Aprit 19, 1872.
THE BUILDING NEWS. 309
THE BUILDING NEWS.
ad
LONDON, FRIDAY, APRIL 19, 1872.
HOW TO BUILD SCIENTIFICALLY
WITH THE AID OF MODERN IN-
VENTIONS.—XI.
ARTIFICIAL STONE.
HAT we have to consider artificial stone
as a building material shows how neces-
sary it is for us to keep adding to our store of
knowledge, and not to continue building with
the old materials simply because our fore-
fathers used them. No, we must inquire
into all novelties, and endeavour to find out
if they are good, and then use them tenta-
tively at first, and after proving them by
time we may advise general adoption.
In speaking of the artificial building stones,
T need not go farther back than the year 1864,
when the Institute received the report of a
committee they had appointed in 1863 on this
subject. We find they experimented on
Mons. Coignet’s patent stone, Wheeble’s
patent concrete stone (Reading Abbey),
Bodmer’s patent compressed stone bricks, and
Ransome’s patent stone. Unfortunately their
yaluable report is limited to the behaviour of
the various materials under one test only—
namely, strength under pressure, and it,
therefore, gives us little assistance in con-
sidering the general advantages and disad-
vantages of the material. It may be well to
enumerate the various materials of which the
different stones were composed : they were as
follows :—Mons. Coignet’s stone consisted
of different proportions of the following
materials :—Coarse sand and gray stone lime ;
sand, gray stone lime and Portland cement ;
sand and blue lias lime; sand, blue lias lime,
and Portland cement. Ransome’s: Sand,
ballast, and clay; sand and chalk ; ballast,
sand, andchalk. Wheeble’s : Gravel and hy-
draulic lime. Bodmer’s: Silicious sand and
hydraulic lime.
Though only seven years have passed, so
rapid has been the progress made, that the
artificial stone of to-day is a great advance on
that tested by this committee.
Thinking of this progress when I had to
consider and put on paper the exact position
I consider artificial stone should hold now, I
determined to try and see the material in the
various stages of manufacture, so that I might
be sure I was acquainted with the latest
facts and methods. Of course, I could under-
stand all the manufactures where the processes
consisted in the mere admixture of the mate- rials, which comprised all the methods known, I believe, until Mr. Ransome commenced his new method of boiling down flints. I therefore wrote to Mr. Ransome, asking permission to visit his works at Greenwich.
Receiving such permission, I spent several hours there, and acquired much information. If I were asked with what portion of the pro- cesses I was most struck, I should certainly reply with the boiling down of the flint into a liquid, and the use of the sucker to draw Lh ba fe eh 8 i" | ‘ Sip
to the results, leaving to that science the
difficult words, caustic solution, chloride of
calcium, silicate of soda, silicate of lime,
chloride of sodium, oxychloride of magne-
sium, &e.
Speaking, then, of artificial stone as a build-
ing material, let us first (pursuing the method
we have heretofore adopted) consider its
Advantages.—Use of materials otherwise use-
less. Cheapness. Power of production of large
quantities with diminished expense. Non-
osmatic action. Strength. Does not require
preserving processes. No burning necessary.
Use of materials otherwise useless.—
Though this advantage appertains more to
the question of general prosperity of the
country, still, to a limited extent, it does con-
cern the architect. It must also be a satis-
faction to feel one is giving elegant form to
dust and rubbish.
Cheapness.—The price of plain work, com’
pared with the Bath and the other cheaper
kinds of stone, is less, but the difference is
very trifling ; of course it will be affected by
the relative distance from the quarry and the
works to the required spot. In ornamental
work the expense does not increase in the
same ratio as stone work with increased ela-
boration of ornamentation.
Power of production of large quantities with
diminished expense—As the same moulds
when once made will produce almost any quan-
tity, this advantage is self-evident, and there-
fore where a large quantity of one pattern is
required, artificial stone is very much cheaper
than the cheapest stone that can be used. As
examples of this, | would quote the prices
charged for the vases and terminals supplied
for the new 8. Thomas's Hospital in accord-
ance with the designs of the architect.
Height. Greatest width. Price each.
ft. in. ft. in. 2%, S000:
fh Die coher DT A ces 414 6
Ol Ometenere. OO ete SaOm
Bin ds.) ee org. ae 6 6 0
A Oren tes Sips Ol Dicaeare 515 6
Mr. Henry Currey, speaking favourably of
this material, says, ‘‘ that had it not been for
this useful material, I should have probably
had to be content with the long line of balus-
trading unbroken by any vase or terminal,
The pedestals would have remained vacant,
as they do in many instances where designed
for sculpture, but the sculpture never arrives.
It harmonises well with the Portland stone,
and although many of our professional
brethren would hesitate to use any artificial
material, I venture to think that such hesita-
tion may be carried to excess.”
through the stones the solutions to harden them. It matters little to the architect what the | st material be made from, for he has to deal | New Zealand. with the result. The explanations belong more to chemistry ; I therefore pass at once ' 1lin.,price £6 ds. Further to enable my reader to compare | prices, I would quote the cost of the capitals supplied for the Government Post-oflice, Composite capital for pilaster 1ft. 6in. by The elaborate screen at the ,
