Show the j progress of the cement in industry astry WILMAR EVANS perhaps the most important development in the cement industry during the past year both in regard to the consumption of cement and as a matter of deep public interest in the development of the country at large is the splendid progress which nas been made in the construction of concrete roads throughout the united states since the inauguration of this class of roadways over fifteen years ago the results wherever the road has been properly constructed have been so satisfactory that this type or of construction has passed the experimental stage and it is now shown by actual figures that for our present day traffic this is the cheapest type of road to build when trie question of public economy is considered in municipal pal work there are constantly increasing uses found for portland cement in the building up of water supply systems for municipal supply the water pools which were built of concrete by king solomon to furnish water for the city of jerusalem were constructed three thousand years ago and are still in use this proves king solomon to h have ave been without a d doubt the wisest man of his time dams reservoirs intakes and conduits are now constructed almost exclusively of portland cement concrete where there are no sewer systems the sceptic tank is coming into general use for an ordinary family a tank five feet by five feet by ten feet with eight inch walls will be sufficient this is a plain tank with manholes on the top and a baffle board in the center to keep the water from being agitated and with an intake and an outlet the fungous growth which develops on top of the water will absolutely purify all the sewage which goes into this tank so that the water coming from the outlet end will be entirely pure in municipal work also the clay pipe which was formerly used almost exclusively for sewers and wood pipes for water mains are being displaced rapidly by cement pipe in street paving work there have been various kinds of patented and pavements some of which were put down without the use of any concrete whatever however engineers are rapidly coming to the conclusion that a pavement is like a house or a public building in this respect that the first and most important thing to be considered is the base or the foundation it is generally conceded now that no pavement will maintain its original crown and form unless it rests upon a permanent substantial concrete base or foundation many cities are using the plain concrete as a pavement but where a topping la desired whatever the type of the pavement may be this topping can be placed on the bon concrete moncrete crete base and can easily be taken off L salt lake general sales manager portland cement company of utah time the base bage always and replaced at any foundation of the remaining the permanent street of pa portland rolana in irrigation work the use cement is increasing by rapid strides the Arro project in idaho which is now will take over in the course of construction two thousand carloads of this product where formerly cement had been used for the construction of retaining walls dams intakes etc it is now also being used extensively for the lining of canals by doings be made smaller as the this the canal can water hows flows more freely on account of the smooth sides and bottom also the water is greatly conserved consequently me canal needs to carry much less water owing to the great saving through the prevention of seepage and evaporation formerly measuring weirs were made both of lumber and or of lumber and of concrete but in idaho the state statutes require that all measuring weirs shall now be built of concrete formerly lumber was used quite extensively but it was found that the lumber would warp and decay consequently the weirs not exact for measuring water when built of concrete these faults are overcome and the weirs are permanent and exact in mining concrete is now being used more extensively than ever before formerly it was used extensively in all outside construction work but now it is being used in place of wood for shaft and tunnel lining as well as replacing props and timbers where permanence is required in building construction it is difficult to find a building of any importance now nov where concrete construction is not used throughout in addition to the reinforced columns and floors and concrete foundations which have been used extensively it is now used in making the brick which were formerly of clay and in making the norn trimmings which formerly were of stone in farming it is used extensively in tl the e construction of dairy barns horse barns hog pens and hog wallows root and fruit cellars silo sceptic tanka tank and various other small items too numerous to mention as well as for drainage of wet land by concrete tile along with the many increased uses of cement have come the mechanical improve ments for handling same we now have on the market a large variety of highly efficient concrete mixers suited to the various classes of concrete construction there are special wheelbarrows and carts for handling concrete special block machines for making all styles and shapes of cement blocks blacks brick machines both hand and power for making cement bricks hand and ana power tile machines fence post molds as well as molds for all the various kinds ot or ornamental work also there are a great variety of hand tools to be used in fini sli ing work there are now patented forms on the market to be used in the construction of concrete walls for buildings special forms for building silos and forms for cul verts one of the comparatively new ideas which is developing rapidly is in the con coil st ruction of small buildings where all the slabs and beams are made up and transported to the building site and there fab to make a complete concrete building in the construction of large reinforced concrete buildings hoists and chutes are used extensively to facilitate the handling of the material the concrete gun which has been in the course of development for several years past is getting to a point now where its use is entirely practical for handling cement in building construction street work tunnel work etc it is especially adapted to tunnel work owing to the difficulty of placing concrete by other methods its construction is quite simple consisting of an airtight drum which will hold say one yard of concrete attached to the top is an air pipe which conducts the compressed air into the tank containing the concrete forcing the same through the bottom outlet a pipe six or eight inches in diameter which carries the material to the point desired by this method the concrete can be carried by air pressure a consider considerable abla distance in height as required in building construction or several hundred feet in a horizontal line as required in street work in tunnel work a battery of these so called guns may be installed on a railroad carp car charged from a concrete mixer taken into the tunnel and their contents put in place as described with such force that no tamping is required it is claimed that these guns are now being made with sufficient mechanical perfection so that their use is practical in writing of the development of the cement be S sa industry which is growing to vast space will not permit us to 9 go 0 into further details in regard to the develop development ment of the industry as a whole we have touched but briefly upon some of the principal such a 3 things which are of interest where vast number of people are concern concerned as there are in the handling of concrete you can realize that as a matter of necessity iva way ya there is constant striving to find new used and an in which portland cement can be nie ni new constant competition in finding and pia anical chanilal ch devices for the handling must ex e ing of concrete consequently we and 1111 prove hect continued development ment along these 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