ENPages
11
October, 1920. THE CONCRETE AGE [ 11 The Concrete Age And Its Promotion Work. Every month, for fifteen years, The Concrete Age has been the sole missionary in the South, preaching the gospel of concrete fireproof construction. It has printed thousands of pages of text, and thousands of illustrations to d:ive home its arguments. Every month, for fifteen years, The Concrete Age has likewise been relentless in advocating the building of concrete roads. It has devoted a vast amount of space and thousands of pictures to this subject and today this work is bearing fruit in the assured building of the Dixie Highway and other great road systems. For fifteen years, The Concrete Age has had its leading articles copied by the big papers of the South, where they reached millions of readers and in this way doubled its power and influence in pleading for concrete fireproof buildings and concrete roads. For fifteen years the paper has not only covered the fourteen Southern States, but the Middle-West as well. It has been a power in its particular field and has contributed millions worth of new business to those who seek trade f:om the concrete industry. Mr. Advertiser, have you fully appreciated the ceaseless efforts and influence of this paper? We are rendering missionary work which creates new business for your products every month, and The Concrete Age deserves your patronage and support. Give us this, in full measure, and enable us, through your help, to largely increase the practical influence the paper is exerting in your behalf. CONCRETE AGE PUBLISHING CO. ATLANTA, GA. 6 to 11; $850,000; will invite new bids; Johnson <y Benham, Conslt. Engr., Firestone Bldg.. Kansas City, Mo. Purcell, Okla. —City; pave streets in residence section; $200,000; Johnson & Benham, Conslt. Engrs.. Firestone Bldg., Kansas City, Mo. Tulsa, Okla.—City; construct 7000 sq. yds. paving; one-course concrete; $40,000 available; bids about Sept. 15; C. E. Griggs, City Engr. Anderson, S. C. —Anderson County Commrs.; construct 20 mi. Andeson-Abbeville and 25 mi. Anderson-Greenville roads; C. H. Moorefield, Sngr., Columbia, S. C. Camden, S. C.—Kershaw County Commrs. ; construct 30 mi. Camden-R’dgeway road; C. M. Moorefield, Engr.. Columbia, S. C. Columbia, S. C. —City; pave Main St.; 19,000 sq. yds. roadway; 6100 sq. ft. sidewalk; Atlantic Bitulithic Co., Contr., Richmond, Va.; F. C. Wyse, City Engr., ColumVa, S. C. Columbia, S. C. —Richland County Permanent Roads Comsn., 1202V2 Main St.; construct 15.125 mi. Two Notch road; 43,265 cu. yds. sand-clay surfacing; bids opened Sept. 3. Lexington, S. C. —Lexington County Supvrs., C. E. Corely, Supvr.; construct Columbia-Newberry road; 15,616 cu. yds. topsoil surfacing; bids until Sept, 11; J. D. Gregory. Div. Engr., 120214 Main St., Columbia, S. C. Newberry. S. C.—Newfierry County Commissioners ; improve roads; voted $400,000 bonds. Spartanburg, S. C.—Spartanburg County Commrs. ; construct 18 mi. road; C. H. Moorefield, Engr., Columbia S. C. York, S. C.-—York County Commrs.; construct 15 mi. road; C. 11. Moorefield, Engr., Columbia, S. C. Amarillo, Tex.—Potter County, R. C. Job ison, Judge; grade Highway No. 5; $20,774.97; F. F. Keller & Son, Contrs., Raton, N. M.; rejected bids for graveling and surfacing 25 mi. Highways 13 and 33. Angelton, Tex.—Brazoria County Commrs.; grade and surface 5.73 mi. Highway 36; contract to S. T. Stratton and M. Palmer, Freeport Tex. Clarksville, Tex.—Red River County Commrs.; grade, surface and drain 10.341 mi. Highway 5 B from Bowie County line to English; P. Y. Creager. Engr. Coleman, Tex.--Coleman County Commrs.; construct 42.17 mi. road in Precinct 2; crushed rock or gravel; A. Smith, Contr.. Santa Anna, Tex. Dallas, Tex.—Dallas County Commrs.; construct sidewalks and gutters on 1 mi. Harwood St.; invite bids; rescinded former contract; G. Fairtrace, Engr. Fort Worth, Tex.—City Comsn.; pave 1 mi. Oor> merce St.
12
12 THE CONCRETE AGE October, 1920.
Hillsboro, Tex.—Hill County Commrs., R. F. Burns, Judge; grade, gravel surface 14.9 mi. Highway 31 through Hill County; bridges and culverts; Sept, 4; Bryant & Huffman, Engrs., Littlefield Bldg., Austin, Tex. Jasper, Tex.—Jasper County Commrs., C. C. Bfrown, Judge; grade 'l2. mi. Highway Bfrom Buna to Newton County; bridges and culverts; bids until Sept, 13; C. P. Hunter, County Engr. Nacogdoches, Tex.—Naco,gdoches County Comimrsi., L. I>. Parmley, Clk.; construct 45 mi. highways; jhids opened Sept. 1 ; Lamar Acker, County Engr. I San Angelo, Tex.—Tom Green County Commrs.; grade 10 mi. macadamized road; State Highway 9 land 9A; $200,000; W. D. Moseley, Contr., El Paso, Tex.; MeCall-Moore Engineering Co. have contract for drainage structures at $12,000, and J. E. Ward, Da 1 las, Tex., for spreading asphalt surfacing at $26,000. Norton, Va, —Wise County Commrs., Gladeville. Richmond and Dipps Dist.; construct 18 mi. macadam road, penetration top ; +75,000 available ; O. H. Beverly, Engr. Richmond, Va. —City; grade alley from Virginia to Miller Ave.; +2250; Cheatwood & Dr’scoll, Contrs Wytheville, Va.—Wythe County Supvrs.; improve rock road; 10 to 12 mi.; +150,000. Beckley, W. Va.-—Raleigh County Commrs., Jackson Smith, Clerk; construct 5 mi. Marsh Fork, Class A, road; bids until Sept, 11 ; Neil F. Hathwav, Dist. road Engr., Montcoal, W. Va. Charleston, W. Va.—State, Jno. G. Cornwell, Governor; construct roads ; vote in November on +50,000000 bonds. Fayetteville, W. Va. —Fayette County Commrs.; grade 9V2 mi. road on Lower Loup Creek from Robson to Ingram Branch; +134.000; J. M. Randish Construct:’on Co., Contr. Huntington, W. Va. —City Commrs. Mat. Miser, Commr. Streets and Sewers; pave 6th St.; +7321; Hocking or Dixie brick; L. J. Gillispie, Contr.; A. B. Maupin, City Engr. Lewisburg, W. Va. —Greenbrier County Commissioners, Thos. W. (Shields, Prest.; construct roads in Blue Sulphur Dist.; vote Sept. 18 on +94,000 bonds. Huntington, W. Va. —City Commrs., Mat Miser, Commr. Street and Sewers; pave 14th, 2d and sth Sts. and 2% alley; bids until Sept. 7; A. B. Maupin, City Engr. Smithfield, W. Va. —Town; pave streets; voted +15.000 bonds. Address The Mayor. Webster Springs, W. Va, —Webster County Commrs. ; construct 20 mi. road; earth; +400,000 available; H. M. Bruffy, (Contr.; J. H. Hancock, Engr. Wheeling, W. Va. —Ohio County Commrs.; pave National Road over Chicken Neck h 11; brick ; ( +8495.- 90; Vincent Vercc-llotti, Contr. Why Men Strive to Get Ahead By P. B. McDonald, AssistantProfessor of English, College of Engineering, New York University. The “Gloomy Dean” Inge of St. Paul’s cathedral, London, said recently in one of his characteristic addresses that man is naturally so indolent he will toil only to obtain food and shelter. He was arguing against industrialism and for a return to rural life, and was trying to show that the only occupations satisfying to man through inherited instincts are farming and hunting. Why is it then, when he has attained food and shelter, that man continues to strive as desperately as before? Why is it. after we reached the civilization of our grandfathers, we continue to pile up luxuries and garnishings? Why cannot we live as Thoreau d:‘d at Walden Pond, spending nine cents a day and working six weeks in the year? Thoreau considered that he was happier in this rustic cabin, with lesiure to ponder over nature, than the citydweller who works the year round and sees nature only dur. ng two w r eeks of vacation. Herbert Spencer, reflecting on philosphy in his individualistic way, remaked that man strives for position, and the satisfaction of feeling above others. Sa d this ‘‘synthetic philosopher": “It is incredible that men should make the sacrifice, mental and bodily, wh’ch they do, merely to get the material benefits which money purchases. . . . What merchant would spend an additional hour at his office daily, merely that he might move into a larger house in a better naner? In so far as health and comfort are concerned, he knows he will be a loser by the exchange, .'ml would never be induced to make it, were it not 1O' - the increased social consideration which the new house will bring him. Where is the man who would lit1 awake at nights devising means of increasing his
13
income in the hope of being able to provide his wife a carriage, (a motor-car wou’d be a more appropriate example to-day, were the use of a carriage the sole consideration? It is because of the eclat which the carriage will give, that he enters on these additional anxieties To be dist'nguished from the common herd—to be somebody—to make a name, a position—- this is the universal ambition. ... We do not mean to say that men act on the consciously reasoned-out conclusions thus indicated; but we mean that the conclusions are the unconsc'ously-formed products of their daily experience.” According to Spencer, then, men struggle to gain deference and respect rather than the direct use of luxuries. Such a condition opposes the theories of the socialists, who would have us all enjoying an equal share of the good thing; of life. One of the best analyses of the motives actuating gregarious man is contained in Carlyle’s extraordinary book “Sartor Restarus.” The Scottish author has an eccentric German professor, Teufelsdrockh, summarize the ambitions of his fellow townsman as he looks by night from lr's attic window. Says the professor: “Upwards of five-hundred-thousand twolegged animals without feathers lie around us, in horizontal position's; their heads in nightcaps, and full of the foolbhest dreams All these heaped and huddled together, with nothing but a little carpentry between them;—crammed in, like salted fish, in their barrel, or weltering, shall I say, like an Egyptian pitcher of tamed Vipers, each struggling to get its head above others.” Such was this cranky Scot’s idea of modern civilization : “a pitcher of tamed vipers each trying to get its head above the others.’’ Yet Carlyle toiled more than most men to get his head above the crowd, and no one emphasized more than he .the wor’d’s need for leaders with their bead above the mass. Carly 1 e would say that for all men to have their heads on the same level brings that peril of democracy—short-sighted mediocrity, lacking inspiratb and ideals. Spencer would say that to remove the possibility of the hard working or exceptionally- gifted man getting his head above others destroy the incentive for work except of a mechanical and indifferent kind. Proper respect and encouragement should be given deserving individuals, least they cease to strive. This applies to the underpaid engineer. Individuals as a philosophy lias been criticised so severely since standardization and organization became popular that its true meaning should be explained. Tt meansnot only oddity and self-importance. nor refusal to co-operate merely for the sake of being different; but it means the self-development ol individuals able to think for themselves and requiring little regulation and interference to keep in order. Spencer pointed out that placing men under restraints anti mechanical patterns develops mollycoddles. He meant, of course, mental mollycoddles. —individual's of poor judgment and flabby initiative. Another effect has been the wide discontent which followed recent efforts to standardize human nature. To ally this unrest, the men in power in industry increased wages and added luxuries to the factories’ welfare department, only to find that these brought but temporary benefit. Charles S. Myers in a recent paper before the British Ceramic Society recommended “psychological management” rather than “scientific management,” as a better method of suiting each worker to his job and keeping him satisfied, since scientific management tends to treat men as cogs in a machine, while psychological management recognizes individual talents and eccentricities. Likewise, an editorial in the British magazine “Engineering,” arguing for individualism, said : “The creative mind, in short, to which every great increment of wealth can he traced, fits in badly with a communistic or a cooperative scheme of society. The man of genius is ever and necessarily an individualist.” The point of all these arguments is that man will always strve to get ahead, no matter what socialistic or co-operative rules are laid upon him, and that this innate wish to Use above the herd is desirable, and beneficial to society. The goavernmenr which recognizes most clearly that exceptional individuals must be rewarded suitably, and shown due respect, will develop the greatest leaders, not only in politics and statesmanship but in science and invention. The industrial corporation which reward's most appropriately workers of unusual ability will attract such men, and the reward of higher wages or welfare conveniences is by no means the chief incentive that keep men satisfied. Working under an inspiring leader, being encouraged to express ideas about the work, and being treated in a sincere and honest manner, are considerations that move employees as much as anything ehe. But these advantages should not be flaunted in a way that antagonizes by its very obviousness. Appealing to the individual, especially to the unusual, means leaving something to his imagination; he does not like to be hu'stled into admiration of the company, any more than he likes to be catalogued as a cog in a machine. After all. men are human which makes them appear otherwise. 13 THE CONCRETE AGE October, 1920.
14
Concrete Tanks for Cottonseed Oil Storage J. E. FREEMAN, Engineer Technical Bureau Portland Cement Association D TIRING the past 20 years the increase in plants producing cottonseed oil in the south has been more than -300 per cent. In the same period the increase in the north has been 85 per cent or more. The production of cottonseed oil in sixteen southern states in 1918 was very close to $500,000,000. With the many extensions of use that have been found for cottonseed oil during recent years, the industry has attained an importance little dreamed of but a few years ago, and when an industry reaches such magnitude, :t is evident that all measures of economy which may be introduced affect profits to a material degree, just as does neglect to introduce such economy and efficiency reduce profits and perhaps result in failure of the enterprise. One of the problems attending the manufacture of cottonseed oil is that of storing the oil until marketed. This involves suitable tankage of short lived structures. Of course, there is a way to avoid this*, which is to build as nearly permanent and depreciation free as possible. Any structure whicl requires continual maintenance to remedy or counteract depreciation due to exposure to the elements or other causes, soon becomes an expensive proposition and might better have been designed and built without regard to first cost in order to eliminate if possible the perpetual annual charges of upkeep. Of the various materia’s which may be used to build storage tanks for cottonseed oil, concrete in vites particular attention because of qualities characteristic of concrete alone. It becomes stronger in contact with moisture, does not rot. rust or in other ways deteriorate and is more nearly maintenance free than any other type of construction. Tin* average life of any kind of tank may probabV be taken as less than 30 years, with an unkno- . yet burdensome cost, such as painting and genei.d repair throughout the period of its life. The concrete tank involves no investment other than its first cost and because of this maintenance free characteristic, soon stands as a better investment than the one which seemed to have a better favor because of considerably lower first cost. Since in most cottonseed oil crushers, the tanks are below ground under the presses, the concrete tank is the logical solution of cottonseed oil storage problems. Contact with the soil causes no depreciation, regardless of whether soil is wet, moist or dry. The tank cannot go to pieces when empty, cannot mst when full, nor in any other way suffer injury through normal use. Because of the fact that the most convenient and natural location for the tank is below ground, concrete adds its insulating value to contents, which are kept at a fairly even temperature both winter and summer. As concrete can be placed so that the required tank shall have any desired form, all sharp corners or pockets are eliminated, thereby permit ting thorough cleaning of the tank, thus leaving no oil into it to sour. The success of concrete tanks for use by cottonseed oil crushers is proven by examples of tanks which have been in use for a number of years. The Houston Oil Mill and Manufacturing Co.. Crocket, Tex., in 1916 built a 6,000-gallon concrete tank for cottonseed oil. This is below ground, the interior coated with a portland cement mortar, followed with a paint coat of neat cement. The com pany reports that this tank has been in continuous use up to the present time; furthermore, no bad effects have been noticed either on the concret or contents. Th Rule Cotton Oil Co., Rule, Tex., built one 1,500-gallon concrete tank in 1912 and, after four years of use, one 2,000-gallon tank in 1916 showing their confidence in concrete containers for cottonseed oil. One of these structures was lined with paraffin, the other with neat cement. Both have been in satisfactory service from the time of erection to the present date. The Lenoir Oil and Ice Co., Kinston, N. C.. handle cottonseed oil direct from the presses into concrete containers built below the presses. In 1914 a 2,000-gallon tank was built, finished on the inside with a 1:2 portland cement mortar. This company also reports entirely satisfactory results, with no effects upon either the oil or the concrete. The Baker Cotton Oil Co., Hobart, Okla., have about 10 concrete tanks varying in size from 6,000 to 12,000 gallons, used for storing fuel oil, cottonseed and kerosene. These are for the most part circular, finished with a mortar coat. * In addition to handling cottonseed oil, the problem of storing the raw cottonseed must be considered. Here the concrete container has also solved the storage problem. Last year the Pine Bluff Cotton Oil Co., Pine Bluff, Ark., built six concrete tanks above ground for storing the seed, each with a capacity of 1.000 tons. The reputation of concrete in so many other structures and under so many
15
various conditions proves the future of these tanks. The use of oil for fuel has a’ready been adopted by many plants, and others, as soon as they realize the economy, will change from coal to oil. This again opens the question of storage. Concrete tanks have been successfully used many years for storing oils of every grade, crude, fuel, gasoline, kerosene, benzine, etc. At the present time there are over 850,000,000 gallons of fuel oil storage capacity in the form of concrete tanks. Among the cotton oil companies using them are the Joyton Cotton Oil Co., Joyton, Texas; Winters Cotton Oil C0. ,: Winters, Texas; Seymour Cotton Oil Co., Seymour, Texas; Anadarko Cotton O'l Co., Anadarko. Okla. Underground concrete tanks mean greater conservation. They reduce evaporation losses to a minimum by keeping the oil at a fairly even temperature; leakage losses are stopped entirely in a good concrete tank. By being below ground all yard space is available for the storage of materials. Insurance rates on concrete tanks in some states are considerably lower than on other types of containers; concret tanks do not raise the rates on surrounding buildings. Every concrete tank, whatever be the shape, capacity or use, is a subject for special design. Unless concrete tanks are properly designed to withstand pressure of the contents and from without when the tank is empty, small cracks may open up and the contents may leak through or the tank may fail completely. This is not peculiar to the concrete tank alone, but is true of all tanks improperly designed, regardless of the construction material. With a proper design the success of a concrete tank depends upon the choice of materials, proper proportioning, mixing and lac'ng of the concrete and protecting the finished work until the concrete has properly hardened. Neglect of any one of these points may be cause for dissatisfa-ction later. The concrete should be so proportioned as to secure a dense, compact mass; this can usually be obtained with the proportions of one sack of portland cement, two cubic feet of sand and three cubic feet of pebbles or broken stone. Consistency, or the amount of water used in mixing the concrete, plays an important part, as either too much or too little may leave pockets in the hardened concrete. Mixing of materials should preferably be done in a mechanical batch mixer so that mixing may be thorough and uniform and that the placing of the concrete may be rapid and with as few interruptions as possible. The best results would be obtained by building the tank in one operation, but as this is usually impossible, the work should be speeded up so as to reduce construction joints or seams to a minimum. When it is necessary to stop concreting, precautions, must be taken to join new work to old by roughening and washing the hardened concrete and flushing it with mortar immediately before placing the new concrete. Uusally a wedge shaped 2by 4, small end down, is embedded in the old concrete so that a key is formed. It has also been found of further advantage to embed a metal plate in the old concrete so that it will extend into the new. The treatment of the interior surface depends upon the character of the liquid to be stored. Foregoing examples of cottonseed oil tanks show that for such use a rich mortar coat, applied immediately after the forms have been removed, has been suffi client. It is probable that a further treatment with sodium silicate (water glass) or magnesium fluosilicate would be of benefit. These methods have been successfully used on tanks used for storing fuel oil heavier than 30 degrees Baume, although special commercial coatings have sometimes been used. J*or the storage of oils lighter than 30 degrees Bauyxuß, some special coat : ng is needed to prevent the penetration of the oil. A view of a packing plant where cottonseed oil is taken from the large tanks. Concrete enters largely in construction of these tanks. 15 TH E CON C R E 'l' E A( i E October, 1920.