 146-146; " Expenditures for Labor and M aterial 

and M an-Hours of Labor Created per $ 1 m illion of Contracts Awarded for 

Sewers and Sewerage System s, " BLS m im eographed release, Novem ber 1944 

(based on data collected at around 1940); "Expenditures per M illion D ollars 

for Construction of New Water Supply and Sewage Disposal Systems, " BLS 

m im eographed release, May 1951 (based on data for 1948-50).

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The overall percentage of m aterials cost in total cost appears to 

have decreased only slightly over the years, but there have been significant 

shifts in the relative im portance of some m aterials. The use of lumber 

products has decreased, probably reflecting the greater use of steel shoring 

and prefabricated form s. The total amount of "con crete products"-has 

increased, and the amount of cement and aggregates has decreased, as 

ready-m ixed concrete has replaced site-m ixed. Concrete products also 

appear to have gained at the expense of brick, where precast concrete manholes and manhole sections have replaced brick m anholes.

F or the earliest two studies and the latest, overall m an-hours data 

are available, suggesting the possibility of m easuring changes in output per 

m an-hour over the 30-year period. The available data, however, do not 

relate production m an-hours to units of physical output, such as linear feet 

of pipe laid, but only to dollars of contract amount. These dollars m ay 

represent different physical quantities at different tim es owing to constru ction price changes. To m easure the change in m an-hour requirem ents for 

equivalent amounts of construction, it is necessary to adjust the dollars for 

price changes so that they represent approxim ately equal physical quantities. 

Making such an adjustment in the case of sewer construction results in an 

indicated increase of 40 to 50 percent in output per m an-hour over the 30- 

year period.

A part of this increase resulted from the transfer of certain operations from on -site to off-site locations, as for example, the prefabrication 

of form s for concrete work, the precasting of som e concrete products, the 

prem ixing of concrete, and even the manufacture of jointing elements on 

som e piping. However, a part of the increase is due to im proved methods, 

particularly in excavation.

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Scope and Method of Survey

Sample

This study is based on data covering 138 prim e contracts for the 

construction of sewer facilities. Of these, 85 w ere constructed under the 

Water Pollution Control Program of the Public Health Service, and 53 under 

that part of the A ccelerated Public W orks Program which was administered 

by the Community F acilities Adm inistration. The work under the form er 

program was done chiefly in 1962 and 1963; work under the latter program 

was accom plished chiefly in 1963. The sam ples each represented about 1 in 

8 of the total number of projects undertaken by these agencies during the 

respective periods. Sample projects w ere located in 44 States and the D istrict of Columbia.

To obtain a representative sample, projects w ere selected by type 

of project, broad geographical region, amount of contract, and whether within or outside a m etropolitan area. The distribution of the sample projects 

by these categories is shown in table A - l . In tabulating the data, however, 

weighting was applied to adjust for nonrespondents, and for some differences 

in p roject ch aracteristics disclosed in the course of the survey. Unless 

otherwise stated, all m easures presented in the report are based on weighted 

data.

M an-hour Estimates

Estim ates of total m an-hour requirem ents for sew er construction 

are derived by combining estim ates of on -site and off-site m an-hours.

O n-site m an -h ou rs. With m inor exceptions, construction under both the F ederal Water Pollution Control Program and the A ccelerated Public Works 

Program is subject to prevailing wage laws. To check com pliance with these 

laws, regulations require that each contractor on such construction file a 

copy of his weekly project payroll with the sponsoring agency. These payrolls are thus a prim ary source of data on construction m an-hours worked 

and wages paid on a p roject. In the current study, the payroll files for the 

sam ple projects w ere made available for data transcription through the 

cooperation of the Public Health S ervice's Division of Water Supply and 

Pollution Control and the Community F acilities Adm inistration's Public F acilities Division.

Although these payrolls w ere the basic source of on-site labor data, 

som e classes of on-site w orkers are exempt from the legal reporting requirem ents. These exemptions include supervisory, technical, and clerica l p ersonnel, and self-em ployed subcontractors (working proprietors). M oreover, 

the processing of the payrolls raised frequent questions regarding data com ­

pleteness and meaning. These m issing data w ere obtained and questions concerning data meaning resolved by telephone or correspondence, or, m ost 

com m only, through visits by BLS field representatives, in the course of the 

m aterials data collection .

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T able A - l . . Number o f Sample C ontracts in S elected C ategories

T otal

Under 

$ 50,000

$ 50,000 and 

under $ 100, 000

$ 100,000 and 

under $ 300,000

$ 300,000 and 

under $ 500, 000

$ 500,000 and 

under $ 1,000,000

$ 1,000,000 

and over

M e tro ­

politan

area

N onm etropolitan

area

M etropolitan

area

N onm etropolitan

area

M etropolitan

area

N onm etropolitan

area

M etropolitan

area

N onm etropolitan

area

M etropolitan

area

N onm etropolitan

area

M etropolitan

area

Nonm etropolitan

area

T o t a l ............... 138 11 12 10 15 18 27 8 15 7 4 9 2

L in es, total. . . . 86 9 4 8 10 9 19 7 8 5 2 5 0

N ortheast •, . 19 4 1 0 2 5 1 2 3 0 1 0 0

N orth C entral 23 4 1 4 1 2 5 1 3 1 0 1 0

South ............... 28 1 1 2 5 1 ro 3 2 1 0 2 0

W est ............... 16 0 1 2 2 1 3 1 0 3 1 2 0

P lants, t o t a l .. . 52 2 8 2 5 9 8 1 7 2 2 4 2

N ortheast . . . 9 0 0 1 1 3 0 0 1 1 1 1 0

N orth C entral 16 1 4 0 2 2 2 0 2 0 0 2 1

S o u t h ............... 17 1 4 1 0 0 5 1 3 0 1 1 0

W est ............... 10 0 0 0 2 4 1 0 1 1 0 0 1

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O ff-site m an-hours. O ff-site m an-hour requirem ents in construction rep - 

resent chiefly the hours required to produce and distribute the m aterials, 

supplies, and equipment used. Estimation of these hours therefore began 

with a listing of the value of all such item s. F or the present study, this 

listing was obtained in one of two ways. F or jobs under $500, 000, a m ail 

questionnaire initially was used. 5 For larger jobs, and for nonrespondents 

on the sm aller jobs, data w ere obtained in visits by BLS field representatives. 

For a relatively sm all number of subcontractors who w ere out of business 

or otherwise in accessible, uncooperative, or whose contracts w ere exceedingly small, estim ates of both labor and m aterials w ere prepared on the 

basis of reports for sim ilar job s. In all, the study of the 138 sample projects 

required contact of (or estimates for) 645 prim e and subcontractors.

The m aterials listings thus obtained w ere classified into categories 

(consistent with the 4-digit Standard Industrial Classification) as found in 

the Census of Manufactures product groups. F or each of these groups, the 

average amounts required for $1,000 of sewer facilities construction w ere 

calculated. Each of these averages was reduced by a ratio representing the 

difference between m anufacturer's and con tractor's valuation. The amounts 

thus reduced w ere consistent with Census data published for these various 

components.

P rim ary m an-hours for manufacturing sewerage m aterials (i. e . , 

the hours required in the final manufacturing stage) w ere developed by 

multiplying these average amounts by a ratio of manufacturing m an-hours to 

$ 1, 000 of production. These ratios w ere computed from the output and 

employment data in the 1962 Survey of M anufactures.

P rim ary m an-hours for trade and transportation w ere derived in a 

sim ilar manner. Here, however, employment ratios w ere applied to the 

difference between produ cer's and pu rchaser's valuation, which was taken 

as the total of all distribution costs between the sites of final manufacture 

and construction.

To compute secondary m an-hours to produce the m aterials (i. e . , 

hours required in all stages of production other than final manufacture and 

transportation), the 1958 interindustry study by the O ffice of Business 

E conom ics of the U .S. Department of C om m erce was used. This study

5 The questionnaire requested detailed information on type, quant

and cost of m aterials and supplies; equipment depreciation and rental costs; 

and subcontractors (names, addresses, nature of work and subcontract 

amounts), the subcontractors, in turn, also being sent a copy of the 

que stionnair e .

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indicates the amount of secondary product or service required of each of its 

78 industry sectors to produce the prim ary product. Summing these amounts 

and applying the appropriate employment ratios produced the number of secondary m an-hours required in each of the sectors.

Two other m inor components w ere required to com plete the com pilation of total off-site hours as defined for this series of studies. One of 

these is the hours required to produce the con tractors’ purchases of ov e rhead m aterials and serv ices. The quantities of these item s w ere estimated 

and included in the m an-hour conversions just described. The other is the 

hours worked by the off-site em ployees of the construction industry. The 

estimate for these hours is based on the difference between the proportion 

of all nonconstruction w orkers in the contract construction industry as 

reported in the BLS employment trend series, and the proportion of on-site 

nonconstruction m an-hours as developed in this study.

* U. S. GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE : 1966 O - 219-825

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