CONCRETE BEST.

Press, Volume LXV, Issue 19668, 11 July 1929, Page 4

CONCRETE BEST.

WITHSTANDS EARTH i QUAKES. I S« IN CHIMNBT& A Ricoarton correspondent baa aaked j ji r W. H. Winsor, secretary c* the j Canterbury Master Builders' Asaoci*- j tion, for information a* to the be- j haviour of concrete during earthquakes, j jmd whether it is advisable to buiid concrete chimneys, monolithic or lined internally with brick. Mr "Winsor has also been asked whether concrete ek>«e ! to and around the fireplace will crumble I cc crack under intense heat. He has | replied to the queries as follows : ' (1) Reinforced concrete been amplV demonstrated as the best ma- j terial for construction jn unstable coun- j tries. In the disastrous earthquake ex- j perienced a few years ago in Tokio, Japan, and i:i the more recent earth- « cui-ko at Santa Barbara, in California, | ouiidings of this type stood the test extremely veil. Stfei-frarned bui'dings, the"steel work surrounded by ccr— | crete, are euuaily gpod at resisting j earthquakes. .... '! (2) As far as residential buildings are i concerned the modern tendency is to do away with chimneys to a much greater extent than formerly. Fifteen years ago every room in the house, with the exception of perhaps the spiire bedroom, had a fireplace connected with a brick j chimney. To-day the living room is probably the only room to have an open j fireplace burning wood or coal, there- i fore the cost of chimneys does not bulk J largely in a contract. Reinforced eon- • crete chimneys with 9-inch fireclay lining pipes and fireclay pre-cast gather- I ir.g-in are the best possible, j Concrete should not be usod round the | fireplace itself: either fireclay bricks j or slabs should be built in where ihe heat is intense. An additional value in connexion with these fireclay pipes, eic is that they form the internal boxinjr for the concrete work, and j being much smoother than concrete, j are more readily cleaned and da sot ■ gather irp eo much soot. ;