X;;iTOaMigOTi^crosrotw)toit^iTO?^^^ 



The Inadequacy of Concrete 



In connection with this article are shown 

 speak for themselves. Without any detailed 



five illustrations which 

 explanation they would 

 serve very well to 

 illustrate the im- 

 practicability o f 

 ideas which so often 

 is apparent on the 

 part of those per- 

 sons expounding the 

 high qualities of 

 wood substitutes. 

 Hardwood Record 

 has from time to 

 time pointed out 

 various instances in 

 which substitute 

 materials of various 

 kinds have proven 

 themselves in every 

 way inadequate. In 

 steel car construc- 

 'tion, i n fireproof 

 building construc- 

 tion, in the man- 

 ufacture of office 



furniture, interior trim and in 

 numerous and varied other lines 

 of manufacture substitutes have 

 gained considerable headway. 

 While of course it is true that in 

 many instances substitutes for 

 wood of certain characters are 

 better adapted for specific pur- 

 poses, the perpetrators of sub- 

 stitutes have made grave errors 

 in endeavoring to cover too broad 

 a field. 



The use of concrete construc- 

 tion of various kinds has com- 

 manded universal attention only 

 during the last few years. Con- 

 crete as a material for under- 

 ground work and ordinary rough 

 heavy construction, such as 

 foundations and retaining walls, 



has been in use for 

 a long time, but it 

 was only with the 

 introduction of the 

 steel reinforcement 

 that its use in so 

 varied a line of 

 work has been at- 

 tempted. The re- 

 sult of this exploita- 

 tion has been that 

 the material has 

 been brought to 

 ridicule in hundreds 

 of cases. Imagina- 

 tive architects en- 

 thusiastic over the 

 supposed high quali- 

 ties of this material 

 for all purposes 

 have specified its 



use in places for which it had absolutely no qualities which would 

 recommend it. It is true that in certain cases where concrete has- 

 been specified and 

 has not lived up to 

 its requirements, 

 this condition was 

 not directly the 

 fault of the archi- 

 tect's specifications, 

 but here conies to 

 light another feat- 

 ure of this type of 

 construction which 

 in itself makes it 

 extremely danger- 

 ous, and which has 

 been responsible for 

 a great deal of re- 

 actionary sentiment 

 regarding its use. 

 In other words, there 

 are so many chances 

 for faulty mixing 

 and installation of 

 concrete that the 



builder of a concrete building is 

 not at all certain after having 

 moved in that it will not fall 

 down in the course of a few 

 months. 



The accompanying pictures 

 were taken along the lines of the 

 Northwestern Elevated railroad 

 running from Chicago to Evans- 

 ton, 111. These posts were in- 

 stalled about a year and a half 

 ago in connection with a large 

 amount of concrete retaining wall 

 work done in the vicinity. The 

 pictures were taken from the 

 roadway running between the ele- 

 vated track.s and a team track 

 connected with the Northwestern 

 railroad. The roadway is about 

 twenty-five feet in width, just about 



giving room for a 

 team to turn around 

 and back up to the 

 car. Evidently the 

 architect specifying 

 this type of post 

 paid no attention 

 whatever to this 

 feature. If he had, 

 he certainly would 

 have realized that 

 concrete posts as 

 shown, could not 

 possibly be expected 

 to stand up under 

 the constant bom- 

 bardment of heavy 

 trucks and wagons 

 backing into them 

 as they were loaded 

 or unloaded at the 



-40- 



