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2 
STATE GEOLOGIST. 
9, Set.—(1) Initial set shall not occur in less than thirty (30) 
minutes. 
(2) Final set shall not occur in less than one hour nor more than 
ten hours. 
(3) The time of setting shall be determined by means of the 
Vicat needle apparatus as recommended by the Committee of the 
American Society of Civil Engineers upon uniform tests of cement in 
conjunction with the Committee of the International Association for 
Testing Materials. 
(4) Using a paste composed of neat cement and water, of nor- 
mal consistency, the initial set is said to have commenced when the 
needle ceases to pass a point 5 mm. (0.20-in.) above the upper surface 
of the glass plate in the Vicat apparatus, and is said to have ter- 
minated the moment the needle does not sink visibly into the mass. 
(5) The paste is of normal consistency when the cylinder of 
the Vicat apparatus penetrates to a point in the mass 10 mm. (0.89-in.) 
below the top of the ring. 
(6) The amount of water required to make a paste of normal 
consistency varies with different cements, but will be found to be 
approximately 20 per cent. of the weight of the cement. It should 
have a temperature of 70 degrees Fahrenheit. 
10. Soundness—(1) <A pat of neat cement 2% to 8 inches in diam- 
eter, 14-inch thick at center, tapering to a thin edge, and allowed 
to take its final set in moist air, must withstand indefinite exposure 
in water or air at any ordinary temperature without checking dis- 
tortion or softening, . 
(2) A pat of neat cement as above, placed in water, which shall 
be slowly raised to the boiling point and then maintained in that 
condition for three hours and allowed to cool gradually, shall not show 
any signs of checking, distortion or softening. The same result should 
follow exposure to steam not under pressure for three hours. This 
test may or may not be cause for rejection, at the option of the engi- 
neer in charge. 
JJ. Tensile Strength,—(1) The briguette used in testing shall be 
formed in molds of the size and form now in customary use and 
recommended by the American Society of Civil Engineers, the stress 
to be applied at a uniform rate of 600 pounds per minute until 
fractured. 
(2) All briquettes of neat cement are to be made from paste of 
normal consistency in the following manner: The molds should 
be filled with the paste as soon as it is thoroughly mixed and tem- 
pered, the material pressed in firmly with the fingers and smoothed 
off with a trowel without ramming; the material should be heaped 
up on the upper surface of the mold, and in smoothing off the trowel 
should be drawn over the mold in such a manner as to exert a mod- 
erate pressure upon the excess material. The mold should then 
be turned over and the operation repeated upon the other side. 
(3 Briquettes for twenty-four hours tests shall be allowed to set 
twenty-four hours in moist air. 
(4) Briquettes for seven and. twenty-eight day tests shall be 
allowed to set one day in moist air and remainder of period in water. 
13—S. G. 
193 
