316 THE USES OF ARTIFICIAL STONE. 



piece, has been built of this material, at Vesinet, near Paris. The steeple is one 

 hundred and thirty feet high, and shows no cracks or other evidences of 

 weakness. 



M. Pallu, the founder, certifies that "during the two years consumed by M. 

 Coignet in the building of this church, the beton agglomere, in all its stages, was 

 exposed to rain and frost; and that it has perfectly resisted all variations of tem- 

 perature." 



The entire floor of the church is paved with the same material in a variety 

 of beautiful designs, and with an agreeable contrast of colors. 



In constructing the municipal barracks of Notre Dame, Paris, the arched 

 ceilings of the cellars were made of this beton, each arch being a single mass. 

 The spans varied from twenty-two to twenty-five feet, the rise, in all cases, being 

 one-tenth the span, and the thickness at the crown 8.66 inches. In the same 

 building the arched ceilings of the three stories of galleries, one above the other, 

 facing the interior, and all the subterranean drainage, comprising nearly six hun- 

 dred yards of sewers, are also monoliths of beton. 



One of these vault arches, having a span of 17^2 feet, was subjected to 

 severe three trial tests, viz : 



First. A pyramid of stone work weighing thirty-six tons of two thousand 

 pounds each, was placed on the center of the vault. 



Second. A mass of sand thirteen feet thick was spread over the surface of 

 the same vault. 



Third. Carts loaded with heavy materials were driven over it. 



In no instance was the slightest effect produced. 



A portion of the basement work of the Paris Exposition building comprised 

 a system of groined arches, supported by columns about 13^ inches square and 

 10 feet apart. The arches have a uniform rise of one-tenth the span, and a thick- 

 ness at the crown of 5^ inches, are monoliths of beton agglomere. A system of 

 flat cylindrical arches of ten feet span, covers the ventilating passages. They 

 have a rise of one-tenth, and a thickness at the crown of not quite 8 inches, and 

 were tested with a distributed weight of 3,300 pounds to the superficial yard. 



There was consumed in the construction of this basement work more than 

 353,000 cubic feet of beton. 



Over thirty-one miles of the Paris sewers had been laid in this material prior 

 to June, 1869, at a saving of 20 per cent, on their lowest estimated cost, in any 

 other kind of masonry. 



Several large city houses, some for places of residence, and others for busi- 

 ness purposes, have been constructed, and many others are in contemplation. 

 In these the entire masonry, comprising both the exterior and the partition walls, 

 the chimneys with flues, cellar arches, cisterns, etc., is a single monolith of beton 

 agglomere. 



It may be advantageously used in fortifications, for foundations, generally, 

 both in and out of water ; for the piers, arches, and roof surfaces of casemates ; 

 for parade and breast-height walls ; for counterscarp walls and galleries ; for scarp 



