TIMBER STOEAGE IN THE EASTERN AND SOUTHERN STATES. 19 



ing upward, being 1 foot square at the top, which gives a good bear- 

 ing surface for the horizontal wooden skids or for the vertical posts 

 where it is necessary to elevate the skids to a height consistent with 

 the height of the tramways. 



A concrete mixture of l-2-|-5 is used,, at a cost for labor and ma- 

 terial of $5 per cubic yard, or an average cost of about $5 per pier. 



The foundations follow the slightly varying contour of the ground. 

 To compensate for the more marked differences in soil elevation 

 the skid timbers are frequently blocked up to an approximately level 

 condition by the use of short sections of pine posts treated at the 

 ends with a tar or 

 cresote preparation. 



There are two ad- 

 vantages in casting 

 the piers in two 

 pieces: (1) The re- 

 duction in weight of 

 the individual blocks 

 when it becomes nec- 

 essary to shift them 

 about the yard, and 

 (2) the greater ease 

 of alignment when 

 erecting the skids. 



All the skids are 

 well off the ground 

 at heights never less 

 than 18 to 24 inches 

 and frequently 36 

 inches and over. The 

 lumber is not piled 

 directly on the wooden skid timbers, but rests on a 1-inch pine strip, 

 usually about 3 inches wide, to give a smaller bearing surface. This 

 method is not uncommonly employed in various yards. It is of 

 distinct advantage where lumber is piled on infected skids, and if the 

 dry strips are freshly laid for each pile they materially assist in 

 reducing infections in the base of the stack. 



In direct contrast to these concrete foundations with ample venti- 

 lation beneath, one frequently meets with the type illustrated in 

 figure 21. The one figured is built of 2-inch pecky cypress planks 

 about 14 feet long, resting directly on the ground. The. amount of 

 lumber used was computed for one of the squares and* totaled ap- 

 proximately 585 feet b. m. While pecky cypress is often used in the 

 South for foundations of this type, in many other cases either non- 



FiG. 16. — Thoroughly rotted pine skids in a mill yard in 

 Texas. Such decayed foundation timbers are very com- 

 mon. Fungous infection can pass directly from these 

 timbers to the lumber piled on them. Creosote would 

 have prevented this condition. 



