Elementary concrete construction

Front matter

ELEMENTARY ETE CDNSTRUCTIDN

L e o n

H

Author's Preface

Knowing the scarcity of material, of an elementary nature, on the subject of concrete construction, the author has gathered together a series of problems in concrete work, which, with but a very few exceptions, have all been successfully worked out by pupils in the seventh and eighth grades.

This book is to all intents and purposes a condensed textbook on those things which are necessary to follow, in order to make constructive work in concrete a success.

The excessive cost of lumber, together with its scarcity, has brought home very convincingly the necessity of finding some material which should be as good or better, as a substitute.

Concrete fulfills all the requirements of such a material. He who uses this medium builds for permanence and the many uses to which it may be put make it the ideal constructive material.

It is correlated with woodworking in an excellent manner in the making of forms, and its possibilities are such that the user has a wide field for original design.

The author owes his sincere thanks to the Association of American Portland Cement Manufacturers, the Atlas Portland Cement Company and the Alpha Portland Cement Company, for data and photographs loaned and information given by them.

All photographs of the boys at work and those showing the completed projects were taken by the author.

Thousands of feet of concrete have been laid, under the supervision of the writer, by boys whose ages ranged from ten to fourteen.

Hundreds of dollars have been saved by the school department by the work done by these boys. The boys received pay for their work, learned to know and handle concrete and were taught, through this, the dignity of labor.

St. Johnsbury, Vt. LEON H. BAXTER.

Table Of Contents

Page

History of Cement 7

Composition of Cement 7