The Iron Age 1912-07-04: Vol 90 Iss 1

eS OF aes EE ee .— So ee i EG OETA T ONES Established 1855 New York, July 4, 1912 Vol. 90: No, 1 Construction of Machinery Foundations Concrete and Other Types for Both Large and Small Machines, Including Heavy Steel-Works Steam Engines —————_—_——_—— BY ARTHUR CONNLEY ——_—_—_—_- The steel plant contains machines and prime-movers of many kinds and sizes. Most of these are held to elevation and alignment by masonry foundations set in the ground. Additions to and changes in the plant are constantly being made and it is seldom that a machine or prime mover foundation is not under construction. The experience that the engineering department has had in-the design and con- struction of such foundations has been very comprehensive. TOES =i SHE nA) SH S ZB S 4! Sy =U) LW TIER Y Gy ~x4 Q =) eZ NAS SIU Hole for ri | - Foundation Bolt. ; Fig. 1—Template Support for Foundation Self-Supporting Soil n It is the purpose of this article to outline some of the practices that have been developed and that have, in a sense, become standard for foundation construction in the plant. In designing a foundation for a given application, one of the first things to be considered is the dead weight that the foundation must support. This weight consists of that of the machine to be supported and that of the founda- tion itself. The area of base of the foundation must be sufficiently great that the pressure imposed by it on the soil will not be excessive. Safe pressures per square foot for different kinds of soil are given in Kidder’s “Archi- tects’ and Builders’ Handbook.” The soil in different parts of the works varies greatly from made or filled-in ground to hard clay. The pressures per square foot that founda- tions are allowed to impress vary accordingly. The mini- mum is I ton per square foot, while the maximum is about 4 tons per square foot. The weight or mass of a foundation is a factor to be considered. It should be sufficient to prevent lateral move- ment of the supported machine. The weight of a founda- tion for a self-contained machine that does not vibrate to any extent, such as a motor-generator, need not necessarily be great. If the foundation is sufficiently large to include the foundation HVA URAL iN permet 7 pe} ‘i Post cut off flush with Ke 7 r i 1x surfoce of poets xB ciently deep to ex- ii fe! Po: ; tend to good bot- tom, possibly 3, 4 y, or 5 ft., its weight bg if it is solid will pr y usually be more ; = than ample and mx Ste the foundation can yy) Heyy BOs AVY é GY FINA at be hollowed out in Beater eae aa! re ee the center as Fig. 2—Plan of Foundation with Posts hereinafter de- Imbedded : pera scribed. But for Fig. 3—Small Foundation Fig. 4—Foundation Hollowed Out to with Extended Base Save Concrete a foundation for some machine, such as a steam engine, which tends to vibrate excessively, considerable mass is necessary to maintain the machine accurately in position. The weight necessary for a foundation is a thing that must be determined by an experienced designer. It is not pos- sible to give a rule that will answer for every case. The usual practice is to design a foundation tentatively so that it will include the foundation bolts, extend to good bottom and provide sufficient area of base to maintain the pressure on the soil at a safe value. Then weight can be added to or taken from this tentative foundation as deemed necessary by the designer. Builders of engines and some other machines furnish e THE IRON drawings of foundations that they recommend, and such drawings are usually followed with any slight modifications that may be necessary to adapt them for local conditions. Concrete is used, a I :3:7 mixture whenever possible for foundations. Occasion- ally, when it is necessary to build a foundation and put it into service between Satur- day noon and Sunday night, it is made of brick set in a 1:3 cement mortar. A concrete foundation is cheaper than one of brick. Masonry (stone,and mortar) founda- tions are seldom, if ever, used. Drawings are usually prepared by the engineering de- partment indicating the exact location of each foundation and “tying it in” with.some part of a building or with an existing foundation. An engineer determines the loca- tion in the field with a transit and he fixes the line and elevation of the templet that supports and locates the foundation bolts. Forms, obviously, are not required for brick founda- tions. For concrete ones, where forms are used, they are constructed in the field so as to provide a foundation of the dimensions indicated by the drawing furnished by the engineering department. An engineer with a transit as- sists the carpenters in locating the forms for large founda- tions. Where the soil is stiff enough to be self-sustaining and the foundation is a simple one, forms can be dis- pensed with. A hole, Fig. 1, is excavated to the dimen- sions of the foundation and is filled with concrete. The dirt sides of the hole constitute the form. Posts are erected in each corner of the hole, to support the bolt templet and are held in position with braces. The posts and braces are left in the foundation as suggested in the plan view of Fig. 2 and are, of course, sawed off flush with its top. The shapes of all foundations are made as’ simple as possible, so that the iorms for them can be readily made. Figs. 3 and 4 show ex- amples of small foundations which il- lustrate this practice. The foundation of Fig. 3 has an ex- tended base to main- tain the pressure on the soil within a safe value. If the prism containing the foun- dation bolts were ex- tended to the bottom its area of base would be so small that the pressure on the soil would be excessive. Hence the necessity of extending the base as shown. A hollow arch runs_ entirely Fig. 5—Foundation with a Hollow Center Ak —? iis , WIRTZ y j : q Z é- Depress - cut Drom in Surface AGE July 4, 1912 8'4;" 9°. J@Lr — aaleaneth sae Fig. 7—Foundation Bolt of Square Billet for Large Engine machinery supported. _-—{— j In Fig. 5 is illus- trated another method 3 of saving concrete in | y ” foundations. In this, a box shaped form is cen- ——— 1) "+ — tered in the middle of ’ ai! ; Be - oon SBF - ns bale -n the excavation and the |. 10" volume within the box represents saved con- crete. Foundation bolt tem- ° plets are necessary in the Fig. 8—Key for Bolt of Fig. 7 construction of all foun- dations to retain the bolts in their correct positions while the concrete is being poured in and is setting. A simple templet for four bolts is shown in Fig. 1, mounted in cor- rect position over the foundation. The bolts hang through the holes in the templet and are held up by the nuts, which turn on their upper ends. Small templets are made of, possibly, 74-in. boards and are completed in the carpenter shop. They are aligned and leveled over the foundation by careful measurements. An engineer’s transit is fre- quently used in this work. Some sort of a sturdy support is always required for a templet. In the arrangement of Fig. 1, stringers across posts set in the foundation hold the templet. Frequently templets are supported on stririg- ers nailed to stakes driven in the ground near the founda- tion hole and sometimes they are supported on the form. A larger templet is shown in Fig. 6 (the illustration is not to scale), which indicates a method rather than a specific example. This scheme may be used for the very largest foundations. Heavy timber stringers are laid across the foundation hole, with their ends resting in depressions of such depth that the bottom face of the templet will be at the elevation of the top face of the foundation. The stringers carry the templet, which, in turn, carries the foundation bolts. For a large founda- tion requiring bolts possibly 2 in. in diameter the weight of the bolts will be considerable and the stringers must be so disposed that the templet, which is usually of relatively light stock, will not be subjected to ex- cessive stresses. For heavy bolts the string- ers should be near the rows of bolt holes rather than midway between them as sug- gested in Fig. 6. Where a _ templet is to be supported as outlined in Fig. 6, it may be built com- plete in the carpenter shop, if it is not too large, and then be transported to the foundation hole and Forged SSIES NOD t through the founda- ——————— located on the string- tion of Fig. 4. The SEN i ers. If the founda- space within the arch ne tion is large, pos- represents an_ equal A = sibly 60 or 100 ft. volume of concrete Excovetion for Foundation long, for an engine saved. Such a sav- eee aes or. other big machine ing is possible in foundations that would, without the arch, be Heavier than necessary to prevent vibration of the SNe) nee Fig. 6—One Method of Supporting a Large Template Qo it is necessary to pr build the templet in ‘ahi the field. In building WINN SOs 7 a big templet the car- penters work under the directions of av July 4, 1912 engineer with a transit. The engineer works from the foundation drawing which accurately locates all founda- tion bolts. The stringers are laid first and fixed solidly in position, and then the templet is built, piece by piece, by fastening planks to the stringers in the right posi- tions and boring therein the foundation bolt holes at the proper points. The points of location of the holes are determined by the engineer and his assistants. If the templet is made in one piece in the shop, as indicated in Fig. 6, it can be held in correct location by wooden tie pieces, each nailed to the templet at one end and made fast to a stake or to a member of the build- ing at the other end. Whether made in shop or not, outside bracing is always used on large templets, wherever possible. The drawings prepared for all foundations of f a — —*-] WO y ; ‘ an Forged Stee/ Finish all aver Fig. 11—Washer for Up- per End of Bolt Fig. 9—Piece of Rail for Foundation Washer ar*-- Foundotio D-.. Olt 4 Wooden | 2 eesee Fe ‘oundation : eats: Washer 3-2: ss Key, 2a ios: Fig. Fig. 12—Casing Set in Foundation any consequence by the engineering department, give all of the dimensions of the foundation and locate the bolts so that a carpenter can readily construct a templet for a small foundation by taking his dimensions from the drawing. For foundation bolts ordinary mild steel round rod is usually used for the smaller foundations. -The rod is threaded at both ends for nuts. For larger bolts a square billet, Fig. 7, is used, because the stock is rolled in the plant. The upper end of the rod is forged to a round section and threaded for a nut. At the lower end the rod is flattened out for a distance and slotted for a key, Fig. 8, which bears against the foundation washer. It is cheaper to flatten the end of the rod and punch the slot in it than to forge it round and thread it. The bolt of Fig. 7 and the key of Fig. 8 were used in the foundation for a 44x 84-in. and 84x &4- in, vertical compound blowing engine. _-Wooden Pieces THE IRON AGE 3 For foundation washers for the lower ends of the bolts, crop ends of rail, which are always obtainable about the plant, are frequently used in small foundations, as shown in Fig. 9. A hole is punched through the web of the rail and a head or hook is formed on the bolt, at its lower end, which transmits the stress from the bolt to the washer. For large foundations, square, cast iron washers, Fig. 10, cast from special patterns are used. The washer of Fig. 10 is for the bolt of Fig. 7. The hole in the washer is rectangular in shape, to ac- commodate the flattened part at the lower end of the bolt. The flat face of the washer “looks toward” the top of the foundation. The key, Fig. 8, bears against the seat on the lower face of the washer. A finished steel washer, like that of Fig. 11, is fre- Ds, a Top of Foundation 13—Wooden Casing Fig. 14—Free Space Formed with Bricks quently used under the nut at the upper end of a founda- tion bolt, to provide a smooth seat for the nut to turn on. Foundation bolts are usually set solid in the founda- tions, except for a relatively short distance, equal to, possibly, 25 or 30 bolt diameters, near the top of the foundation. See Fig. 12. This free space is allowed so that the upper end of the bolt can be shifted a little, if necessary, to get it into the hole in the machine bed plate. Bolt holes in bed plates are usually cored and may not, therefore, always be located accurately in ac- cordance with the machine builder's drawings. In con- crete foundations the free space about the upper end of the bolt is obtained by setting a box-like casing, or form, similar to that of Fig. 13, around the bolt before the con- crete is poured. In brick foundations the free space is formed with the bricks, as indicated in Fig. 14. Sometimes foundations are so arranged that the bolts will be removable. When so arranged there is a free 4 THE IRON AGE space about the bolt for its entire length. The foundations of Fig. 15 have free spaces the entire lengths of the bolts. The usual practice in the plant is to so proportion the bolts that there will be practically no possibility of their breaking. Hence it is practically never neces- sary to replace a bolt, and the rule is to build bolts in solid, rather than to make them removable. An example of a large engine foundation is shown in Fig. 15. The foundation is for a 50x 78x 60-in. horizontal tandem-compound engine driving a bloom mill. The founda- tion bolts are removable from this foundation. The washers are of cast iron and each has a pocket cored in it, in which a standard nut rests, Fig. 16. Each bolt is a 3% in. mild steel rod threaded at both ends and pointed at the lower end. The purpose of the design of this foundation was to permit the ex- tremely heavy bed plate to be placed in position without the difficulty July 4, 1912 poured in at about the consistency of thick cream. This grout fills the space completely, so that no matter how uneven the bottom of the bed plate or the top of the foundation, there will be a perfect union between them at all points. A drain was cast in the foundation from the bottom of the fly wheel pit to an adjacent sewer, to carry away any oil and water that might collect in it. In the case of a concrete founda- tion for a 46 and 86, 84 and &4 x 60- in. vertical blowing engine, square steel bolts similar to that shown in Fig. 7 were used. All of the bolts were forged from 3-in. square bil- lets. A 6-in. square space was pro- vided at each bolt location, which was filled with grout after the bolts were in position, and engine mounted and aligned. A 34-in. space was al- lowed between the upper face of the foundation and the lower edge of the bed plate for grouting, but in- stead of a cement grout, a rust joint usually experienced in lowering Fig. 16—Foundation Washer with Nut Pocket was formed. The rust joint was such a heavy casting down to place over high foundation bolts. In a foundation of this type the bolts are usually dropped through the bed plate and into the foundation, and screwed into the nuts in the foundation bolt washers, after the bed plate is in place. However, in this particular case the foundation was built with the bolts in place. An interesting feature of this foundation is that part of an old foundation and the foundation bolts therein were utilized for the support of the back bearing of the engine. A special back bearing bed plate was built which was arranged to take the old bolts and such new ones as were necessary. The old bolts were cut off and re- threaded to fit. One inch was allowed, in designing the foundation, for grouting between the foundation top and the lower edges of the engine bed plate. A similar allow- ance is always made with foundations, so that a perfect bedding of the bed plate will be assured. The grouting space is usually filled with a cement mortar, which is made by rusting cast-iron chips, with sal ammoniac, into one mass between the bed plate and foundation. The foreign commerce of the United States made a new and remarkable record in the fiscal year ended June 30. The total value of the merchandise entering and leaving the country in its trade with foreign lands and its own island possessions in the fiscal year 1912 was $4,000,000,000; the value of manufactures exported was more than $1,000,000,- 000, and the value of non-dutiable merchandise entering the country was $1,000,000,000. The value of duty-free merchandise entering from foreign countries in 1912 not only exceeds by far that of any earlier year, but also forms a larger share of the total imports than in any previous years except 1892 and 1894, the opening and closing years of the operations of the McKinley law, when the imports of sugar free of duty were abnormally large. Section A-A x LWAQOQ SW Wy QQ RQ \ \ ~ » y . y PAIS OSawy <cFe nse eee ee ‘eee {finn «se 4 r wenwresestannnnrerd se} scuttle © LE OE PTAA ones eee ot { Arsen eee ae <. PAAR AES E888 sew esesewweens “<aieess<s SAF Fig. 15—Concrete Foundation for a 50 x 78 x 60-in. Horizontal Tandem-Compound Engine ot Rae . fis 0855 TORE, OEE TNE SE in eis tl phn Mga tH an “ath ¥ ied s RE erie: July 4, 1912 Workmen’s Daily Time Slips A Method That Insures Accuracy and Saves Time in Filling Them Out Observations extending over a period of years regard- ing actual practice in the average shop as to the filling out of daily “time slips” by the workmen have emphasized at least two important considerations. The first is waste of time and the second. inaccuracies. It is the custom in many shops, particularly among the men doing floor or bench work, to fill out time slips in the last five minutes before the whistle blows at night. It is not an unusual sight at that time to find a number of men waiting for a pencil or a place at an available writing space, all intent on making out their time before the whistle blows. With the form of time slip ordinarily in use and the provisions for distribution, it is difficult to prevent this borrowing of com- pany time, although the aggregate waste in a large shop is surprising. On the other hand, the machine operator who fills out his slip from time to time through ‘the day makes it the occasion for a good deal 6f lingering between jobs. The more important consideration is the one of ac- DAILY TIME SLIP | LOCATION NO. 34 2 ae Ey ee NAME... James Hogan UIRS EE aan oven whip ee DATE. .Feby. ro, rgro. WORK ASSIGNED.Ord. No. 364 Turning Car Brasses No. 372 Turning Car Axles No. 373 Finishing Pistons Order : | Order | . | Order : | Order | -p. Time| ~ | Time | Time | ~y, Time | ~\; hens No. No. | No. Pred No. re ee Sa a6 1. occ ROR: Ji —-—|——__—_ | O26S-bes os eck SOBAE. woe iBNS1...... $084. ia 7:00|...... | 10:00 |. 1:00 |...... | 4:00 |......| —--- | Bi gme Re - | feo SOB bed cas: | $28 fs seo - } | ie eee MAD Bs sis ADO bes xcs: OTOH ve vn 7:45 10:45 |...... CAs crs 4881. cnc sorta babel | aed e081... 5: ON li. 3. ES awe ee lata a oe 8:15 eee... AGA SSS PEGs cy: O30 1. .... PRESE.<...) 2901 ge | SESS $45 |... VSO ED ows a PAN is was | SRB Aen ase Bas ates - ‘aia DD fags s ns 12007....%. SO cass | CHOTA soca esea a sc caiiey Pee T: Pree ToS: 3:15 | ieee | 6:15 | 373 TOTAL TIME. .1z0}.. RATE. .27}.. SIGNED..G. H. Harris, FOREMAN curacy. In numerous instances elaborate cost keeping sys- tems depend for the figures of distribution of time among various orders upon the time slip record made out by the workman. More often than otherwise the workman un- dertakes to recall at the end of the day at about what time one job was finished and another begun, and the result is a guess that may or may not be aclose one. There are now on the market automatic registering devices in which the workman is required to punch his time card at the comple- tion of each job, with the result that the time is marked thereon. But such an installation is somewhat expensive. To meet the conditions indicated, a simple form of time slip illustrated herewith was devised. The day was divided into 15-minute periods. Shorter intervals might have been used. Every machine in the shop was numbered and every space for bench and floor work. At a convenient place, hung on the building columns or bracketed on the operator’s machine, small writing boards were placed, each numbered in accordance with the location and with a pencil attached. Some time during the day previous, the foreman’s boy filled in on the slip the number, the workman’s name and the date, corresponding to the last slip turned in. The THE IRON AGE | 5 foreman then entered on the slip the assignment for the following day. Immediately after quitting time the boy, who was paid at the rate of 12% cents an hour, distributed these slips, fastening them on the corresponding writing boards throughout the shop and collecting the slips of the current day. Under this system the workman was not required to give any time or attention to the time card. His assign- ment was before him and all he was required to do on completing a job was to enter up the order number oppo- site the time. Three clocks were placed in the shop in such positions that every one could see the time without leaving his place. At the end of the day the order number of the work upon which the employee was then engaged was entered on the time slip, whether complete or not, as a check on the day’s work, the reappearance of the same number on the following or a subsequent date being in itself evidence of the carrying over of the job. This form of time card was intended to be in keeping with the sim- plest of shop card systems and at the same time to offer every opportunity for time saving and accurate distribution of labor. Its form and the manner of numbering each loca- tion offered advantages in connection with other features of the shop’s system, but these were incidental to the prin- cipal object. Coal Merger Proposed at Pittsburgh One of the largest corporations to be organized in Pitts- burgh in many years is shortly to be given active form through the efforts of New York financiers, says the Pitts- burgh Post. It involves the merger of five of the largest independent coal mining companies operating in the Pitts- burgh seam, and will have a capital and bond issue of $50,000,000 and an annual production of coal of 10,000,000 tons, with an unmined area of 40,000 acres. Financially it will be one of the strongest coal mining companies in the United States. The five companies that are included in this move are the United Coal Company, Pittsburgh & Westmoreland Coal Company, Pittsburgh-Buffalo Company, Youghio- gheny & Ohio Fuel Company and Carnegie Coal Company, With these companies will go several subsidiary corpora- tions, such as the Carnegie Dock Company, with storage docks on Lake Superior, supply companies and other ad- juncts of large coal mining operations. The organization of the new corporation will be built on a stock issue of $25,000,000 and a bond issue of a like sum. The largest of the individual interests to be absorbed in this new company will be the plant and properties of the Pittsburgh & Westmoreland Coal Company, with some 20,000 acres of coking coal land, and a capacity of 4,000,000 tons a year production and with 500,000 tons annually of coke production. The fact that much coking coal is included in the prop: erties lends additional significance to the proposed merger, two of the companies having coke plants at the present time and others being in shape to build coke plants and produce a good grade of furnace coke with such coal as they are now mining. The Pittsburgh & Westmoreland Coal Company’s holdings are almost entirely of a high grade coking coal, and its coke plant is one of the most modern as well as most economical of operation in the Pittsburgh territory. The fact that the old Connellsville basin coal is rapidly approaching a point of exhaustion is adding to the possi- bilities of this company. The new company would hold the next adjoining coking coal to that region. At the annual meeting of stockholders of the Brier Hill Coke Company held last week, the following were elected: H. H. Stambaugh, president; R. C. Steese, vice-president ; John Tod, treasurer; Thomas McCaffrey, secretary. The Redstone Central Railroad Company elected the following: Joseph G. Butler, Jr., president; John Tod, vice-president ; Thomas McCaffrey, secretary and treasurer. Both these companies are subsidiaries of the Brier Hill Steel Com- pany, Youngstown, Ohio. The Punxsutawney Iron Company, operating a blast furnace at Punxsutawney, Pa., has filed a notice of an increase in its capital stock from $150,000 to $300,000. An Arrangement for Casting Small Ingots . A Method Devised for Their Pro- duction in Large Quantities, as Em- ployed at Two European Steel Plants Much has been said on the subject of using small ingots to supply merchant mills, rod mills and tire mills with the necessary raw material; but up to a short time ago noth- ing had been devised to enable manufacturers to do so. George Marton, consulting engineer, Budapesth, Hungary, claims to have solved the problem, and in an economical way, as described below. The article from which the illustrations and data are taken appeared in Stahl und Eisen, Vol. 31, No. 47, and is written from the standpoint of the inventor. In rolling % to %-in. rods from two-ton to six-ton in- gots, it is pointed out that unnecessary work is done. The very expensive installation of a blooming mill is needed, for running which intelli- gent and high-priced labor is required; on the other hand small ingots can be cast easily and economically. In most cases, it is stated, the failure to use small in- gots is only because meth- ods now in use for ingot casting are too expensive and not suited for large out- put. Works which are al- ready equipped for casting small ingots, it is believed, will be interested in the new method, since in a small space a large quantity can be cheaply cast, the men not being exposed to undue heat and the ingots being sent hot to the rolling mills. By Mr. Marton’s meth- od small ingots are bottom cast in batteries on a common bottom plate, from a common fountain. The method of casting and of removing the ingots from the runners is not much different from what is now in use, but the method of handling the molds is entirely new. At the Krompach steel works at Resicza, Hungary, and at Falvahiitte in Upper Silesia an arrangement is em- ployed whereby several rows of molds—in fact, all that are on one bottom plate—can be lifted from the ingots with- out other labor than that of the crane operator, whereas it formerly took several men to do the work from a much less convenient position. The arrangement and operation of the lifting device Fig. 1—Lifting Device with Steel Hooks Fig. 3—Lifting a Battery of Ingots are shown in Figs 1, 2 and 3. The hook-shaped ear of the mold is fastened into a recess on its side by means of a key, so that when the mold is scrapped the ear and key can be used again. The method of suspending the series of molds (from five to seven in a row) makes it possible to hang them up to cool by the same crane that strips the ingots. The number of molds which can be handled by one suspension frame depends on the size of the ingots. For example, of 8 in. x 8-in. ingots 49 molds can be handled; of 5% x 5%-in. ingots 63 molds can be handled—in both cases including the fountain. Fig. 4 shows an arrange- ment in use at Krompach, where the molds are manipu- lated in such a manner that after a short lift the crane moves forward and throws the molds with their ingots sidewise, thus breaking the runners. Complete batteries can be handled in this man- ner. It is also desirable to bring the small ingots hot to the rolling mills, to make use of their initial heat in the same manner as with large ingots. To load the ingots quickly and to keep their heat longer, the bot- tom plate is provided with a wall on three sides, as in Figs. 3 and 5, and the in- gots can be dumped into a car (Fig. 5) by a single Fig. 2—Method_ of Using Lift- ovement. ing Device After the ingots have been brought to the rolling mills, it is best to deposit them in deep pits. These are not heated but the ingots, on account of lying together in a large mass, keep their high temperature for several hours. They are charged by means of a crane which lifts them out of the pits. Where local conditions permit, it is preferable to bring the ingots with their bottom plate to the rolling mill and dump them directly into soaking pits. It is sug- gested that the bottom plate freed from its ingots be not directly returned to the casting pit but be placed at one side to prepare it for the next charge. By this method not, only increased production can be reached but the men who brick the bottom plates are not compelled to work in the vicinity of the hot molds. Fig. 6 shows a cross- Fig. 5—Unloading Ingots Into a Car - Juiy 4, 1912 liad folilnlglals I ry Py ima ry ry PI }_} 2.699 ——________-»} THE IRON AGE “1 \ \ \ Fiz. 4—Method of Manipulation at Krumpach, Doing Away with the Shearing Operation—Dimensions in Millimeters ° section of the casting pit of the steel department at Resicza. The advantages the inventor claims for his method are summarized as follows: 1. Double the production can be reached in the same space in the pit. 2. Less labor, as a large part of the work is done mechanically. 3. The men work under much better conditions as they are not compelled to work near the hot ingots and molds. 4. Or- der can be better preserved, as the molds after stripping remain in regular rows in their cooling place. 5. The bottom plates suffer less, as the hot mass of steel is more rapidly removed from them. 6. The ingots are brought to the rolling mills hot; thus the output of the mill can be: greatly increased and the consumption of coal and the wear on reheating furnaces greatly decreased. 7. It is possible to cast economically such small ingots as 5 in. x 5% in. 150 lb. to 220 lb., the production of which in large amounts has been extremely difficult hitherto. Coal Purchases Under Specifications Manufacturers and others who use coal in considerable quantity will be interested in Bulletin 41, of the United States Bureau of Mines, on “Government Coal Purchases Under Specifications.” This bulletin, which was prepared by George S. Pope, engineer in charge of fuel inspection for the Government, is the fourth of a series showing the results of such purchases. Its purpose is to explain in general terms the methods that the Government has found most satisfactory for the purchase of a large part of its coal supply, including the consideration of bids, the award- ing of contracts and the analyzing of samples on which the price corrections are based. For the information of prospective bidders on Govern- ment contracts a list of the coal contracts in force in the fiscal year ended June 30, 1911, is furnished. General averages of the analyses during the fiscal year 1908 to 1910, inclusive, are tabulated for the various sizes of an- thracite and also for the several kinds of bituminous coal purchased for Government use, and the results for the fiscal year ended June 30, 1910, are shown in detail by months. Copies may be obtained by addressing the Direc- tor of the Bureau of Mines, Washington, D. C. The Pittsburgh Steamship Company has placed an order with the American Shipbuilding Company for a large steel steamer of the Isherwood type to be used in the ore trade. It will be a duplicate of the steamer James A. Farrell, which was ordered last February. It will be 600 ft. long, 58 ft. beam and 32 ft. deep, will have a capacity of 12,000 tons and will be delivered at the opening of navigation in 1913. | tj f : S 2} ™ Si. | we oe ras i | $—..9w Te mt’ Vy) | = | Elevated |” | ‘ , Gp | ~ | or ; \ | : x || unloading 9 | | — & VF A ] acaribara > : $ eee | | VV = 2 ] v CVS Car with | | . 1 0 f f : m% iy AR P lbottom plate § <i 8 Wg 7 SON 2 ae | : ? 4 TARP = i s Coley See? | 9o0geds ATTY > () Coy in | re yy J st he 4 a Uo» a | HAGA | 7 FFI A——_V YY : ABLE by, | LZ Z (Vi; a eee Yj Fig. 6—Cross Section of Casting Pit at Resicza, Austria-Hungary The American Bridge Company’s Gary.Shops Fabricating Shops Designed in Large Units to Provide for Plant Extension—Cranes and Railways a Large Factor in Operation Emphasis has already been placed upon that phase of the United States Steel Corporation’s project at Gary which provides for concentrating at the steel mills as many finishing processes as are conducted by its subsidiary or- ganizations. The new plant of the American Bridge Com- pany at Gary, completed about a year ago, was the first unit in this scheme and is especially interesting as an example of an arrangement intended to provide the best possible handling facilities for structural material. The plant is located on a tract of 160 acres of which 50 have been cleared for building and operating purposes. This site is connected with the steel mills by the Elgin, Joliet & Eastern Railroad belt line which connection also makes available to the plant the facilities of the several trunk lines passing through Gary. Present Capacity 10,000 Tons per Month The general scheme of the plant is here illustrated. It provides for a series of parallel shop buildings each 700 res the plant and accordingly offers a more limited length of travel. The central transept which serves as a temporary storage area of about 60,000 sq. ft. is a special provision for taking up the slack between the punching, shearing or forming operations and the assembly departments of the fabricating shops. It too is spanned by 10-ton Cleveland cranes which traverse its entire length on parallel runways, two cranes for each runway, available for transferring material between shops. The standard gauge tracks traverse the plant in a north and south direction parallel to the axes of the shops through which they run. These standard gauge.tracks are paralleled and supplemented by four industrial tracks of 3 ft. gauge, which are laid from the receiving yard through each shop to the shipping yard. These industrial tracks are laid with a slight grade from the receiving yard to the shipping yard so that a partial gravity movement of ma- terial is made possible. Extensions of the industrial track- age are laid throughout the plant so that in conjunction \/ Cc me OLY Pr oy aS esi = os nee = 028 V\, ee te a * aol 5 mA 71 | Ee The Three 90-Ft. Craneways in the Receiving Yard, Each with Two 10-Ton Cleveland Cranes ft. long and approximately 285 ft. wide, with intervening areaways approximately 70 ft. wide. These parallel build- ings are connected at the mid-section by a common tran- sept 100 ft. wide. The present plant comprises two of these shop urits with an aggregate capacity of 10,000 tons per month. The extension of the plant is provided for in a duplication of these fabricating units in the direction of the common transept axis. The fabricating shops front at the south end on a receiving yard which is also shown in one of the halftone engravings and at the north end they abut on a general shipping yard, both yards extending 750 ft. in a direction parallel to the central transept. Traversing the length of the receiving yard are three parallel craneways each of 90 ft. span and each carrying two 10-ton Cleveland cranes. A similar arrangement pro- vides handling facilities in the shipping yard except that here the craneways have a span of 8o ft. and the cranes are of 30 ton capacity. One of the shipping yard crane- ways is intended especially for serving the auxiliary ma- chine and forge shops which are grouped at that end of i with the overhead crane service, facilities are provided for a very flexible handling of material about the plafit. For the inter-plant handling of material a very com- plete auxiliary crane service has been installed. The ar- rangement and sizes of these cranes are shown in a plan of the present shop buildings. Although there is a general separation of the heavy work for fabrication in shop No. 1 and of the lighter work for shop No. 2, the crane equip- ment is identical. A distinctive type of crane similar to those installed at other plants of the American Bridge Company is used. A general idea of their design may be obtained from the view in shop No. 1, which also shows the numerous jib cranes mounted on or near the fabricat- ing machinery for the handling of material in the machines. Remarkable Example of Crane Service The building columns are spaced at intervals: of 100 ft. along the building and 66 ft. 8 in. across the shop. Each transverse sawtooth roof section has a width of 20 ft., and from the roof girders making these sections, the run- ; bb es asiertn July 4, 1912 THE IRON AGE 9 capacity with a 25-ft. radius carrying a trolley hoist. The buildings are of steel framework with a saw- tooth roof construction affording a north light and extending over the entire length of the building with the exception of the north 100 ft., which has an arched roof construction to provide greater hight for assembly work. The building walls are of reinforced concrete panels up to the windows and above that are curtained with galvanized cor- rugated steel. The interior w~'l and roof surfaces are painted white to help light dis- tribution. The floor is of cinder rolled smooth with tar. In the receiving yard the material is stored on 12 x 12-in. timber skids laid on concrete footings and shod with steel rails. The same form of skids are used inside of the shop. For handling material to the ma- ® ‘ chines, frames in which railroad wheels are mounted are laid on the skids. These are illustrated in some of the pictures. For laying out work and for other purposes where a uni- form level is desirable, structural steel horses are used, consisting of an I-beam rail and chan- nel legs, as also il- lustrated. For the handling of large plates to the plate- planing machine and_ guillotine shearing ma- chine the or- dinary form of castors [ga JU Up Gi Ug yh. Vy) os an ‘ By OK Mf B / My, Li ge \ aro Tyke \S AY \ geegee \ Zs A ee On Yai, 7 Gq Ls 7 Ving ways for the assembly cranes are hung, the cranes operat- ing across the shop. This is in- dicated in the longi- tudinal sectional ele- vation drawing. In the south 300 ft. of the building six 10-ton cranes are so mounted on par- allel runways. In the north end of the shop are four similar cranes and in addi- tion two 8o-ton girder cranes, each with a span of 60 ft. The clearance under the roof girders is 30 ft. 8 in. and under the crane runways 27 ft. 4 in. These cranes, which are of an underhung type, are also unique as re- gards the hoist. Instead of a carriage traveling along the bridge with a hook suspended from the hoist, the motors are centrally located with the cage directly be- low and the two hoisting drums, one at each end of the girder, carry an equalizing I-beam runway suspended at each end. On this two trolley hooks are mounted. With this arrange- ment it is a simple matter to take two hitches on long pieces, thus avoiding swinging or slipping. The 8o-ton cranes are similar in design to the smaller trolleys except that they are suspended from four runways instead of two, making the span between the outside runways 60 ft. The 100-ft. arched roof assembly bay at the extreme north end is traversed by two parallel 40-ton cranes of standard design. The cen- tral runways are hung from the roof trusses. The side bays in the shops are served by 10-ton standard design cranes with 4o-ft. spans. The jib cranes are uniformly of 2 tons oO o Gy oo Se ay LM Lay os ax “Yy Vie y/ Wy Ly Ss Y) LL ty, ‘i “? ly Vip py o Wy a New Shops, American Bridge Company, Gary, Ind. 4 THE IRON AGE July 4, 1912 Cross-Section Showing the General Character of Stcel Frame Work are employed. In the construction of the receiving and shipping yard, crane runways and the building framework, about 7,000 tons of structural shapes were required. An interesting feature in the structural design of the shops has to do with the t1oo-ft. girders which extend north and south through the middle of .each building. From the south end to the north end of the building the weight of these girders increases from 25 to 37 tons, which added strength is intended to provide for the increased weight of the material to be handled as it is gradually assembled toward the finishing end of the plant. The general layout of the plant and machinery provides for the heavier work being carried through the central por- tion of the floor area in each building, while the lighter or special operations are performed at the sides with an assembly movement toward the center. In the south half of No. 1 shop the heavy beams and plates are punched and sheared, the equipment for which includes a Hilles & Jones 10-ft. guillotine plate shearing ay Rivet Shop of machine, a 10-ft. guillotine type multiple punching ma- chine, a 5-ft. similar punch, a 40-ft. plate planing machine and several open gap single punches and shears and I-beam coping’ machines, equipped with spacing tables: The multiple punches embrace some features of special design and are intended particularly for plate girder work, This portion of the shop is shown in one of the cuts., In another view is shown an additional portion of this/floor space on which are located angle, rod and beam shearing machines. 5 As indicated in the background of the view of the assembling cranes already referred to (north portion of shop No. 1) provision is made for riveting and assembling. The heavy girders are assembled on skids laid in the central floor space. Another view of this riveting bay shows the riveting equipment, which includes two 100-ton hydraulic lifting riveting machines, two 60-ton hydraulic lifting riveting machines, and several gap riveting ma- chines of smaller capacity. For handling material to these yee eee ee SSS See General Plan of the Two Units Forming the New Plant of the American Bridge Company 4 iA coe — —_ July 4, 1912 View in Shop No. machines and during the riveting operation, gantry cranes are installed, as indicated in the illustrations, operating on a track of 12-ft. gauge. The crane serving’ the 100-ton riveting machines is of 40 tons capacity and that for the THE IRON AGE 1 Showing the Kind of Traveling Assembling Cranes and the Numerous Jib Cranes * 60-ton riveting machines is of 15 tons capacity.. For reaming, in the finishing department, four gantry cranes, each equipped with six radial reaming arms are installed. Four rotary planing machines for facing the head and id ww Multiple Punching and Other Machines in South End of Shop No. 1 12 THE IRON AGE Special Design of Jib Cranes in the Side Bay of the Machine Shop foot of columns and a three-head Newton Chord boring machine for boring the holes for bearing pins in bridge- work are a part of the equipment. In shop No. 2 the machinery installed is generally similar through of some- what lighter capacity. All of the machines are driven by individual electric motors operating on 25-cycle 220-volt three-phase current. As indicated, lean-to bays are arranged paralleling the - July 4, I912 central floor space of both shops on _ each side. At the south end of shop No. 1 are the heavy bending depart- ment and templet shop; at the opposite end on one side, the rivet shop; on the other side the power equipment. The east lean-to of shop No. 2 is fitted up for the detail work of the plant and the _ west lean-to is the beam shop. The template shop as noted is located at the southwest corner of bridge shop No. 1, from which it is sep- arated by a 13-in. con- crete fire wall. The shop is equipped with the usual planing ma- chines, band saws, rip saws, boring machines and other woodwork- ing tools, and is well arranged with refer- ence to templet mak- ers’ benches. No foun- dry work is done at the Gary plant, but the templet requirements necessitate a large stock of white pine which is carried in the gallery of the templet shop for seasoning. The space devoted to the making of rivets is about the same as that for the templet shop and is spanned by a 10-ton 40-ft. crane. This crane is arranged with a hopper for loading the rivets into the top of steel vertical bins, as indicated in one of the illustrations. The bins have separate compartments for each size of rivet | id fn Machine Shop of the American Bridge Company, Gary, Ind., from the Ja chil hela A ! OEE July 4, 1912 and bolt and are built with chutes through which the rivets may be discharged into truck cars operating on an industrial track The equipment of this department includes four rivet machines and a_ bolt header. The bending depart- ment is equipped with two 300-ton hydraulic forming presses. for bending the various shapes. The proximity of this plant to the Gary mills makes the ques- tion of power exceed- ingly simple, and the plant at the bridge works is for the most part a converter sta- tion for stepping down the 22,000-volt current to 6200 volts for deliv- ery to the rotary con- verters, and to 220 volts for use through- out the shop. The power plant lean-to is 200 ft. long and is spanned by a 10-ton 4o-ft. crane. The equipment was furnished by the General Electric Company, including two converters, one of 440 hp. and one of 710 hp. Two Laidlaw-Dunn-Gordon compound compressors, direct mo- tor driven, supply air for riveting at 100 lb. pressure. A low-pressure compressor of similar manufacture supplies air at 15 lb. pressure for the heating furnaces. Two Platt Iron Works high-service hydraulic pumps with 1500- THE IRON AGE I3 Compressors in the Power House ‘Ib. accumulators supply the power for the hydraulic riv- eters. The advantages of independently driven machinery for the fabricating shop are emphasized in this plant where conditions make it economical to drive all tools with individual motors. The machine shop is 100 ft. x 216 ft. and arranged with a central assembly bay spanned by a 25-ton 60-ft. Cleveland crane, and two side machine bays, each 20 ft. RU il PA er een remeuneteeeatiienaaaamnenniea IRON AGE July 4, 1912 ‘Angle, Rod and Beam Shearing Machines in South End of Shop No. 1 Riveting Bay in’ North End of Shop No. 1, Showing the Gantry Crane Feet atts ite SSH ee Rivet Making and Storing in the Rivet Shop j i July 4, 1912 wide and also served by electric cranes. The machine equipment of the shop includes a 72-in. Niles-Bement- Pond planing machine, a 10-ft. Detrick & Harvey open- side planing machine, a 16-ft. Cincinnati boring machine, a 36 x 30-ft. lathe and a 60-in. gear cutting machine. Other smaller tools of a general character are installed. A feature of the shop is a concrete table 65 ft. in diameter placed in the main bay for the assembly of drawbridge turn tables and similar work. For bolting down the work, I2 X I2-in. timbers 30 ft. long radiating from the center are embedded in the concrete. A general view of the machine shop with this turn table center in the fore- ground is shown. The cranes in the side bays over the machine tools are especially designed jib cranes arranged both to revolve and travel along the 6-ft. I-beam run- ways from which they are suspended. One of the cuts illustrates the possibilities of these cranes. The forge shop 100 x 100 ft. is located east of the machine shop. Its central feature is a 10,000-lb. steam hammer for heavy forging, but provision is also made for lighter forging operations for bridge pins and similar’ work. It also has a full equipment of bolt-cutting and threading machines. The storehouse for bolts and small materials is a building 60 x 100 ft. in plan located west of the machine shop. It is fitted with bins for carrying all commercial sizes of bolts and small materials, which are purchased in the market or obtained from other mills. The Cement Industry in 1911 The statistics of cement production in I9II, prepared by Ernest F. Burchard, of the United States Geological Survey, show an increase over 1910 of only about a million and a half barrels. The increase in quantity is the smallest recorded within the last 13 years, and the fact that the total value showed an actual decrease indicates that trade con- ditions were not as satisfactory in I9II as in I910. The total quantity of Portland, natural and puzzolan cements produced in the United States in 1911 was 79,547,- 958 barrels, valued at $66,705,136. Compared with 1910, when the production was 77,785,141 barrels, valued at $68,752,092, the year 1911 showed an increase ot 1,762,817 barrels, or 2.27 per cent. in quantity, but a decrease of $2,046,956, or 1.48 per cent. in value. The total production of Portland cement was’ 78,528,637 barrels, valued at $66,248,817. This quantity reduced to tons is equivalent to 13,321,822 gross tons, valued at $4.97 per ton. As compared with the production of Portland cement for 1910, which was 76,549,951 barrels, valued at $68,205,800, the output for I9I1I represents an increase in quantity of 1,978,686 barrels, or 2.58 per cent., and a decrease in value of $1,956,083, or 2.87 per cent. The average price per barrel in 1911, according to the figures reported to the Survey, was a trifle less than 84.4 cents, as compared with 89.1 cents in 1910. In the average price for the country is included the value of 135,775 barrels of white Portland cement which sold at an average price of about $2.50 per barrel. Rather startling figures which have just been made public by the Pennsylvania Railroad show that it has in the past 25 years paid in wages more than two billions of dollars—to be exact, $2,220,034,753.86. This is practically double the debt of the United States. The company has more than 73,500 stockholders. Its system has 11,593 miles of line and 25,236 miles of track, and about 185,000 em- ployees. It hauls the largest tonnage of any railroad sys- tem in the world. It operates in 13 States, in which are located fully 75 per cent. of the industries of the United Sta