Digging

Digging rate depends on the type of soil, the digger’s Basic Lift (that is, STxST/5), and the quality of the tools available.

Loose Soil, Sand, etc.: A man can dig 2xBL cubic feet per hour (cf/hr).

Ordinary Soil: A man can dig BL cf/hr. One man with a pick can break up 4xBL cf/hr, making it into loose soil, which is easier to remove. The most efficient way to dig is with one man with a pick, and two shovelers clearing behind him.

Hard Soil, Clay, etc.: Must be broken up first by a pick, at 2xBL cf/hr and then shoveled at 2xBL cf/hr. A lone man with both pick and shovel can only remove 0.6xBL cf/hr – he loses time switching between tools.

Hard Rock: Must be broken by a pick at BL cf/hr (or slower, for very hard rock!), and then shoveled at BL cf/hr.

All of the above assumes iron or steel tools! Halve speeds for wooden tools (common at TL5 and below). Divide by 4 (or more) for improvised tools – bare hands, mess kits, etc.

Time Required and Fatigue Cost
To find the time required to dig a given hole, find the volume of the hole in cubic feet by multiplying height x width x depth (all in feet). Then divide the number of cubic feet by the digging rate to find the hours of work required.

Each hour of work costs 1 FP for loose soil, 2 FP for ordinary soil, 3 FP for hard soil, and 4 FP for hard rock