56 
CONCRETE SILOS 
quantity of water accumulated under unusual conditions, with no provision 
for escape. In such cases the stress on the walls may reach two or three 
times that usually imposed by the silage. Although the majority of silos 
are not provided with a drain, it is undoubtedly a desirable feature. The 
top of the drain should be protected from accumulations on the silo floor, 
by a small wire mat. A 4-inch or 6-inch drain tile will be sufficient. The 
floor should be made of 1 :2 :3 concrete. A smooth finish is not considered 
necessary. 
Home-Made Forms for Monolithic Silos 
The word "Monolithic" coming from "mono" meaning one, and "lith" 
meaning stone, is used in concrete work to denote the objects of concrete 
which are one continuous solid mass or "as one stone." Contrasting with 
the monolithic are several systems of concrete construction such as the 
concrete block, concrete brick, concrete tile, unit column and slab, and 
cement plaster. The systems of concrete construction most commonly 
used are the monolithic and the concrete block. The object of the present 
section is to supply the necessary information for constructing monolithic 
silos, in cases where the work is all done by the owner who is dependent 
entirely upon his own resources, or by contractors not familiar with this 
class of work. 
The form described and shown on the following pages is a combina- 
tion of the Wisconsin form, designed by the Agricultural Department 
Farmers' Institute Silo Form used very extensively in Wisconsin and perfected by David Imrie of 
Roberts, Wisconsin. 
