NORTH SHORE BREEZE 
9 
braced, and the concrete is then 
mixed and placed in the moulds and 
allowed to harden or set, which usually 
takes from seven to ten days, depend- 
ing upon the consistency of the con- 
crete and the manner and under the 
conditions in which it was placed. 
Sometimes concrete mixed quite'dry 
is used, and when placed in the forms 
is thoroughly tamped and compacted. 
In this manner the hardening occurs 
more rapidly, and the.forms can. be 
removed within two or three days. ‘It 
has been determined, however, that 
the greatest strength is obtained by 
using a wet concrete, that is, a con- 
crete which will slowly form. In this 
way very little tamping is required, 
and a denser concrete is obtained, and 
upon removing the forms there are no 
voids or rough places showing, which 
is usually the case when dry concrete 
is used unless great care is taken in 
placing same. 
In Constructing a House 
of hollow concrete blocks, the blocks 
are made up in any desired sizes, 
usually 24 inches by 8 inches, 
byes inches, and are made hol- 
low with approximately one-third 
their volume being air space. A 
machine is used for making these 
blocks, and it is advisable to make 
them from four to six weeks prior to 
the time they are to be used, so that 
they will season, that is, harden, and 
take a permanent set. A great many 
time the sand and gravel required for 
the blocks can be taken directly from 
the excavation for the foundation of 
the house, and in this way a great 
‘saving is effected. 
Sidewalks 
In regard to sidewalks, at this time 
there are no natural stone walks laid, 
but always artificial stone, concrete or 
granolithic, all being practically the 
same. It should be the same with 
curbing or edgestone, on the score 
of economy and practicability. On 
streets where there is considerable 
teaming, concrete curbs are laid with 
a steel protected edge, but in parks 
or private estates curbing is laid with- 
out this steel protection, and in all 
cases presents a neat appearance and 
can be laid at a considerable saving 
over granite curbing. 
It has now become the practice to 
lay combined curb and gutters of con- 
crete, and the result is much more de- 
sirable than granite curb and granite 
block gutters or cobblestone gutters, 
because of the neater appearance, and 
the ease in cleaning. 
Road Construction 
On road construction concrete has 
in the past few years played an im- 
portant part, and in the past year or 
two roads constructed entirely of con- 
crete have been built. In the city of 
Boston on the streets in the business 
section where the teaming is practi- 
cally continuous, and exceptionally 
heavy, the streets are constructed of 
granite blocks laid on a 6-inch con- 
crete base, and the joints between the 
blocks are filled with a grout mixture 
of cement and sand, making an ex- 
tremely durable pavement. Streets 
in the Back Bay, Boston, and in those 
portions of that city where the team- 
ing is light, are paved with asphait 
and wooden blocks laid on a concrete 
base. In the suburb macadam_pave- 
ment is mostly laid, and recently con- 
crete curbing and gutters have been 
laid in connection with the macadam, 
and also concrete sidewalks. 
Ornamental Work 
Ornamental and monumental work 
in concrete has been developed to such 
an extent that this class of work in 
cut stone is being superseded by con- 
crete because of the great saving, and 
the production of work so similar in 
appearance to cut stone that there is 
practically no choice except on the 
score of economy. 
Factory Construction 
In the building of factories rein- 
forced concrete construction is very 
extensively employed, and this form 
of construction is steadily on the in- 
crease, and many of the largest facto- 
ries recently constructed are of rein- 
forced concrete. Probably the two 
best examples of reinforced concrete 
construction for large factory buildings 
are the plants of the  Foster- 
Armstrong Piano Co. at Despatch, N. 
Y., and the United Shoe Machinery 
Co. at Beverly, Mass., where the three 
main buildings are 820 feet long, 60 
feet wide, four stories high, with con- 
necting wings and foundry, power- 
house, storehouses, etc., entirely of re- 
inforced concrete construction. 
It is especially desirable in buildings 
of this class because of its rigidity or 
lack of vibration, a desirable feature in 
buildings equipped with working 
machinery. In connection with fac- 
tory construction, chimneys of rein- 
forced concrete have been erected, and 
this class of chimney has given such 
satisfaction that there are many being 
built at the present time, both in this 
country and in Europe. A chimney 
of reinforced concrete 350 feet in 
heights, and 18 feet in diameter has re- 
cently been constructed in one of the 
western cittes. 
Bridges 
Culverts, bridges and viaducts with 
arch spans of up to and over 100 feet 
have been erected, and are fast dis- 
placing steel bridges, which can only 
be considered as temporary structures 
with a large maintenance item, where- 
as ina concrete bridge absolute per- 
manence is obtained, and there is no 
maintenance item because of struc- 
tural deterioration as in steel. The 
most notable examples of reinforced 
concrete bridge construction are the 
viaducts now being built by the Flor- 
ida East Coast railway on its extension 
work from Miami to Key West be- 
tween the Florida keys. This rail- 
way company is building six miles of 
viaducts, composed of about 500 
arches of from 50 to 60 feet clear span, 
requiring about 300,000 cubic yards of 
concrete and 5,000 tons of steel rein- 
forcing rods of 5-8 inches and 3-4 
inches in diameter. This form of con- 
struction was chosen for these via- 
ducts because permanence was de- 
sired, also great weight to withstand 
the force of waves against overturning, 
the water in- which they are con- 
structed being from six to thirty feet 
in depth, and exposed to the action of 
the Atlantic. A steel bridge in such 
a location would have an enormous 
item for inspection and maintenance, 
and this would increase as the bridge 
aged, whereas the concrete structure 
will be a better bridge 50 years from 
now than it will be when completed. 
Dams- 
Dams of reinforced concrete are 
displacing dams of every other con- 
struction, and can be built quicker 
and more economically than of any 
other material, and in time become 
part of the geology. Eventually this 
will be the only form of permanent 
dam construction. 
Miscellanous Work 
Each year,—in fact, each month,— 
develops new uses for concrete, so 
rapid is the progress of this material. 
Telegraph poles of extreme height 
have been made and are now in use in 
the West. Fence posts, clothes posts, 
silos, tanks, cisterns, steps, building 
blocks, bricks, etc., are now being 
made of concrete. Experiments with 
the use of reinforced concrete railroad 
ties have been carried on for several 
years by different railroad companies, 
with considerable success, and it seems 
as though it would develop into a 
necessity for the use of ties of this 
material because of the scarcity and 
high price of suitable timber for this 
purpose. It isa safe prediction that 
within five years the construction of 
concrete dwelling houses in Boston 
and vicinity will be very common, and 
eventually owners will require their 
architects to specify this form of con- 
struction because of the saving finally 
effected in cost of construction and 
durability, together with the low in- 
surance rate to be obtained. 
Advertise your wants with us. 
Others have profited by it. 
Have your printing done at The 
Breeze Print, Manchester. 
