Concrete

Construction
A

Preliminary Pamphlet

COMPLIMENTS OF

Engineering Company
of America
74 Broadway,

New York

PUBLISHED BY
BRUCE & JOHNSTON
42 Broadway, New York

TA<aS3.

,BS7

vt

LIBRARY

of

CONGRESS

TWO OoDies

SEP

Received

12

1904

CoDyrlsrht Entry

CLASS
3LASS_ \,
~ XXo.
X
<?<jT 7
/
CPY B

No.

COPYRIGHT, I904, BY
ENGINEERING COMPANY OF AMERICA

NEW YORK

07--3737.3

Concrete Construction

"It seems almost a philosophical thought

age,

when man changes and thought changes

material representing the period

nature."

Robert W. Lesley,

THERE

is

moment

New

impetus.
crete

and

is

it

by

occupied
words, we

Therefore

which

as

flexible

at

is

attention

of concrete

that

this

of

con-

few years the use of concrete

last

has received an enormous

uses are constantly being found for con-

ever encroaching
stone,

are

June Cement Age.

world

of engineering

material

and

in

the

the

quickly,

so

of a plastic

much of

this

in

is

single subject

engrossing so

Within the

struction.
a

other

engineering

the

as

no

that,

hollow

steel,

entering

upon

upon

an

the fields hitherto

"Age

other

of Concrete."

about concrete,

this brief treatise

In

etc.

tile,

its

properties

and applications, may be considered timely.

may

Concrete

What concrete
purposes

is

stone.

be denned as an

tor
can be used c

It

as a substitute for stone

and

wide variety of applications where

impracticable.

Concrete

is

in

the

all

addition

use

artificial
,

structural
it

has a

of stone

is

composed of broken stone or

3

1890
Barrels
19,500,000

19,000,000
18,500,000
18,000,000
17,500,000
17,000,000

10,500,000
10,000,000
15,500,000
15,000,000
14,500,000
14,000,000

13,500,000
13,000,000
12,500,000

12,000,000
11,500,000
11,000,000

10,500,000
10,000,000

9,500,000
9,000,000

8,500,000
8,000,000
7,500,000

7,000,000
0,500,000
0,000,000
5,500,000
5,000,000
4,500,000
4,000,000

3,500,000
3,000,000

2,500,000
2,000,000
1,500,000

1,000,000

500,000

1891

1892

1893

1894

1895

1896

1897

1898

1899 1900

1901

1902

gravel, sand

and cement with the addition of water

after allowing

and absorption,

evaporation

for

sufficient,

unite

to

chemically
with the cement.
j

typical concrete

is

made

as follows

To

one barrel

of a standard Portland cement are added three barrels of

The two

clean sharp sand.

manually or by
water

added

is

the proper

mixer

mechanical

to bring the

then

enough

judged by one

readily

Five barrels of broken stone

experienced in this work.

whole thoroughly intermixed, and the

concrete thus formed

is

ready to be conveyed to the forms

or the excavations prepared for

Concrete made

it.

above proportions would be known

The

and

either

mixture to a certain consistency,

amount of water being

are then added, the

mixed

are intimately

as

in the

mixture.

1:3:5

permissible proportions, however, vary widely from

1:2:4 to 1:5:10 according to the nature of the ingredients

and the service

which

for

In general,

intended.

is

it

concrete with the smaller proportion of cement will

sustain the

same

strains as the

not

concretes wherein the pro-

portions are about as indicated in our typical mixture.

The
may

be

composition of a properly proportioned concrete

thus

considered;

sand

fills

up

the

between the pieces of rock, and the cement,

up the

interstices

between the

the sand and the rock.

particles of

As 90% of

interstices

turn,

in

fills

sand and between

a standard

cement

will

pass through a sieve of 10,000 meshes to the square inch,

it is

evident that the cement will effectually

But the cement

function.

Water used

It
in

also

performs an

enters into chemical

mixing and

acts

holding the whole mass together.

is

mixed with water

this

as

even

fill

up

voids.

more important

combination
a

all

binder,

As soon

as

with

the

tenaciously
the cement

chemical change commences, or

5

HENNEBIQUE'S APARTMENT HOUSE,

1 RUE DANTON, PARIS.
The

entire structure

is

of re-enforced concrete.

"set"

the concrete begins to

as

Therefore the concrete must be put

after

At

mixing.

concrete

removed and,

supporting forms to

for the

atter possibly thirty days,

loads for which

for

place immediately

in

the end of about three or four days, the

enough

solid

is

generally expressed.

is

it

is

it

months and

the

be

ready for the

it is

designed.

The hardening

concrete

becomes stronger

continues

time

as

elapses.

The
Advantages resulting
into

from

its

plasticity

any rorm

....
desired

,.

Aside

from

such

uses

deposited for foundations, abutments,

into shapes

intricate

as

recent applications which

at

is

.,

largely availed

being simply

as

etc.,

is

it

moulded

desired, one of the

be

being extensively developed

which

can be

it

moulded

for

of course, well-known.

vantage

The

building purposes.

for

is

the present time being the use of concrete for

hollow blocks

is,

may

as

...

most valuable

is

quality and one which

of in practice.

moulded

that concrete can be

fact

making
with

facility

producing decorative

effects

Another highly important ad-

resulting from the plasticity of the newly-mixed

concrete

imbedded

is

that

in

it,

other materials,

such

as

may

be

treated

at

iron,

this

feature being

The

merits of concrete as a material of

hereafter

length.

Concrete

is

not an

untried material
monuments of
in

part of this

construction have

been

c
tor

borne or the most enduring

centuries,

antiquity are constructed either wholly or

material.

The dome

of the Pantheon,

erected about the beginning of the Christian era,

of concrete as are some of the

of that period.

recognized

other

is

built

historic structures

Concrete has ever since been used to

greater or less extent.

With
7

the discovery and applica-

S1

y+

o
t
O
w
O

03

H
02
=

o
u

pq

PP
03

W
H

Ph

<

On

o
Q
o
o

ft
fc

O
W
ft

-5

3
o

03
<1
Oh

O
^
J
<
'&

3
p
j
o
o

fe;

03

03

o
O

,Si

'->

03

E-"

H
O

T*

w
s

^
Si

y,

<

H
03

D
O
C
J2;

r>
Cft

w
C5b

KJ

tion of the

we may
its

methods of making Portland cement, which

1820-50, concrete assumed

ascribe to the period

place as one of the principal materials of engineering

and we may say that each year has

shown an

amount of concrete construction with

in the

widening of the
_

of

field

increase

constant

applications.

its

The

strength and durability of

crete

depend, of course, upon the quality

con-

all

Concrete re-enforced
.

with steel provides

.

_ _

for all

strains

When

mixing and handling.

in
is

of the ingredients
and the care exercised
D

the

work

done under experienced supervision, however, the charac-

teristics

of the resulting concrete can be accurately predicted.

Concrete

When

withstand

will

heavy

be provided

enormous

compression

strains other than those of

for,

the concrete

compression

compression are to

so strengthened with steel

is

that the metal takes the tensile

and shearing

the

known

armored or re-enforced concrete,

feasible

tirely

by the

adhesion for iron and

strains.

facts that

and the

construction,

rendered en-

is

concrete has considerable

and the

steel

strains

This

concrete,
as

strains.

co-efficients of

expansion

(by heat) of the two materials are practically identical.

There

are

concrete

with

relative

merits

number of "systems" of

the

need

some have

as

some purposes and

more,

We

steel.

not

here

re-enforcing

discuss

advantages

particular

on which

they

are

all

for

Further-

others, for other purposes.

principles

their

based are

identical.

Although many of the applications of

Some

of the

portant

more im-

applications

mental stage.

c
concrete. are or recent date, the material
1

has passed completely beyond the experi-

No

case

is

known

of the failure of a concrete

structure which has been erected under competent engineering

9

PERSPECTIVE VIEW OF SHEARED. BAR

*

/,

1 i

II
1

**

1 +

//

\\
*

It

//

/\

T~!
/*

/ft
-*

\/

DfAGRAM SHOWING TRUSS ACTION

&ffi^x^^ -v\ "^

Z-'-K^ K** '/*/*

:

BARS AS USED

IN

BEAM AND FLOOR CONSTRUCTION

THE TRUSSED STEEL BAR FOR CONCRETE RE-ENFORCEMENT.

ADAPTATION OF THE TRUSSED STEEL BAR.

io

Concrete,

supervision.

with

re-enforced

has

steel,

been

successfully used in the following:

Office Buildings,

Bridges,

Apartment Houses,

Culverts,

Theatres,

Abutments,

Schools,

Sea-walls,

Court Houses,

Breakwaters,

Public Libraries,

Jetties,

Factories,

Piers,

Mills,

Reservoirs,

Warehouses,

Tanks,

Foundries,

Dams,

Grain Elevators,

Aqueducts,

Stables,

Sewers,

Cisterns,

Subways,

Bins,

Dust-chambers,

Stand-pipes,

Chimneys,

Besides a great

number of minor

uses in buildings con-

structed primarily of other material.

As

regards

the

quality

all-essential

of

The superiority of
concrete

as a

ability to resist fire, concrete

is

and unqualifiedly superior

to

absolutely

fire-

resisting material

all

other

building materials. This has been shown

many

times in tests conducted by the building and

partments of various large

The

usual

cities in this

way of conducting such

fire

country and abroad.

tests

is

to build a small

structure of concrete and to maintain therein a

fire

temperature of about 1,700 F. for a number of hours.

stream of water

is

then turned on the

fire

11

ot a

and concrete, and

In general, a

results are carefully noted.

de-

LofC.

few

hair-like

Excerpts from an editorial in

C|)e j^eto

Hork Ctmes.

NEW YORK, MONDAY, JUNE

6,

1904.

A CEMENT BUILDING
The building- in Cincinnati of the first
concrete office building of the modern
skyscraper
type is an event of more
than ordinary architectural and technical
interest. It points to the almost unlimit-

'

'

'

'

ed possibilities of this material in building construction, without fully realizing

those which will be found of the greatest
*
interest and value
From a description published in The
Architectural Record we take the following summary of its distinctive features

******

The
corner
full

Ingalls Building occupies the entire area

lot,

attic,

50

by

100 feet,

and

is fifteen

stories,

of

and a

practically sixteen stories, rising to a

height of 210 feet above the sidewalks. The one-half

of the basement is the usual twelve feet deep: but
the other half, containing the power plant, is twenty
feet deep. The foundations extend five feet below
this, so that the entire height of the structure from
the bottom of the foundation is 235 feet, entirely concrete-steel. In fact, it is a concrete box of eight-inch
walls, with concrete floors and roof, concrete beams,
concrete columns, concrete stairs; the whole entirety
devoid of the usual I-beams, Z-bars, angle irons,
plates, rivets,

and

*********

bolts.

The Baltimore fire emphasizes with

great clearness the value of steel reinforced concrete as a fire-resisting material. The future of plastic architecture is
full of promise, and when it is remembered that the annual per capita consumption of cement in this country had
reached in 1902 the astonishing figure
of 119 pounds, in the aggregate some
30,000,000 barrels, it is not unsafe prophecy to predict for it a steady encroachment upon the field of every form of
building material now available, wood
included.

cracks in the concrete

the only

is

the

noticeable,

effect

strength of the material being unimpaired.

The proof which

most convincing was

the

is

afforded by the recent Baltimore

flagration, every

to the flames.

known

fire.

that

In that great con-

type of construction was subjected

After the

engineers came from

fire,

over

all

the country to observe what type of construction had best

withstood the flames.

strikingly

The

unanimous and

opinion of these experts was

decisive to the effect that concrete

had stood up better than the

steel

frames with terra-cotta

protection and, of course, better than brick and stone.

fact the

(the

two buildings

United States Fidelity

International Trust

ments
all

in the district

Company

to the material

around them

and hollow

tile,

lie

&

Building) stand like

monu-

columns and beams of structural

as well as

shapes by the action of the

fire.

the great mass of expert opinion

quote only the comments of Prof.

Professor Norton's

we

testimony regarding

Norton of

fire

Guaranty Building and the

shapeless heaps of broken brick, stone,

From

Baltimore

constructed of concrete

of which they are constructed while

steel distorted into fanciful

the

In

will

the Massachusetts

Institute

of Technology as reported in the Boston

Transcript

" Stone, whether granite, marble, sandstone or lime-

Where

and

steel

coverings were of concrete they stood the test

much

stone fared badly.

arches

floor

This was due probably

better than terra cotta.

to

the fact that concrete and steel expand at the same

rate while terra cotta
steel

expands

and so the partitions or

break.

iy
2

times as fast as

floor arches

buckle or

In general, the unfitness of terra cotta for

beam and post covering and

floor construction

comparison with concrete was demonstrated."

13

in

as

->

w
w
H
t/i

O
OI

H
t/i

H
E
H
Q

W
u
S5

fa
as

w
w
i

PS

(d

H
OS

o
w

1-1

OS

H
85

w
H
u

&
OS
H
CA
O
u
as

-J
pa

>
OS

H
I*.

protects

Concrete
steel

should

It

from corrosion

here

completely imbedded

which absolutely protects

from rust and

all

in

from

it

other

re-

in

instances

several

and buried underground

showed no signs of

indeed

as

fire

the concrete

in

corrosive action.

which had been covered with

that

a coat

from

for

does

it

has been

It

piping

cast-iron

of liquid neat cement

ten

to fifteen years,

rust or other external deterioration.

"rich" concrete has been found

lining of

that

enforced concrete construction the steel

is

demonstrated

noted

be

only

be the

to

material which will withstand the corrosive action of the

acids in the large storage tanks or vats in pulp mills.

As
The strength of wellengineered

concrete

structures widely re-

........
remembered

regards the strength of concrete

.

must be

that

,.

cognized

sorts to

certain limits

for wind--pressure

and

That concrete

evident to anyone

who

is

at

least

substitute for stone.

we may mention

Rock

Many

all

them.

An

erected

River.

example

by the

The

is

Lake Shore,

Illinois

bridge

each of 140 feet clear span.

15

has
It

the

for bridges,

bears

it

passing

traffic

of re-enforced

bridge

Central
three

it

where

and the

the

being used

among which

railroads,

the Pennsylvania, the

the entire burden of the tracks

Muddy

of

strains

is

Island and the Lackawanna are using

concrete

and pro-

has observed, in traveling over

abutments, culverts, and in other places

over

steel

strong as stone

as

the railroads, the extent to which concrete

as

tensile

is

which the structure or any part thereof may be

subjected.
is

advice

Compression and

and concrete must be kept within

must be made

JU
between
and the adhesion
,

strains

this

in

is

connection that the engineer

indispensable.

vision

it

it

over the Big

elliptical

was erected

at

arches

less

cost

25

a
&
S
i

25

O
i

a*
i

w
Q
E
H
pa
PS

>
u
5
w
Q
to)

to*
to.

O
to}

H
H
w
to]

E
H
25

o
to]

to)

OS

u
25
O
u
o
u
as
O
to)

to.

25
to)
i

to)

es
u,

o
to)

O
Q

as
(S3

16

than a bridge of structural

is

steel,

more enduring and

it is

decidedly more pleasing to the eye.

typical bridge

of concrete alone, built on the straight masonry principle,

is

Susquehanna

that of the Pennsylvania Railroad over the

near

River,

This

Harrisburg, Pa.

structure

with a thin veneer of natural stone, which

is

is

faced

not,

how-

ever, an essential part of the structure.

The United

The United States

y
has

been

guard

which

to

City

the

the

of

of

exclusion

practical

all

guns

thirteen-inch

Skyscrapers

Steel-frame

are

from

are protected

by the same material.

But one more

A sixteen-story concrete structure

few years, con-

last

mounted on concrete foundations and

hostile projectiles

XT

In other words, the

other materials.

New v
York

.,
r
k
c
fortifications
the
around

used

tor all

T
In
the reconstruction

Harbor during the

crete

sorts orc purposes.

orc

using

is

concrete in enormous quantities

exten-

material

Government
.

Government employs
the

States

citation

demonstrate

to

,.,.

and durability

that the strength

,
orf the

^l
1 here

u recognized.
j
material are officially
.

has just been finished in Cincinnati, Ohio, a sixteen-story

office

The

building

made

entirely

plans for this building were

made which proved beyond

building

would

be

re-enforced

absolutely

terra cotta slabs,

en-

be standing long

neighborhood have

deterioration of steel

by nothing more than

had been

Concrete

safe.

after the steel skeleton structures in the

The

tests

city

the possibility of doubt that

thusiasts predict that this building will

disintegrated.

concrete.

approved by the

number of

authorities only after a great

the

of

when protected

noted

in a

number

of cases, tends to lend strength to this view.

In

fact,

superior

durability
17

is

one of

the

best-

Floor construction with I-beams.

Floor construction, with ceiling clipped to I-beams.

*S?or?e CoTfcrpTe

Method of re-enforcing water-mains, sewers,

etc.

EXAMPLES OF RE-ENFORCEMENT WITH ELECTRICALLY WELDED WIRE FABRIC.

18

substantiated claims for

been recognized

and the same

are

divided

that

tively

is

estimates

their

in

might

crete

with so

cheap

is

expected

be

many

The

a steel-

a material

that
,.

desirable qualities

contrary

cheaper than stone, or

"

materials

Con-

the case.

is

would
.

frame and terra cotta.

steel

by unskilled labor

be manipulated

It can

Engineers

how long

to

as

displacing.

is

with age

more expensive than the

be
it

stronger

endure.

will

compara-

which

becomes

concrete

It

Concrete

has long

not true of any other material.

is

frame structure

It

concrete buildings.

to

greater

extent than any other material and thus the troubles and

due

delays

to

the

There

minimized.

many

are

where no stone suitable

where there

is

much

concrete

the

country

be

can

it

stone admirably adapted for being

laid

In short, the raw materials

down

merits of concrete

recommended
its

place are less.

in

first

cost,

He who
least

the strength and

and
as

blind to the

into

March

or

great

the

durability
,

which
i

to

steel
,

qualities

,.

it

may

form a
,

.,-

applicability,

and

its

low

material of the future.

and does so without

merits

of concrete

of Improvement.

'9

universal

time-defying
the

with

re-enforced

be

it

contemplates building

examining

combination

stamp

,.

c
or concrete, the ease with

fire-resisting

almost any point in

at

any other material and the

To sum up
Investigation of the

purposes exists but

for building

cheaper than

costs of putting

are

country

the

in

localities

crushed and used for concrete.

for

unions

of the

actions

arbitrary

is

at

indeed

ENGINEERING

OPERATION

EXAMINATIONS made
and comprehensive

"PHE management

re-

Mines,

ports rendered, covering the

neering features of projects

the

fields

Civil,

of

Waterworks,

Steam and Electric Roads,

Power Plants, Cement

commercial and the engiin

of

Mechanical, Electrical,

Wo r k s

either

temporarily for

undertaken

etc*,

Hydraulic and Mining En-

estates, executors, or assigns,

Plans, specifi-

or permanently for owners;

and superintendence
of transportation and com-

the charge for this service

mercial enterprises.

basis*

gineering*
cations

being on a percentage

ENGINEERING
COMPANY OF AMERICA
Incorporated under the

74

Laws

of the State of

New

York

BROADWAY, NEW YORK

BRANCH OFFICES:

LA SALLE STREET, CHICAGO, ILL.

2J3 BOSTON BUILDING, DENVER, COLO.
PIEDMONT BUILDING, CHARLOTTE, N. C.
J59

STEINER BUILDING, BIRMINGHAM, ALA.

CONSTRUCTION

CONTRACTS
taken
neering,

and

under-

the

construction

complete
steam

for

and

FINANCE
ASSISTANCE rendered

engi-

installation
electric

in securing capital for

and

enterprises,

which, after in-

vestigation

of

are

demon-

strated to be of unquestioned

roads

industrial plants*

merit.

20

LIBRARY OF CONGRESS

029 942 747