Show THE BIG STACK AT BUTTE X X X I 1 f MINER BUTTE MONTANA X X at itow miner allner butte mont the big concrete stack at the butte reduction works feet and 7 inches high the highest and largest of its kind in the world is done after four months work and today painters will give their brushes a final spread against the towering mass ot of cement and interlaced steel braces brace s this touch of color has been applied to the col barof the chimney where protection is needed from the sulphurous acid formed when the vaporized vaporizer sulphur comes in contact with the atmosphere the stack was constructed by the weber steel concrete chimney construction company of chicago and some idea of its magnitude can be gleaned when it is stated that in its building were used 60 tons of T steel 1500 barrels of utah portland cement 1400 tons of sand the weight of the chimney inclusive of its concrete dase base and slag foundation is tons the elevation of the top of the chimney above the sea level is feet the top is on a level with the following points in butte sixty feet north of copper street on main alain street sixty feet north of woodman street on excelsior avenue eleven feet higher than the elevation at the school of mines level with the northwest corner of montana street and quartz street the stack has a diameter of eighteen feet and rests on a concrete base of 1806 feet this base reposes on a slag foundation designed by james doull of the butte reduction works and put into place und under er his supervision this foundation was originally intended for a brick stack of the same internal dimensions as the present concrete stack the surface area of the foundation embraces square feet the outside diameter of the base of the chimney being twenty one feet the foundation for the foundation of this chimney the ground was excavated to a depth of seven feet below the surface and on a level with the water of the blacktail deer creek and close to the south bank of the creek the formation of ground being a natural washed sand deposit into this excavation a box was made of cast iron plates being feet square and three feet deep into this box was poured molten slag making a solid 1 lock block this s side the foundation was built up P by a series of these slag t blocks three j feet high sh each block being s stepped in from the outer edges of the one below 3 13 1 3 feet thus forming a stepped pyramidal form there being six of these blocks making makin 1 the slag ag foundation eighteen feet in depth and GG 23 2 3 feet square on its top surface while the molten slag was being poured into the boxes layers of steel wire rope chain and T rail were sewed horizontally through each block and standing vertically through these blocks of slag and projecting out of the top of slag foundation and into the stack foundation base was all manner of scrap iron and steel which usually ae ac cumulates around a smelter there was seventy tons of this material used the total weight of the slag foundation was tons on top of this foundation was built the foundation of the chimney this foundation consisted of a solid block of concrete made of portland cement sand and crushed slag being forty two and one half feet square and five feet high at its sides and eight and one quarter feet high in the center the top of this block being shaped like the frustum of a pyramid I horizontally through this block of concrete was laid four layers of exl inch T iron two layers being laid parallel with the sides of block and two layers diagonal network of steel into this network was placed vertically and in a circle corresponding to the size of the chimney bars of exl inch T steel these bars being all bent out outwardly ardly at their lower ends forming a network similar to the roots of a tree the upper ends ot of these bars projecting up out of the concrete base to receive the walls of the chimney on top of this block of concrete was started the chimney the walls of the chimney being formed by a unique system of see sectional dional rings two sets of the moulds being 1 u used sed anthe on the inside and two sets on the outside each mould being three and one half feet high when one mould was filled the lower one was detached and placed on top of the newly filled one this system being followed to the top of the chimney when a set of moulds or rings was in position the concrete was elevated in buckets and dumped between the moulds and thoroughly tamped camped all around the vertical and horizontal steel bars thus bedding all the steel into the wall of the chimney there being of these vertical bars in the chimney at the base extending up for twenty five feet and each succeeding ten feet of height the number used was reduced by twenty bars until a height of feet and thirty vertical bars were then used to the top the vertical bars were lapped two feet at the joints and all joints were made at irregular intervals from tile the base to the top rings of one inell inch by one inch T iron were laid horizontally and exterior to the horizontal bars and wired to them for tile first twenty one feet these rings ring s were laid every foot foo t in height anil ana from this point to the top every three feet in in height for the first twenty one feet of height of the chimney the walls are eighteen inches in thickness and in thess these walls are the two inlets to the chimney one on each sive each opening eight feet by seven feet on top of the eighteen inch wall starts the double shell of the chimney the outer shell being nine inches thick the inner shell five inches thick these shells being separated by a four inch space this air space at the bottom being connected to the atmosphere through the outer shell by portholes port holes this inside shell extends up to a height of Vs feet above the base and the outer shell is offset over the inner shell as will be notel on the exterior of the chimney the air space being left entirely open on the inner side of the chimney and the inner shell perfectly free from the outer shell at the top the outer shell is then carried seven inches thick to the top of the chimney the construction of the stack has been under the direction of the three brothers charles is the general superintendent martin the working superintendent and ernest the engineer of construction the building of the stack has b been een rapid about thirty feet of height being attained per week other large chimneys the dimensions of some of the large chimneys in the united states are as follows washoe copper company at anaconda largest in the world of brick thirty feet inside diameter and feet h high agh metropolitan street railway company new york city yf of brick twenty two feet inside diameter and 3 feet high clarkes arkes Cl thread works kearny N J of brick eleven feet inside diameter feet high omaha grant smelter denver colorado of brick sixteen feet inside diameter feet high orford copper company constable hook N J radial brick twenty feet inside diameter at base thirteen feet at the top feet high tacoma smelting smelling Sm elting works tacoma wash concrete eighteen feet inside diameter feet high some idea of the extensive improvements being made at the butte reduction works can be had when it is stated that the gases and smoke emanating from the smelt in ing of the ores must traverse about feet before rea reaching chint I 1 the atmo atmosphere sphere when the big stack shall have been connected with the flues unlimited opportunity being afforded by the spacious dust chambers for the practically complete sublimation of all the volatile metals the flue collections being res melted for the precious metals contained in the sublimed matter it is estimated that about will be expended in improvements at the works main dust clust chambers to connect with the bi big 0 stack now in ill the course of construction will be feet long iong feet being sixty feet in width while the remaining feet will be eighty feet wide they will be thirty feet in height the chambers are being built of structural steel with sheet steel roof and brick walls every consideration is given the welfare of the men employed in connection with the flues the chambers being built on sla slag piers with transverse ducts permitting free circulation of air a condition not generally in evidence in the smelters shelters sm elters throughout the country counters workmen in the flues being unable to escape breathing copious amounts of noxious dusts auxiliary dust chambers connecting with the calcine chambers will communicate with the main dust chamber A steel converter brilling bu buil illing ling which will ac two converter stands is being built this plant will be large enough for three converter convert cr stands if necessary two new matte furnaces twenty by sixty feet are being installed with horsepower worthington boilers the waste gases of which will be utilized in the matte reduction 0 |