Albuquerque morning journal. [volume] (Albuquerque, N.M.) 1903-1926, 1907-06-25

Projects Hampered by Rising Prices.
The DEVELOPMENT b0om in the far west
giving the reclamation Service a good dea
Of concern a the present time.
with every part OF the intcrmonntaii
country enjoying a remarkable building
boom. the government finds Itself seriousl.
handicapped by its inability to secure rea
sonable bids for constructinP its big irriga
tion works, The lsfEe, contractors are al
loaded up with railroad work, which vii
occupy their attention for many months +
come. while smaller contractors have al
they can possibly do to take care Of th'
local demands Of cities and toWns
Many Of the contracts Of the government
have been advertised seYorai times withou
securing reasonable bids. The government
Is confronted with the proposition q doinr
the work hy force aceaunf or q postpon'
ing It until there Is All Improvement IN. con
ditions. The present time is most unpra-
pitious Tor the government To- undertake do
Ing the work itself Thore is ap unusua.
scarcity o. labor. Wages are from 40 Il
so per cent higher than Two years ago
while efficiency has beeh decreased rather
than improved by the unlimited demand
for laberers.
owing % the remoteness of much Of the
government work from cities and towns
labor is not attracted thereto. and as a
rule the government SETS only the ~leavlngs
or the most undesirable class Of laborers
Tho steady and skfliful workers are all
busy.
The cost Of all kinds or material has IN
creased enormously. Take ccment, for in
stance, which enters SO largely In The con
struction Of dams ana ~hcsdworks. and for
which the government is asking for hun
dreds Of thousands Of barrels. It has been
fnu1ngfIaH tn agpgv IfH. .t ,rg.a. r1.vf,
double those paid two years ago. Even
at tho present high price only a few manu-
fncturers are competing. and today the ce-
ment required for Idaho, Montana. Wyom-
ing ana the Dakotas is shipped from Chi
cage.
Lumber has nearly doubled In price, and
horses and mules now cost fully twice what
they did three years ago. As an illustra-
ton Of the material increase In the cost
Of construction The following examples are
cited.
In 1904 aud 1906 the average cost Of
earthwork excavation was about 10 cents
per cubic yard. Today the prevailing rates
for similar work are from q to 80 cents.
a large contract Or grading was let at IL
cents per yard. and the contractor executed
the contract and furnished the required
bond. When he came to secure the neces-
sary machinery, animals and labor he
found the work would cost so much more
than his bid that he threw W his bid and
forfeited his bond. on Reimbursement the
contract was again let at q cents per yard.
and the contractor is said to be losing
omney at this price. Re-enforced concrete
in 1905 averaged $3.50 per cubic yard, while
the responsible bids that year are from
$40 to SCI
The troubles OF the contractor in the
matter Of shipping materials arc shown by
the experience Of one contractor, who or
dered a shipment in November and loaded
it on cars, detailing a man to follow the
cars and expedite early delivery in every
way possible. Notwithstanding all these
precautions moro than three months elapsed
before the materials were received at their
only Il few hundred miles away
The notably increased cost Of construo-
ton has compelled a revision Of the orig
inal estimates on all Of the large projects.
and If there is not n material Improvement
In conditions It may he Necessary TO post
pone further construction work on some of
these projects for an indefinite period. Any
Increase may render some Of The
projects so expensive that difficulty viii
arise in getting settlers 10 take the lands.
Reclamation Service Bulletin.