Adhesion between Iron and Concrete.-E. SUENSSON.-Teknisk Tidsskrift, Copenhagen, 1915, vol. 39, pp. 1–20.-This is an elaborate Paper dealing with the subject both in a scientific and practical manner. It is illustrated by numerous diagrams and tabular statements giving results of experiments carried out by the Author to ascertain the influence of varying conditions of the materials and their application. Joints, connections and form and area of sections of the reinforcing-bars and their placing in the structure to obtain the best results are dealt with in detail.-L. S. Z.

Cinder-Concrete Floor-Construction between Steel Beams. H. PERRINE and G. E. STREHAN.-Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, 1915, vol. 41, pp. 259-357.— An extensive series of tests on cinder-concrete floors, plain and reinforced, such as are used in New York buildings, were conducted by the engineering department of Columbia University, partly in co-operation with the Bureau of Buildings, New York City. From an examination of the tests empirical formulas are derived for the strength of floors made of restrained and unrestrained slabs. The results are shown in the form of curves.-R. S. B.

Simple Method of securing Dustless Concrete-Floors.-P. M. BRUNER. Journal of the Association of Engineering Societies, St. Louis, Mo., 1915, vol. 54, pp. 142-149.-The Author discusses the various forms of "hardeners" for the surfaces of concrete floors, and states that cement top-coating remains weak and deficient in strength because of the excess of water required. To remedy this a webbing is laid on the floor-surface, over which some dry material is placed which draws off the excess of water. This results in a hard and dense coating.-R. S. B.

Standard-Practice Instructions for the New York ConcreteTesting Laboratory.-R. E. GOODWIN.-Engineering News, New York, 1915, vol. 73, pp. 202–208.-This article describes the equipment and the methods of testing in the laboratory. An outside staff is employed in making field-tests of concrete used on the work. There are several illustrations.-C. O. B.

Absorption of Water from the Air by Timber.-E. ISAACHSEN. -Teknisk Ukeblad, Christiania, 1915, vol. 62, pp. 258-259.-The Author describes experiments carried out to ascertain the amount of water absorbed from the air by various kinds of timber over a period of more than 6 years, and a tabular statement of the results is given. The effect on the seasoning of timber is dealt with.— L. S. Z.

Rapid Graphic Method of Calculating Arches.-A. MESNAger. Comptes Rendus de l'Académie des Sciences, Paris, 1914, vol. 159, pp. 650-652.—A chart calculated from a formula connecting the moment of flexure at any section of an arch caused by a load in any position is given, and by this means the value of the moment

of flexure at any section and for any position of a load can be obtained by inspection. The total moment of flexure of all the loads on the arch is thus a process of summation.-H. R. S.

Lateral Stiffness of Lattice-Girder Bridges.-Dr. J. H. A. HAARMAN. De Ingenieur, The Hague, 1915, vol. 30, pp. 59-60.The degree of lateral stiffness is obtained graphically from the combined consideration of the collapse factor-of-safety of the topboom, as obtained from Euler's formula, and the force required to bend the top of the vertical strut out 1 centimetre.-H. C. A. T.

Strengthening the Kirchenfeld Bridge at Berne.-Professor A. ROHN. Schweizerische Bauzeitung, Zürich, 1915, vol. 65, pp. 223–250. -This bridge over the river Aare, built in 21 months at a cost of £50,000, and opened for traffic in 1883, needed widening and strengthening. The Author describes the methods adopted for this work, which has just been completed. The bridge had originally merely a masonry abutment on each bank and a very low central pier, with two lattice-arches supporting a lattice-girder platform. The central pier has been carried up to the girders in reinforced concrete and the metallic structure considerably strengthened at a cost of £16,680.—E. R. D.

Bascule-Bridge Acting as a Simple Truss-Span.-Engineering News, New York, 1915, vol. 73, pp. 108-110.-This double-leaf bascule-bridge spans the new ship-canal at Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian Pacific Railway.. Its features are a tension-lock in the lower chord and a compression-joint in the top chord. Thus when the bridge is closed the two leaves are converted into a simple truss-span. The length of the bridge is 336 feet between trunnioncentres and, to provide for expansion, one of the end towers with bascule-leaf is movable longitudinally. Illustrations show details of the chord-locks.-C. O. B.

Erection-Traveller, New Quebec Bridge.-H. P. BORDEN.Engineering News, New York, 1915, vol. 73, pp. 417-422.-The traveller operates from the bridge-floor and consists of a main tower, 200 feet high, surmounted by two travelling-cranes. At a point half-way up the tower there are also four derrick-booms, one at each corner of the tower. The traveller is electrically operated. Details and illustrations are given.-C. O. B.

Concrete Pier-Work on the Cumberland-Valley Railway-Bridge over the Potomac River.-Engineering News, New York, 1915, vol. 73, pp. 124-125.-In building these piers in water, doublewall coffer-dams with 5-foot jacket, dirt-filled from the river-bank, were employed. The piers stand on rock in 5 to 10 feet of water and rise to 60 feet above low water. The contractors' plant included a 1,200-foot cable-way over the river. The article is illustrated.-C. O. B.

Twelfth-Street Trafficway Viaduct, Kansas City, Missouri.E. E. HOWARD.-Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, 1915, vol. 41, pp. 1019-1067.—This viaduct is a double-deck reinforced-concrete structure 2,300 feet long, 60 feet wide and 120 feet high at its highest point. It includes one arch with a clear opening of 130 feet. All the structural steel members of the span are encased in concrete. The method of computing the columns, methods of construction, and the plant used are described in the Paper, which is illustrated.-R. S. B.

Double-Deck Viaduct in Kansas City.-H. H. Fox.-Engineering Record, New York, 1915, vol. 71, pp. 164-166.-This is a concrete structure of column and girder design, mile in length, with a 134-foot arch near the centre. The upper deck carries an electric railway, a roadway and a footway, and the lower deck a roadway only. The article contains sectional drawings and a general view of the work during construction.-C. O. B.

Picaza Bridge.-A. A. AGRAMONTE.-Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, 1915, vol. 41, pp. 1069–1091. -This reinforced-concrete bridge, spanning part of the valley of the Salada River in the Province of Buenos Ayres, consists of a central span of 26 metres and six lateral spans of 28.5 metres each. The central span has two concrete arches reinforced with a structural steel skeleton from which the floor-system is suspended by steel members. A Table of unit-costs is appended.-R. S. B.

Standard Specifications for Railway- and Tramway-Bridges in the Dutch East Indies. Dr. J. H. A. HAARMAN. - De Ingenieur, The Hague, 1915, vol. 30, pp. 108-111.-Part 1 deals with general specifications of new bridges, method of calculation, loading, wind-pressure, centrifugal load in curved bridges, load due to braking, temperature-changes, safe permissible stresses and factors of safety. Part 2 gives a formula for controlling the load on mild-steel piers, with variations to be used, when wind-pressure and braking are taken into account. Part 3 deals with old bridges and piers in relation to the introduction of heavy new rolling-stock. Part 4 gives instructions regarding the taking over of new bridges and piers.-H. C. A. T.

Organization of a Large Municipal Highway Department. W. H. CONNELL. Journal of the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, 1915, vol. 159, pp. 439-469.-The activities of such a Department are tabulated, and a chart is given showing the interconnection of the various sections of the organization amongst themselves and how they all depend on the Chief Engineer. Photographs are given of roads in various conditions embodying twenty-six different types of the present standard materials and methods of construction. A photographic example shows the improvement made by splitting the large-size granite-block into two and re-laying.

Tabulated accounts are given in connection with the road-expenses for the city of Philadelphia.-H. R. S.

Standard Specifications for Road-Materials.-M. E. H. TJADEN. De Ingenieur, The Hague, 1914, vol. 29, pp. 357-359.— The specifications are divided into three classes:-Natural stone, artificial stone and wood. In general the following particulars are specified-Origin, shape, sizes, degree of purity, appearance, constancy of quality, tests for wear, compression-test, water-absorption and specific gravity. For wood-paving only Australian hardwood, specified in detail, may be used.--H. C. A. T.

Light Motor Road-Rollers.-L. BORUP.-Teknisk Tidsskrift, Copenhagen, 1915, vol. 39, pp. 9-12.-The Author refers to the different treatment required for the maintenance of existing roads and the construction of new ones, and the desirability of comparatively light rolling for bituminous roads suitable for modern motortraffic. He analyses the merits and demerits of various types of rollers, tandem and three-wheelers, driven by steam- or oil-engines, and compares their efficiency and economy in actual work.-L. S. Z.

Sewer-Tunnel under the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal.-FEUCHTINGER and PLATIEL. Zeitschrift des Vereines deutscher Ingenieure, Berlin, 1915, vol. 59, pp. 215-221, 295-300.-The sewer-outfall of Kiel, situated on the Baltic Sea, is carried under the Kaiser-Wilhelm Canal by a 590-foot-long tunnel, constructed of 10-foot-diameter iron rings 10 inches wide, and driven by means of a shield, airpressure being used. Details of construction and working are given.-H. C. A. T.

Construction of Cumberland Waterworks.-F. H. EASTMAN.Engineering Record, New York, 1915, vol. 71, pp. 137-139.-Work on this dam comprised the placing of 24,000 cubic yards of 1:3:6 cyclopean masonry and covering both faces with concrete blocks. This material was handled by five derricks, and was obtained from an adjacent quarry. The water is conveyed through a 9-mile wood-stave pipe-line to a distribution-reservoir. mixing plant is described and illustrated.-C. O. B.

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The concrete

Rock-Fill Dam with Unusual Foundation-Problems.-M. C. HINDERLIDER. Engineering News, New York, 1915, vol. 73, pp. 660664.-The dam, situated at Beaver Park, Colorado, stores water in a narrow gorge for irrigation. As originally designed, the spillway was over an adjoining ridge, but its porous formation, with bedrock sloping away from the dam, necessitated the transfer of the spillway to the dam proper and the provision of a concrete diaphragm to prevent seepage. The article is illustrated.-C. O. B.

Water-Supply of Batavia.-F. A. JANSSEN VAN RAAY.-De Ingenieur, The Hague, 1915, vol. 30, pp. 115–130, 135–144.--This Paper, read before the Koninklijk Instituut van Ingenieurs, describes an improved water-supply for 240,000 inhabitants. High

pressure and low-pressure supply, artesian, ordinary and surfacewater wells are compared. The work was finally carried out under a high-pressure system, the water being taken from ordinary wells. Quantities, costs, analyses and statistics are given.-H. C. A. T.

Ultra-Violet Rays for the Sterilization of Water.-M. VON RECKLINGHAUSEN.--Journal of Franklin Institute, Philadelphia, 1914, vol. 168, pp. 681-704.-A complete account is given of the application of ultra-violet rays to the biological purification of water. The quartz mercury lamp appears to be the only practical one for the purpose, and attempts with naked arc lamps have so far failed. A Figure shows the number of seconds required to kill various germs. The abiotic method of measuring the activity of the ultraviolet rays can be translated into a photographic method for practical use, and a diagram shows that the photographic activity on citrate-of-silver paper follows closely the annihilation of bacterium coli. In designing apparatus for sterilizing water, it is essential that every part of the water be brought under the action of the rays; several designs to give effect to this requirement are described.-H. R. S.

Pumping-Plant of the Morenci Water Company.-W. L. Du MOULIN. Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers, New York, 1915, vol. 41, pp. 847–897.-This pumping-plant, on the Eagle River, delivers water to the mining town of Morenci through a pipe-line 5 miles long against a static head of 1,525 feet, the capacity of the pumps being 3,740,000 gallons per 24 hours. The total head when pumping through a 10-inch main amounts to 1,700 feet, and this great pressure introduces special difficulties in the design of the pumps, which are described. There are three 10inch mains to the supply-reservoir.-R. S. B.

River-Regulation in Norway.-OTTO BUDTKER.-Teknisk Ukeblad, Christiania, 1915, vol. 62, pp. 244–247. The Author describes the regulation-works of the rivers and lakes from which the town of Arendal derives its power-supply of about 96,500 HP. The problem of the regular supply of water all the year round to the powerstation was greatly complicated by the necessity of also having to provide sufficient water for floating timber from the forests to the mills. Dams, weirs, locks and other works had to be built, and water-courses deviated often under very difficult conditions. plan and photographs show some of the principal features.— L. S. Z.

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Construction and Working of the Rhine-Weser Canal.A. DEKING DURA. - De Ingenieur, The Hague, 1914, vol. 29, pp. 323-327.—Complete details of the improvements carried out on the West Prussian waterways at an estimated cost of £12,537,500 are given. The object, to improve the connection between the Rhine and the North Sea, appears to have been realized by the trafficreturns, which show 4,000,000 tons for 1913 as against 200,000