Labor at 15c. per hour 1.04
Total per cu. yd $4.83
Or, with concrete six inches deep, 80^ cents per square yard.
The concrete used in this case was 1 cement, 2% sand and 7^ stone.
PAVED STREETS.
While concrete has not been used extensively as a surface paving ma-
terial for streets, it has been used quite satisfactorily in some alleys in
Philadelphia, a couple of streets or courts in Grand Rapids, Mich., and
on four streets at Bellefontaine, Ohio. The streets in Bellefontaine
were laid in 1892 and 1893, and are in excellent condition today. The
concrete was laid upon a well compacted road-bed in two layers, the foun-
dation layer 4 inches thick, and the surface layer 2 inches thick. In two
of the streets the foundation concrete was composed of i part Portland
cement to 5 parts coarse gravel, and the surface coat 3 parts cement to 5
parts coarse sand. In the other two streets the proportions were : Foun-
dation, I cement to 4 parts gravel, and surface coat, i cement to i sand.
Both top and bottom layers were cut into blocks about 5 or 6 feet square
and tarred paper used in the joints to give room for expansion. The sur-
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STATE GEOLOGIST. 113
face layer after being thoroughly rammed and floated was indented with
an imprint roller in order to give a better foothold for horses. While
some repairs have been made, the streets do not show any patchy appear-
ance and along the sides the surface has not worn enough to obliterate
the imprint marks which are clearly shown in figure 58. The worst worn
place in the streets is shown in Figure 59 where the street was narrow
and drained toward the center. Here the wheels have followed in the lines
cut to demark the blocks, and have worn the cutting lines about 2 inches
deep. The streets cost $2.15 per square yard. There appeared to be no
complaint against the streets on account of slipperiness or because of the
jar or lack of elasticity. Such streets are easily cleaned and dry up quickly
after storms.
Fig. 58. — Concrete Pavement at Bellefontalne, Ohio. In the Foreground
Will Be Seen Surface IVIarks Not Destroyed After Years of Use.
SIDEWALKS.
Concrete sidewalks have been used many years. There is no one
of the requirements for a good sidewalk which concrete does not com-
pletely fulfill. It makes a smooth walk and yet it is not slippery. It is
durable, wears evenly, does not absorb water seriously, dries up very
quickly, does not glaze over with ice as quickly nor as completely as does
brick, does not flake up nor disintegrate under action of frost. In fact,
it is ideal. In some cities there is a prejudfce against concrete walks
because unprincipled or ignorant contractors have done poor work, and
like poor work in any business, it has not proved satisfactory. Wherever
8— s. G.
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114 ANNUAL REPORT
proper work has been done, concrete walks have grown in favor very
rapidly. In some towns ordinances have been enacted requiring concrete
walks and not allowing any other kind of walk to be laid within their
limits. A good concrete walk should have a 3J^ inch base with a one inch
wearing surface. Upon gravelly or well drained soil this will be suffi-
cient, but in clayey or heavy soils it is best to construct the walk with a
subfoundation consisting of from 4 to 10 inches of well compacted gravel
or cinders.
Fig. 59. — Concrete Pavement at Belief ontalne,
Ohio, Showing Longitudinal Wheel Marks.
Drainage is also necessary in heavy soils in order to prevent heaving
of the walk during the winter weather. Another precaution that should
be observed is to cut the walk into blocks about 5 feet square, taking
pains to cut entirely through both foundation and surface layers, so that
any heaving from frost or settling due to poorly compacted sub-bed, will
not break the individual stone, but simply move the block at the cutting
line. The attempt to cheapen the work by using a natural cement for the
base and a Portland cement in the wearing surface is ill-advised economy.
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STATE GEOLOGIST. 115
It is quite questionable whether a perfect union between the two masses of
concrete can be secured. The gain in cost is so small when the question
of the greater allowable proportion of aggregate with the Portland cement
over that with natural cement is considered, that it does not pay to risk
the character of the work to make the gain.
The cost of cement walks, well constructed, in 1896 to 1898, varied
from II to 14 cents per square foot. In 1902 and 1903, prices of material
and labor being higher, the same class of work cost from 14 to 17 cents
per square foot.
As to the life of a first class concrete walk, there appears to be no
limit. The writer knows of one walk that has been down some twenty-
one years or more that is. as good today as the day it was laid.
Fig. 61. — Concrete Sidewalk Built In 1880 at Conneaut, Ohio.
One of the walks along the Capitol Block in Indianapolis has been
down over thirty years. It was constructed of excellent material, but
with no special attention to the preparation of the sub-bed, consequently
water has percolated into the soil beneath and heaved the blocks badly
and they have become broken. The blocks are cut about 18 or 20 inches
square with lines running diagonally across the walk. Where they have
had reasonable support, however, they are still in good condition. If
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116 ANNUAL REPORT
the walk had been constructed as the better class of walks is today, it
would have remained in perfect condition. It seems almost incredible
to believe that people can go on year after year stumbling over miserably
irregular brick walks, when smooth, regular concrete walks are obtainable.
Figure 60, page 112, shows a section of a concrete walk. Figure 61
shows a well preserved old concrete walk.
CURBS AND GUTTERS.
A much later application of concrete than that of sidewalk construc-
tion is its use for curbs and gutters. So many of the natural stones when
used for curbs absorb water and disintegrate under frost action. Lime-
stone is especially subject to disintegration because of its lamination.
Sandstone wfears rapidly at points where wheels rub. In some parts of
our country neither limestone nor sandstone can be obtained at a reasonable
price, thus the demand for some good substitute has arisen.
id Spuria ce
Section of Combined Concrete Curb ^^ Gutter
Figure 62.
It has been found very easy to put in the plain concrete curb, and it has
proved very durable and at the same time has added much to the appearance
of the street. Another problem that the road engineers have had to solve is
the building of a gutter that will be smooth enough not to retard the flow
of storm water upon very flat grades and at the same time so impervious,
durable and tough that it will not rot out under continued dampness nor
wear out quickly under usage. Cobblestone, brick and stone block retard
the flow of water. Asphalt and coal tar rot or disintegrate under the
action of water. Concrete once more fulfills all the requirements. By
combining the curb and gutter into one monolithic whole, several diffi'
culties are avoided. The displacement of the curb, due to frost upon one
side or the expansion of the street upon the other, is greatly reduced.
Shrinkage and expansion do not cause cracks along the face of the curb.
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STATE GEOLOGIST. 117
thus allowing storm water to seep into the foundation and road-bed to cre-
ate havoc. Debris, which usually collects in the gutters, is more easily
carried along by the storm water, hence a cleaner looking street is the
result. The general appearance of a combined curb and gutter is more
pleasing to the eye. So once more concrete has found an opportunity to
usurp the place of other building material. Figure 62 shows a section,
with average dimensions, of a combined curb and gutter as used upon
Ninth avenue, Columbus, Ohio. Such a curb and gutter costs about 75
cents per lineal foot.
FENCE AND FENCE POSTS.
Around the old village of Woodruff Place, now within the corporate
limits of the city of Indianapolis, is a concrete fence, not a wall, but a
fence with posts and stringers with large concrete balusters or palings.
The posts are about 24 inches by 36 inches in cross-section and 4 feet high
set every 10 feet. A top rail 20 inches wide and 8 inches thick runs from
post to post, with a base rail quite near the ground. Connecting the two
rails and spaced 18 inches center to center are ornately shaped balusters.
The fence is not in the best of repair, but it has been in place for thirty
years or more and is in fair condition considering its age and the probable
manner of construction.
POSTS.
At the zoological garden in Washington, the officers in charge have
put concrete bases on the iron posts which are to be used in fencing in
the larger wild animals. The tidvantage is very apparent. Iron would
rust out quickly, and having rusted, might give way at some time without
any warning, allowing valuable or dangerous animals to get away. With
the concrete base upon the post several things are gained. First, the
enlarged base gives more firmness to the post; second, the iron below
ground is protected from moisture and from action of soluble chemicals
in the soil, and third, as the concrete comes to the surface the post above
the concrete is open for inspection and any weakness or corrosion can be
detected before harm is done. These posts consist of small iron pipes
or bars set in the center of the concrete bases which are 12 inches square
and 24 inches deep.
MILE POSTS.
The Chicago and Eastern Illinois Railroad * has adopted a concrete
mile post. The post rs 8 inches square and 8 feet long, standing 4j^ feet
out of the ground. The figures are 3J4 inches high and the letters 6
inches high, both being recessed 34 i^ch into the post. The post weighs
498 pounds.
The sides of the form are plastered J^ inch thick before the ordinary
concrete is put in. A special feature of the post is that the face contain-
*£Jng. News, Jan. 1, 1903.
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ing the letters is plastered with neat cement colored black by the addition
of J4 pound of lamp black to i quart of cement mixed in water. The
letters and figures are then painted white. The concrete is composed of
I part cement, i part sand and 2 parts crushed stone.
The cost of the post is as follows :
14 barrel of cement, at $2.00 $ .50
267 pounds of crushed stone
133 pounds of sand
1% hours of labor, at 15c
Carpenter, changing letters, % hour, at 25c.
Coloring In cement
.01
.01
.20
.08
.02
Total cost of post $ .82
Figure 63 illustrates this post.
There are now several post manufacturing concerns which make
concrete post3, but all are reinforced by steel and will be described in
the next chapter.
Vertical
Section.
Elevation.
Fig. 63. — Concrete Mile Posts on the 0. & E. I. Railroad.
TELEGRAPH POLES.
The manufacturing of concrete butts for telegraph poles is one of
the latest novelties in the use of cement. It is well known by those who
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120 ANNUAL REPORT
are observant that when telegraph or telephone poles have to be replaced,
it does not always mean that the whole pole has rotted away, but just that
portion sitting in the ground. Sometimes the poles can be removed to
a country line and reset by having the base sawed off; the balance of
the pole being perfectly sound. The cost of renewing poles, rewiring,
etc., is expensive. To avoid much of that trouble and expense this in-
dustry provides concrete bases cast in octagonal forms with four iron
strips bolted to opposite faces extending a foot or more above the con-
crete. The rotten butt of the pole can then be sawed off, the pole set a
couple of feet to one side, the concrete butt set firmly in place and the
pole set into the socket between the iron strips and firmly bolted to its
new base. No wiring need be touched nor communication interrupted in
the least. The pole when thus equipped is better than new, because it
wiill not rot out at the base again. If from extreme age or from special
disaster the poles need replacing, poles five feet shorter than otherwise
required can be used, thus adding materially to the amount saved. Such
concrete butts have been in use for three years, giving good satisfaction.
Figure 64 shows such a butt bolted to a pole.
BURIAL VAULTS.
Concrete burial vaults are being made, in sections, so that they can be
shipped to any point, set up in cement, and thus provide water-tight and
nearly air-tight receptacles for the casket. The pieces are not large, so
that they are easily handled. They are are all grooved and ribbed so that
they fit together well, and neat cement paste is used in all the joints to make
a perfectly tight vault. The roof is made in arched form with beveled
edges fitting into the V shaped bevels upon the top end of the side pieces.
The inventor claims two objects are served by this kind of a vault :
A better protection to the bodies of the dead, and a sanitary safeguard
provided for the living. It serves one of its most useful purposes in the
exhumation and reinterment of bodies. It is not so cumbersome but
that it can be moved bodily without removing the interior casket, the
cement- joints and the bevel rib feature making the vault one solid piece
of stone to be moved. Figure 65 illustrates the Lyon's burial vault, the
shape of the pieces, and the method of fitting them together.
FURNITURE.
Mr. W. N. Wight of Westwood, N. J., has still further extended
the use of concrete by making various articles of house and stable furni-
ture. Among the articles is an ice chest with an opening to put in the ice
from the outside of the house, while the provisions and food are placed
in the cooling chamber from within the house. Another article is a con-
crete fruit closet for canned goods. Outside, he has built a neat dog
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STATE GEOLOGIST. 121
kennel which is comfortable, durable and easily kept in sanitary condition.
At his stable, he has constructed a concrete stove on which to cook the
food for his stock. In all this work he has used woven wire netting with
a concrete of i cement, 2 sand and 5 cinders.
Fig. 65. — Concrete Burial Vault.
COEFFIQENT OF EXPANSION OF CONCRETE.
t From 1899 ^^ I90i> Prof. Wm. D. Pence, of the Purdue University,
Lafayette, Ind., with several of his students, carried on a series of tests to
determine the coefficient of expansion for concrete. It was planned with
special reference to the use of steel with concrete. The composition of
the concrete was based upon the specifications of Mr. Edwin Thacher, M.
Am. Soc. C. E., for a concrete for use in concrete steel construction:
namely, i part cement, 2 parts sand and 4 parts crushed stone that will
pass through a ij^ inch ring. Lehigh Portland cement was used the first
year and Medusa Portland the second. In the first series of tests Bedford
oolitic limestone was used and in the second, Kankakee, Illinois, limestone
was used. A bar of unbroken limestone was also tested in the second
series.
"In the plan finally adopted a standard bar of steel or copper with
known coefficient of expansion was subjected to identical changes of
temperature with the test bar of concrete, and the difference of expansion
of the two bars was determined by the principle of the 'optical lever.'
This difference in length, reduced to a unit of length and temperature,
gave a correction to be applied to the known coefficient of the metal bar."
Y'Eng. Record, FeVy. 22, 1902."
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The results obtained were as follows :
Coefficient of expansion of gravel concrete, 0.0000054 per degree F.
Coefficient of expansion of broken stone concrete, 0.0000055 per
degree F.
Coefficient of expansion of limestone bar, 0.0000056 per degree F.
The coefficient for concrete may be conveniently remembered as "five
zeros fifty-five."
As the coefiicient for steel is, closely, 0.0000060, the variation between
st-eel and concrete is not sufiicient to seriously affect their use in combi-
nation.
COST OF CONCRETE*
There are so many conditions, local and general, that enter into the
cost of concrete, that but brief space will be taken up here to give a few in-
stances of the actual cost of concrete for various purposes and in widely
different localities. The prices of labor and material and the ease or dif-
ficulty of access to material and the work to be done, largely govern the
cost of concrete.
TABLE No. 20.
Cost of Concrete— Using Portland Cement.
I
1880-85
1889
1891
1900-03
1900-02
1890-91
1895
1898
1897
1898
I
Newhaven, Eng. . . .
Buffalo, N. Y
Buffalo, N.Y
Buffalo, N.Y
Buffalo, NY
Toronto, Can
Marquette, Micli. . . .
Marquette, Mich
Buffalo, N.Y
Gr. Kanawha, W. Va
Monongahela River..
Chicago, Ills
o
Breakwater
Breakwater ....
Breakwater
Breakwater
Breakwater
Road Foundation
Breakwater
U. S. Breakwater
Harbor Work
Riverlmprov'ment
Lock and Dam
Sidewalks
I
1-7
1-3 -4
1-3 -4
1-2 -7^
1-2 -5
•s
SI
1^
15.50
9.19
8.21
5.65
6.64
4.83
6.35
4.57
8.75
7 25
11.00
10.00
Laid in
sacks.
Eng. News
Feb.17,'98.
Gov't and
contract
work.
Approx.
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STATE GEOLOGIST.
TABLE No. 20— Concluded.
123
I
1908
1899
1889
1900
1903
1908
1903
1904
I
Chicago, Ills
GolnmbtLs, Ohio.
Golnmbns, Ohio.
Chicago, Ills
Chicago, Ills
Peekskill, N. Y..
Columbas, Ohio.
Colnmbns, Ohio.
Sidewalks
Levee
Dam
O.&N.W. Ry. ...
L. S. & M. S. Ry. .
Tunnel
Road Foundation,
Curb and Gutter.
I
1-2 -5
1-2)^-5
1-3 -4>^
1-3 -6
1-2 -4
1-4 -8
1.2
12.50
6.75
4.95
4.81
16.25
10.72
4.35
17.00
&
Approx.
Work by
day labor.
Average of
ten bids.
Track Ele-
vation.
Retaining
Wall.
Lining of
Ry.Tunnel.
Approx.
I
TABLE No. 21.
Cost of Concrete — ^Using Natural Cement.
I
1^
!
1
1895
1894
1897
1897
1897
1900
1902
Marquette, Mich.
New York
Rough River, Ky.
Herr's Island,
Allegheny River
Monongahela River.
Chicago, Ills
Chicago, Ills
Breakwater
Harbor
River Impr*v'm'nt
River Impr'v'm'nt
River Impr'v*mn't
C. & N. W.
Track Elevation
L. S.&M.S. Ry.
1-2 -8>^
1-2 -4
3.64
3.56
7.50
8.59
8.00
2.40
4.00
Govemm't
^ River and
Harbor
Work.
Including
Forms.
Fbundation
of Wall.
The cost of massive concrete can be materially reduced in price if
large irregular boulders or stones are imbedded in the concrete. It is possi-
ble to do this without in any way weakening the mass. If concrete cost
$6.oo per cubic yard and stone costing $i.oo per cubic yard was imbedded
in the concrete to the extent of say 40 per cent, of the mass, then one
cubic yard of masonry would cost $4.00, a saving of one-third the cost of
the original concrete.
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124 ANNUAL REPORT
CHAPTER IV-
THE USES OF CEMENT EST REINFORCED CONCRETE*
"Reinforced concrete," "Armored concrete," or "Steel concrete" as
it is variously called, is the structure resulting from the use of concrete
with iron or steel ribs or "bones" running through the concrete mass.
EARLY USE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE.
Condensed extracts from a discussion upon Steel Concrete Construc-
tion by Mr. A. L. Johnson, Assoc. M. Am. Soc. C. E., printed in the
Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, follows. He
gives to Mr. W. E. Ward the credit of having first used steel reinforced
concrete in a scientific manner in a building which he erected in Port
Chester, N. Y., in 1875. Mr. Ward constructed a building in which "not
only all the external and internal walls, cornices and towers were con-
structed of beton (the word concrete was not then in use), but all the beams
and roofs were exclusively made of beton reinforced with light-iron beams
and rods."
"Francois Coignet of Paris, in 1869, took out patents on a combina-
tion of beton and iron rods, but he had no conception of the proper method
of using the materials."
Monier built his first wire and beton flower pots in 1876, but the
manner in which he combined the two materials showed that he did not
understand the principles of reinforced concrete. He placed the wire
webbing in the neutral axis of the slab; while it answered his purpose,
it would be disastrous to attempt such construction upon beams or in
bridges.
Thaddeus Hyatt, of England, began experiments upon reinforced
concrete in 1876, the result of which he published in 1877.
It is probable that the first approximately correct formulas for re-
inforced concrete were derived by Julius Mandl in Germany, and Prof. J.
B. Johnson in this country at about the same time.
L. A. Saunders, engineer for Monier construction, in Germany, pub-
lished an extensive treatise upon the subject. In 1899 M. Considere,
Ingenieur en Chef des Ponts et Chaussees. Paris, published a long dis-
cussion upon Ciment-arme. "His studies embraced the following points :
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STATE GEOLOGIST.
126
Geometrical and algebraic determinations of the moment of resistance
of armed pieces, influence of the quality of the concrete and of the arma-
tures, the most economical percentage of metal, effect of bad workman-
ship, value of the factor of safety, and the utility of symmetrical arma-
tures." In more recent years Edwin Thacher has published from time to
time the results of a careful mathematical investigation of the theory.
RECENT USE OF REINFORCED CONCRETE.
During the last four or five years many different systems have been
developed, few of which have introduced any radical ideas into reinforced
concrete construction.
Concrete has great compressive strength, but lacks reliable, tmiform
ten?ile strength. Engineers have sought to take advantage of the strength
of concrete in compression for all classes of construction, but to do so
they must insert some material to supply the much needed tensile strength,
hence they have imbedded steel and iron bars of various sizes and shapes,
in the various positions in the concrete mass where they conceive the
tensile strains will occur. Tests have proved conclusively that greatly
added strength has been given to such structures.
Professor W. K. Hatt,* Purdue University, Lafayette, Ind., has car-
ried on a series of tests with his senior students which very clearly show
the effect of reinforcing concrete beams. Concrete beams 8 by 8 inches
square were tested in lengths of 8o inches between supports. The several
beams were reinforced by ^ and ^ inch iron bars placed i and 2 inches
from the lower face of the beam. The majority of the tests were made
upon concrete composed of i part cement, 2 parts sand and 4 parts broken
stone. A few tests were made upon cinder concrete and some with gravel
concrete. The variables tested were age, per cent, of steel, position of
steel and material.
One per cent, of reinforcement placed i inch from the bottom in-
creased the strength of the plain concrete beams from 2,200 to 7,400
pounds, and increased the flexibility of the beam from a center deflection
of o.oi inch to 0.14 inch.
Two per cent, of reinforcement increased the strength from 7,200 to
10,000 pounds with only a slight increase in the flexibility. Raising the
1 per cent, of metal 2 inches from the bottom face decreased the strength
from 7,200 to 5,000 pounds, with a slight decrease in flexibility.
"A cinder concrete and a stone concrete beam each reinforced with
2 per cent, of metal, i inch from the bottom face, had comparative strengths
of S,ooo and 10,000 pounds, respectively, and a comparative flexibility of
0.26 and 0.16 inch, respectively. In case of plain cinders and stone
concrete beams, the comparative strength was 600 and 1,800 pounds, and
•JSng. News, July 17, 1902.
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126 ANNUAL REPORT
the flexibility was 0.023 and 0.016 inch, respectively. "It thus appears
that reinforcing a beam with even i per cent, of steel gives it ten times
its former flexibility and more than three times its former strength."
In plain foundations or heavy walls where concrete is only used in
compression, and no transverse or tensile strains are brought upon the