The Mechanical Handling and Storing of Material

THE WAREHOUSING OF GRAIN 701 in the lower 25 ft. and 6 in. above this level, with piers 3 ft. wide at 10-ft. centres projecting 5 in. on the outside of the building and having a flush face on the inside. The string-course and cornice, which are of reinforced concrete and hollow in the interior, were cast on a form of collapsible centre in convenient lengths and built in position as the walls were carried up. The floor over the silos is formed of 4 in. of concrete, reinforced with ^-in. rods in both directions and finished with granolithic. I he size and details of the columns vary, those attached to the walls as piers being generally 3 ft. wide and projecting 8 in. or 10 in. from the face of the wall, whilst the reinforcement consisted of eight lines of vertical reinforcement, well tied with links at about 8 in. pitch. Those under the bins vary from 21| in. square to 22 j in. square, reinforced with eight bars varying from Ij in. to 1g in. diameter, four of these being placed at the corners of the column, whilst the remainder are placed in the interior to form a square core with a 5^-in. side. The outer rods are tied with |-in. links at 8-in. centres, while the inner rods have no binding on account of the large amount of concrete around them. The floors of the granary portion of the building, which adjoins the silos on the opposite side to the receiving house, are designed to carry a safe loading of 3 cwt. per foot super., are 5 in. thickness, carried on secondary beams having a span of 10 ft. 6 in., which in turn ars earned by mam beams spanning about 20 ft. The slabs were made 5 in. thick and are reinforced with |-in. bars at 4j-in. centres across the span of 7 ft., these bars being continuous over three bays, and similar bars at 12-in. centres are placed at right angles to these. The secondary beams are 8 in. deep and 6 in. wide, reinforced with l|-in. twin rod and hangers and bonders about 12 in. apart, while the main beams are 18 in. deep and 7 in. wide, reinforced with a l|-in. twin rod, with provision for shearing stress. The interior columns are 26 in. square and have fourteen vertical bars, ten placed near the outer surfaces, having a diameter of 1g- in., and the- remaining four are placed within the core and have a diameter of 2 in., the whole being bound by -g in. links at 8-in. centres. I he external walls are 6 in. thick in the panels, whilst floor beams which come against the exterior are carried by projecting piers 3 ft. wide. Ihe towers at the receiving house end are carried 32 ft. above the cornice of the main buildings, and these are formed with 6-in. walls strongly reinforced, and have a reinforced concrete string-course and cornice of similar construction to that previously described. The receiving house at the back of the silos is 43 ft. by 27 ft. 6 in. by 67 ft. high, and has three floors. 1 he concrete throughout was mixed in the proportions of 9 cub. ft. of aggregate, 4J cub. ft. of sand, and 224 lb. of cement. All the floors are finished with granolithic paving composed of five parts of granite to two parts of cement. The concrete foundations were carried on wooden piles driven in groups proportionate in numbers to the loads to be carried, as many as eight being placed together in some instances. The piles varied from 45 ft. to 50 ft, in length, and the soil in which they were driven was a thick mud. Quite apart from its constructional features, this grain storage installation is of more than ordinary interest, by reason of its machinery equipment and the efficient conveying plant which has been introduced. The store is capable of holding 20,000 tons of grain, partly in silos and partly on open floors. As will be gathered from the illustrations, two overhead gantries, which are fitted with band conveyors, form the means of communication between the receiving shed of the granary and the ship elevator. The latter, which is of the travelling type, runs on rails and forms a complete machine in itself, having bands, elevators, weigher, and motors. It is so constructed as not to interfere with the free