UNIVERSAL PORTLAND CEMENT CO. 
87 
Concrete Roofs 
Some years ago, even concrete silos were built without roofs. Such 
is not true today, and in fact one silo contractor, W. H. Warford, of 
Geneva, Illinois, has invented and patented a roof form so that concrete 
roofs can be built on practically any type of masonry silos. The Monsco 
Company has made provision for roofs, and A. H. Limberg, one of the 
early silo form inventors, always recommended concrete roofs as well as 
chutes. A silo without a roof is an unfinished building. Scientific 
investigation has disclosed that not only the freezing of silage in winter, 
but its thawing-out along the north wall is prevented by the roof. The 
roof protects the silage by excluding the elements and maintains uniform 
conditions in the silo. 
The functions of a roof on a silo are (1) to prevent the cold from reach- 
ing the silage, (2) to make it more convenient to work in the silo during 
stormy weather and (3) to prevent the silage from being spoiled by dry- 
ing out by the sun. 
The logical way to finish up a concrete silo is with a concrete roof. 
Of 110 concrete silos recently investigated by this Company, 39 had con- 
crete roofs, 30 wooden roofs, 3 steel roofs, 13 had no roofs of any sort, 
and on 16 silos no note of the roof was made. Of the silos with concrete 
roofs, more than a majority were built during the last two years, showing 
that the tendency at the present time is toward the all-concrete silo — 
from foundation to pinnacle. If the directions given in the following para- 
graphs are closely followed, little difficulty will be found in putting on a 
good roof of concrete — one that will last indefinitely without need of 
Framing for Constructing a Concrete Roof on the concrete silo; wall forms in position. The illustra- 
tion is of the University of Wisconsin forms. 
