CHAPTEK XXII 



CATTLE DIPPING TANKS 



A Cattle Dipping Tank in Keinforced Conckete — A Cattle Dipping 

 Tank in Plain Concrete — Other Materials of Construction 



Semi-reinforcement. — A structure which is reinforced simply to prevent 

 the formation of comparatively large cracks, the reinforcement not being 

 primarily for the purpose of taking up the tensile stresses, is said to be 

 semi-reinforced. 



The author designed and superintended the construction of a cattle 

 dipping tank of this class on the Potchefstroom Experimental Farm. 



The side- walls of this tank were made 15 inches thick at the bottom, 

 thinning down to 9 inches at the top, and were semi-reinforced by heavy 

 barbed wire imbedded in the concrete. In the lower half of each side-wall 

 the barbed wires were inserted in pairs at vertical intervals of 9 inches, 

 each wire being about 3 inches in from the front and back faces of the 

 wall respectively. In the upper half of each side-wall one wire was 

 inserted for every 9 inches of vertical height, being placed in the middle 

 of the thickness of the wall. The bottom and ends of the tank were 

 semi-reinforced by wires passing right through from end to end of the 

 tank in the middle of the thickness of the concrete. As a result no 

 trouble has been experienced from the formation of cracks and consequent 

 leakage of this tank. 



The only objection to the use of barbed wire as a semi-reinforcement 

 seems to be that it is rather awkward to handle and to keep stretched 

 during imbedment ; to be effective the wire must be free from kinks or 

 bends, and, to ensure this, should be kept stretched during the process of 

 imbedment. 



A concrete wall, if at all long, should always be reinforced parallel to 

 its length if the formation of unsightly cracks is to be avoided. 



Dipping Tank with Complete Reinforcement. — The tank, the plans 

 for which are given here, is completely reinforced, the walls being only 



