FIG. 30.—CROSS SECTION COOLER, BUNKER “CURTAIN” SYSTEM.
Growth.
—The growth to include as it now does, in most instances, a produce merchandising business with its seasons of production and storage together with the necessity of providing low temperature storage space for storing delicately cured hams and bacon over seasons, make it almost a necessity to provide low temperature storage or seek it away from the premises, with the incident expense involved in transfer and return, storage charges, and the damage resultant from exposure.
Location.
—A first consideration is the location of the building for operating advantages, which is a local matter, but involves shipping facilities by team and by car, convenience to the source of production, and power plant. Naturally the value of the commodity in storage, which at present prices, reaches a considerable amount, and the safety of the product becomes a matter of no small thought.
Permanence.
—The permanence of a building for this purpose once constructed, and the likelihood of changes due to variation in business being small, together with the safety of its contents and a consequent low insurance rate, makes fire-proof cold storage buildings highly desirable. In these days of increasing insurance rates, buildings that are rated from twenty to thirty cents per thousand dollars—non-sprinkled—appeal to us. These rates are not uncommon. Such can be obtained on properly constructed buildings with adequate exposure protection.
Concrete or Steel Frames.
—Fire-proof cold storage buildings can be of various styles of construction. The two types mostly used being, first, of steel frame with either cast iron or steel columns, girders and beams with tile or concrete in combination for floors, or secondly, reinforced concrete frame with concrete and tile in combination, or monolithic concrete floors.
For moderate heights the walls can be self-sustaining, that is, built up solidly; but beyond a certain height it becomes economical to use curtain walls similar to the well known “skyscraper.” In buildings up to eight stories, reinforced concrete frame with monolithic floors prove more economical than steel frame with tile or concrete floors. Reinforced concrete buildings are more lasting, since it is impossible to closely fit tile around steel columns and girders and exclude air, moisture, heat and condensation, existing in this class of building, conditions most contributing to rust. The life of steel framing under these conditions is an untried experiment. On the other hand, in the reinforced concrete building the strength is much derived from the concrete and when well designed and the work well executed the steel is imbedded and thoroughly concealed in the concrete, remote from the conditions above stated and contributing to an indefinitely long life. However, steel columns and girders encased in concrete make them practically the same.