suitability, and availability of the materials submitted, and to ascertain data leading to more accurate working values as a basis for better working specifications, so as to enable Government officials to use such materials with more economy and increased efficiency.
Investigative tests of materials entering into Government construction, relative to the larger problems involved in the use of materials purchased by the Government, include exhaustive study of the suitability for use, in concrete construction on the Isthmian Canal, of the sand and stone, and of the cementing value of pozzuolanic material, found on the Isthmus; the strength, elasticity, and chemical properties of structural steel for canal lock-gates; of wire rope and cables for use in hoisting and haulage; and the most suitable sand and stone available for concrete and reinforced concrete for under-water construction, such as the retaining walls being built by the Quartermaster’s Department of the Army, in San Francisco Harbor.
These tests also include investigations into the disintegrating effect of alkaline soil and water on the concrete and reinforced concrete structures of the Reclamation Service, with a view to preventing such disintegration; investigations into the proper proportions and dimensions of concrete and reinforced concrete structural columns, beams, and piers, and of walls of brick and of building stone, and of the various types of metal used for reinforcement by the Supervising Architect in the construction of public buildings; investigations into the sand, gravel, and broken stone available for local use in concrete construction, such as columns, piers, arches, floor slabs, etc., as a guide to the more economical design of public structures, and to determine the proper method of mixing the materials to render the concrete most impervious to water and resistant to weather and other destructive agencies.
Other lines of research may be stated briefly as follows:
The extent to which concrete made from cement and local materials can be most safely and efficiently used for different purposes under different conditions;
The best methods for mixing and utilizing the various constituent materials locally available for use in Government construction;
The materials suitable for the manufacture of cement on the public lands, or where the Government has planned extensive building or engineering construction work, where no cement plants now exist;
The kinds and forms of reinforcement for concrete, and the best
methods of applying them in order to secure the greatest strength in compression, tension, shear, etc., in reinforced concrete beams, columns, floor slabs, etc.;
The influence of acids, oils, salts, and other foreign materials, long-continued strain, or electric currents, on the permanence of the steel in reinforced concrete;