MACHINE-MADE CEMENT PIPE 



FOR 



IRRIGATION SYSTEMS AND OTHER PURPOSES 



By G. E. P. Smith 



INTRODUCTION 



Eleven years ago this Station published a bulletin on hand- 

 tanii>ed cement i)ipe.* At that time cement pipe was unknown in 

 Arizona, while in southern California it was in disrepute owing to 

 the many failures of pipe lines which had been laid about a decade 

 before. The failures were due in some cases to unsound cement, 

 and in Other cases to insufficient cement or poor methods of mixing, 

 tamping, or curing. Several machines which made and laid the pipe 

 continuously in the trench had been tried unsuccessfully, and finally 

 abandoned. However, a few i)ipe lines which had been well con- 

 structed of hand-tamped pipe, especially those built by Mr. Arthur 

 S. Bent of Los Angeles, demonstrated the great possibilities of 

 cement i)ipe for irrigation distributing systems. In preparation for 

 the bulletin above referred to, the writer made considerable 15-inch 

 pipe, using various mixtures, and studied the water-tightness and 

 other characteristics, and as a result the bulletin strongly recom- 

 mended the use of cement pipe for irrigation lines, sewers, culverts, 

 ditch gates, drain tile, and underflow collecting systems. 



Since 1907 a great deal of hand-tamped cement pipe has been 

 laid in Arizona. At the present time several companies in the State 

 are devoted to this work exclusively, and many farmers have pur- 

 chased forms and made their own pipe. Arizona cities, however, 

 continue to use clay sewer tile, although it is more expensive and is 

 in some other respects inferior to cement pipe. In California the 

 use of hand-tamped cement pipe has increased greatly, and it is 

 estimated that over 5000 miles of such pipe have been constructed, 

 effecting an enormous saving of water from evaporation and seep- 

 age losses in open ditches. 



Meanwhile, there have been developed in the Middle West, not- 

 ablv in Iowa, some excellent machines for manufacturing cement 



►Bull. 55, Arizona Agricu'tuial Experiment Station, 1907. 



