Invert Concrete.—The form used for the landward type of concrete, that is, the one with a middle drain, consisted of a frame made of a pair of trussed steel rails on each side of the tunnel and connected at intervals with 6 by 6-in. cross-timbers; two "wing forms" were hung from this frame by adjustable arms. These wings formed the curved sides of the invert, the lip, and the form for the middle drain. The whole form was supported on three wheels, two on the rear end running on a rail laid on the finished concrete, and the third in front attached to the frame by a carriage and running on a rail temporarily laid on the iron lining. The form was braced from the iron lining by 6 by 6-in. blocks.
For the soft-ground type of invert, namely, the one without the middle drain, a form of the same general type was used, except that the form for the middle drain was removed. After the form had been in use for some time, "key pieces" (made of strips of wood about 1 ft. 3 in. in length and 3 by 3 in. in cross-section) were nailed circumferentially on the under side of the wings at 2-ft. intervals. This was done because, at the time, it was not known whether ballasted tracks or some form of rigid concrete track construction would be adopted, and, if the latter, it was desirable not to have the surface smooth.
The concrete was received in cars at the rear end of the form and dumped on a temporary platform. It was then loaded into wheel-barrows on the runways, as shown in [Fig. 22]. The concrete was thrown from the barrows into the invert, where it was spaded and tamped.
In cases where there was steel-rod reinforcement, the concrete was first brought up to the level of the underside of these rods, which came between the wings; the rods were laid in place, and then more concrete was placed over the rods and brought up to the level of the bottom of the wings. Where there was no reinforcement, the concrete was brought up in one lift.
After this was finished, the concrete behind the wings was placed, thoroughly spaded and tamped, and, where there were longitudinal reinforcing rods, these were put in at their proper level. Where there were circumferential rods, the 16-ft. rods had already been put in when the lower part of the concrete was placed. As the invert was being finished off, the 8-ft. rods were embedded and tied in position.
The longitudinal rods were held in place at the leading end of each length of arch by the wooden bulkhead, through which holes were drilled in the proper position. At the rear end they were tied to the rods projecting from the previous length. The quantity of water used in mixing the invert concrete needed very nice adjustment; if too wet, the middle would bulge and rise when the weight of the sides came on it; and, if too dry, it would not pack properly between the flanges of the iron lining. The difficulties as to this were often increased by the flow of accumulated leakage water from the tunnel behind on the concrete while it was being put in. To prevent this, a temporary dam of sand bags was always built across the last length of finished invert concrete before beginning a new length. A sump hole, about 4 by 1 ft. and 1 ft. deep, was left every 800 ft. along the tunnel, and a small Cameron pump was put there to pump out the water.
The invert forms were left in place about 12 hours after the pour was finished. The average time taken to fill a length of 30 feet was 7 hours, the form was then left 12 hours, and it took 2 hours to set it up anew. The total time for one length, therefore, was 21 hours, equal to 34 ft. per 24 hours. At one place, a 45-ft. form was used, and this gave an average speed of 45 ft. per 24 hours.