CiiAP. III. CONCEETE BUILDING.

569
that firm ; the under side of the flooring has not been plastered. {Builder, Dec.
19, 1885,
p. 877. Transactions of the Eoyai Institute of British Architects, 1886, p. 130.)
1903r. Bunnett's patent floor consists of hollow bricks laid in the form of a flat arch,
resting on angle irons tied together by tension rods. P]ach brick is so arranged as to
receive support from six adjoining bricks. Miasurcs' patent floor consists of iron joists
with iron fillets 9 inches apart, at right angles to the joists, and resting on their lower
flanges, and cement concrete filled in, embedding joists and fillets. Hyatt's patent dove-
tailed corrugated iron sheets are used for fire-resisting iron and concrete floors, ceilings,
and partitions, giving great strength combined with lightness. Partitions can be made of
Portland cement, concrete, and iron, only two inches thick, the iron being completely pro-
tected. The JF?^/;/fireproofing Companyof America has introduced many novelties (//((iVc/er,
1887, p. 704). Porous terra-coita is made in America by mixing sawdust with the clay
;
having been burnt it was perfectly fireproof, and although spongy, unless dipped in water
it was not absorbent, but was rather a dry material, besides being one of the best non-
conductors of heat and sound. It weighed about jialf that of ordinary brick. It was
used to line outside walls to keep them perfectly dry
;
also as fixing blocks, because the
nails could be driven into it more easily than into deals. It makes a good fireproof roof
by placing sheets of it on the flanges of
JL
iron
;
it Cr^me a little above the edge, and the
slates or tiles could be nailed directly on this. Fireproof flooring bricks were made of
terra-cotta, and were a great saving in strength of materials.
1903i-. A concrete floor to the various stories of a building has often been formed, but
not always with success. A system is explained in the Builder for April 3, 1886, which
should be well studied. Concrete slabs, the largest of which is 21 feet by 12 feet 6 inches,
of an average thickness of 13 inches, sustained the great loads and rudely impactive
forces of a wholesale provision trade, in a warehouse at Sunderland, erected by Mr.
Frank Caws, whose description, though concise, is too long to be here inserted.
lC03i!. If properly mixed, care taken in laying, and thorough cleansing of all broken
materials used, then the results m.ay be satisfactory. To receive stone paving and for
tramways, concrete is laid in successive layers of cement and gravel in proper prop >r-
tions, not too moist, for the requisite thickness, well beaten down with iron beaters. For
a floor finish, a thick layer of about an inch of the cement and gravel finished off with a
smoother, care being taken not to work up too fine a surface. The proportions to be used
are 1 part of Portland cement, 4 of gravel, and 6 of broken stone, the latter to pass
through a 2^-incli ring. Concrete flat floors are cheaper and equally as strong as arched
floors, and should be at least from 6 to 6 inches thick. Such a floor will carry a safe
load of about 5 cwt. per superficial foot. One tested went further. It was made of 1 of
cemCLt, 3 of gravel, and 3 of well-washed broken atones to pass a 1^-inch ring, the
finishing layer being of cement and gravel. The Portland cement should be tested, for
its proper strength is of importance. (John Garthwaite, of Liverpool, 1885.)
1903i. Fur town buildings these various patents afford the means for obtaining
flat
roofs, which have many advantages for the inhabitants, as affording a promenade. They
have to be thoroughly well constructed. Two of the latest constructions are at the new-
City police station. Cloak Lane, Cannon Street, having a superficial area of 2000 feet,
formed of iron joists, carrying concrete covered by a layer of one inch of the finest Pyri-
mont-Seyssel asphalte, the skirtings being of the same material ; a thin layer of very fine
and clean pebbles from the sea shore were applied to the surface while hot. The other
roof is to the Army and Navy Auxiliary Supply Association in Francis Street, Westmin-
ster, having a superfices of about 12,000 square feet, and is of the same construction.
CONCRETE BUILDING.
1903v. The Metropolitan Board of Works have approved of such structures, and have
made the following regulations to be observed in their formation
:

I. The concrete to be used to be composed of Portland cement and of clean Thames

ballast, or gravel, or crushed smiths' clinkers, or brick burrs, or small broken
stones, or any hard and durable substance ; and each to be passed through a
screen having a mesh not exceeding 2 inches in diameter. Sand to be in, or
added to, such materials in the proportion of one to two. ^\\ such materials to
b perfectly clean, and free from all greasy, loamy, or clayey matter.
II. These materials and cement to be mixed in the proportion of not more than 8 parts
of material as aforesaid, by measure, to one part by measure of the best Portland
cement.
Ill, In making the concrete, a box 2 feet by 4 feet by 2 foet, or other like proportions, is
to be used for the materials other than the cement, and another box, capalile of
holding one sack or half a cask containing 2 bushels, is to be used for the cement.
The cement and tlie materials are to be turned over at least three times, and
thoroughly mixed together with water.
lY. The walls of the buildings to be carried up all round in regular layers with con-
crete thus composed, and grouted with cement in the proportion of 1 of cement