Freeland tribune. (Freeland, Pa.) 1888-1921, 1903-05-08
TEST BEAMS FOR BUILDINGS.
Methods Used in Institute of Technology
Laboratories.

Laboratories.
Few persons realize how impossible
would be the erection of modern city,
the establishment of a modern rail-
road, or the building of modern
steamer or battleship without a certain
amount of preliminary work in scienti-
flc laboratories. Never an important
building, or big vessel, ship dock,
railroad bridge, or any one of the in
definite number Of large modern struc-
lures for the comfort and convenience
Of humanity is built until the material
is thoroughly tested to see if it will
bear the strain to which it must be
subjected.
Naturally the laboratories Of the
world are always watching each other;
the authorities of the great German
institution at Charlottenburg, for ex-
ample, keep watchful eye on the Mas
sachusetts Institute of Technology, and
the Institute Of Technology sends its
representative to visit Charlottenburg.
At first glance this seems simply an
example of the rivalry Of important
educational institutions. But in reality,
having in view the actual relations be-
tween the modern laboratory and the
building processes of modern civiliza-
ton, 1t is also in the long run a riv-
airy between national civilizations.
To see these tests in progress is an
interesting glance at what is practical
ly the birth OF many a familiar struc-
ture, whether the Office building of a
big city, the floating fortresses of a
navy, or the railroad bridge spanning
a deep gorge in the mountains hund-
reds of miles from civilization. In the
engineering laboratories of the Insti-
tute of Technology these tests are in
progress not only night and day, but
some of them lasting over several years
of constant strain and pressure on q
given piece of material. The labora-
tory itself Is what seems almost a
chaos of powerful machinery whose
sole purpose is to bend, twist, pull or
push the various materials Of modern
construction to their last points of re-
sistance. Wooden beams, for example,
are here kept under constant pressure
for years, their sag being recorded from
day to day to determine just how much
the timber is detected during the life
OF a building in which it is placed
long continued experiment which,
among other things, looks forward to
remedying the often uneven floors OF
cotton mill.
If contractor is building church,
masonry arch large enough for a
church door is tested with a weight
comparable to that of a church steeple,
not loaded to be sure, with so many
pounds of material, not being COM
pressed to the crushing point by steel
beams drawn downward by relentless
mechanical power. Steel rods are sub
jected to torsional or twisting tests in
order that the necessary dimensions OF
shafts for engines, steamships, and
for all sorts of shafting for the trans
mission of power may be definitely set
tied. Bricks are compressed until they
crumble into dust, but the recorded re-
suit of many tests determine the safe
height of chimney or an Office build
ing Of brick construction. Steel col
umns are placed under compression
until they buckle or break, and it is
then known for certainty how many
pounds they will support without dis
aster.-New York Times.