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Indiana University Studies 



of the Southern Indiana quarry districts into Portland cement it 

 would be well to look at the deposits in the light of the above 

 requirements. In chemical composition the Mitchell and Oolitic, 

 stone are both very well fitted for the manufacture of cement. 

 In fact, the Lehigh Portland Cement Company is operating 

 a plant at Mitchell, Ind., in which the Mitchell limestone is used 

 altogether. The United States Cement Company's plant at 

 Bedford, Ind., operated for some time with Oolitic stone and 

 pronounced it of first-class quality. Both deposits are very high 

 in their percentage of calcium carbonate and contain very little 

 other material which could be considered as impurity in the 

 manufacture of cement. It is generally conceded that other 

 things being equal no better stone deposits for the manufacture 

 of Portland cement can be found. 



In its physical characters the stone is well adapted to cement 

 manufacture since it is easily crushed and carries a low per- 

 centage of moisture. 



The discussion of the supply of material available for the 

 manufacture of Portland cement from the waste limestone of the 

 quarry district raises several questions that are rather difficult of 

 solution. The amount of material necessary for a paying plant 

 is quite large, and the process of getting the waste to a centrally 

 located plant involves a problem in transportation which will be 

 taken up later in this study. So far as the amount of stone 

 necessary for the manufacture of cement is concerned, the supply 

 is practically unlimited, but the problem of its deliver}^ at a 

 central plant is difficult of solution. 



The relation of the deposits of limestone to deposits of shale is 

 favorable for economical operation. The shale used by the Lehigh 

 Cement Company is brought from the Knobstone formation 

 (near Brownstown and Sparksville, Ind.). These shale deposits are 

 available for any plant operating in the southern part of the 

 district since several roads enter the stone belt from the east. 

 The Knobstone formation outcrops east of Bloomington along 

 the Illinois Central Railroad and would be available for a plant 

 located at Bloomington. There are deposits of shale in the 

 Chester formation which outcrops west of the city, but it is not 

 known how plentiful the deposits are or whether they are adapted 

 in composition to cement manufacture. 



A cement plant located at either Bedford or Bloomington 

 would be in a favorable position with regard to fuel supply, 

 markets, and transportation routes generally. The belt is 



