PORTLAND,  NATURAL,  AND  PUZZOLAN 
CEMENTS. 
PORTLAND  CEMENT  MATERIALS  NEAR 
DUBUQUE,  IOWA. 
By  Ernest  F.  Burohard. 
INTRODUCTION. 
In  the  summer  of  1905  a  detailed  geologic  survey  of  the  Lancaster 
quadrangle,  lying  mainly  in  Wisconsin  and  Iowa,  was  made  by  J.  R. 
Banister,  A.  W.  Lewis,  and  the  writer.  During  the  survey  particular 
attention  was  given  to  the  investigation  of  certain  natural  resources 
of  the  district,  among  them  the  beds  of  limestone  and  clay,  with  a 
view  to  ascertaining  their  value  for  making  Portland  cement.  The 
Iowa  Geological  Survey  cooperated  in  the  work  to  the  extent  of  mak- 
ing chemical  analyses  of  some  of  the  materials  collected.  This  analyt- 
ical work,  carried  on  under  the  supervision  of  S.  W.  Beyer  at  the  Iowa 
College  of  Agriculture  and  Mechanic  Arts,  at  Ames,  is  still  unfinished. 
It  is  planned  further  to  ascertain  the  proportions  in  which  the  mate- 
rials must  be  combined  in  order  to  produce  the  best  cement,  to  burn 
the  material  on  a  small  scale,  and  to  make  tests  for  fineness  and 
tensile  strength  of  the  resulting  cement  as  soon  as  the  necessary 
machinery  is  installed  in  the  college  laboratories.  In  case  these 
results  are  as  favorable  as  there  is  reason  to  believe  they  will  prove 
to  be,  the  information  should  be  of  considerable  importance,  for  the 
district  appears  to  be  so  situated  as  to  need  a  cement  plant. 
The  trade  territory  would  be  confined  to  the  region  west,  north, 
and  northeast  of  Dubuque,  and  would  comprise  a  large  part  of  the 
States  of  Iowa,  Minnesota,  and  Wisconsin.  A  plant  near  Dubuque 
would  at  present  have  to  meet  competition  from  Mason  City,  Iowa; 
Hannibal,  Mo.;  and  Dixon,  111.  Dubuque  has  the  advantage  of 
cheap  water  transportation,  besides  four  direct  rail  lines  to  the  north, 
and  might  fairly  be  able  to  control  the  trade  along  the  river  up  to 
and  including  St.  Paul  and  Minneapolis. 
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