Office of the General Manager
100 Railroad Avenue
Monetesano, Washington
CIRCULAR NUMBER: 8.8 DATE: January 1, 1955
BY AUTHORITY OF:
S.B.Clinard
President and General Manager ___________________________________________________________________________________
Ditching
During the winter dirt accumulates in the side ditches in cuts and as soon as the snow disappears all ditches should be cleaned. This is a work of considerable magnitude and may be done by one of several methods. If the quantity of dirt to be removed is not large and the cut is shallow, so that the dirt can be thrown up to the top of the original ground, ditching by hand with a shovel is economical. y this method one man can handle 10 or 12 cu. yd. of dirt per day.
Dirt should never be thrown on the slopes of the cut, as ensuing rains will wash it back into the ditch. On lines where there is very little traffic and where the amount of dirt to be handled is small the dirt may be shoveled on a push-car and taken out by hand. This costs more than the first method and can be used only on light-traffic lines. It is usually advisable to ditch large cuts on main line either by the work-train and extra gang or with ditching-machines. When the work-train is used the dirt is shoveled upon flat cars from which it is unloaded with a plow or by hand. The plow is more economical if a large amount of dirt must be moved.
After the first cleaning of the ditches in the spring, the
section-foreman must watch them constantly and see that they are kept
clean. In the fall all ditches and waterways should be gone over and
given a final cleaning and put in repair for winter. Clean, deep ditches
appreciably reduce the trouble from heaving. Particular attention
should be given to the drainage at switches, frogs, interlocking plants,
and railway and highway crossings.
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