PREFACE 



This volume forms the first part of the regular course on Rein- 

 forced Concrete Construction offered by the Extension Division 

 of The University of Wisconsin and, in common with a number of 

 the other structural engineering courses offered, presupposes a 

 knowledge of the elements of structures. It has been written 

 primarily to meet the needs of those who desire to take up the 

 study of this subject by correspondence, but the author sees 

 no reason why a text of this nature may not be employed for 

 other purposes. 



The complete text for the course in Reinforced Concrete 

 Construction is in three volumes: one on the fundamentals, one 

 on the design and construction of retaining walls and buildings, 

 and one on the design and construction of bridges and miscellan- 

 eous structures. The present volume on fundamentals omits, for 

 simplicity, the flat-slab type of floor construction a subject 

 reserved for thorough treatment under the heading of concrete 

 floors in Volume II. The text is intended to be supplemented 

 with such material as is suited to the special needs of the indi- 

 vidual student. 



Information on the subject has been drawn from many sources 

 but it should be stated that the text-books, " Principles of Rein- 

 forced Concrete Construction" by Turneaure and Maurer 

 (Copyright, 1907, 1909 by F. E. Turneaure and E. R. Maurer) 

 and "Concrete Plain and Reinforced" by Taylor and Thompson 

 (Copyright, 1905, 1909 by Frederick W. Taylor) have been 

 referred to constantly. 



The author wishes to express his indebtedness to Mr. F. C. 

 Thiessen for his excellent work in preparing the illustrations and 

 for his help with the computations. 



The photographs of the beam and column tests were kindly 

 lent by Mr. M. O. Withey, Assistant Professor of Mechanics in 

 The University of Wisconsin. 



G. A. H. 



THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN, 



MADISON, WISCONSIN, 



June 1, 1912. 



