Bisbee daily review., 1909-03-26
BIG MACHINE FOR TESTING
 IRON COLUMNS
Government Win Erect the Largest Plant in the World For This Purpose in the City of PittSburg


 WASHINGTON. D. C.. Mar. 25.- The largest machine in the world for testing the strength of structural ma terials used in great buildings and en. gineering works is about to be erecte1 by the United Statss Government a1 the Geological Survey Testing s1a, ton. Pittsburs. Pennsylvania. It VII weigh more than 20o tons aud VII tower in the air 10 an extreme helshe of about eighty feet above tae iouu dations. It will exert maAlnhotn pressure of ten million pounds, NbleA is equivalent to placing loadoI o' 900 tons upon the beam or column 10 be tested.
 sTl,ss great machine will be housed fin a structure 100 feet in height ana of unusual strength to which the test ing apparatus will be secured oy great rods. in order to brace 1t against anv sudden pressure while the col- umns are undergoing the strain upon them Elevators will run to the top of tha machine so that the experts nav examine the columns beihS tested from any point of view to de- .ect the first signs of weakening.
 When the uebec bridge collapsed with great loss of life, general com ment vas made by engineers ana others of the lack of knowledge con cerHing the strength. of great columns used in such structure and piea was made testing machine or sui fcint strngth be erected so that the engineers may have acurate data ss to the amount of load such a br1de should carry. With the construction of this machine it will be possible to test steel columns one-hah the size of .he largest chords now used in any bridge. This will be a decided gain to the engineering world which has been anxiously awaiting the construc- tio1 Of such 8 machine.
 However, this is net the primary purpese of this powtrful testing ap- paratus. Mr. Joseph A. Holmts, Ex- pert in Charge of the Teehnologic Branch, United States Geological Sur vey, under whose general direction the investigations are to be con ducted, said today: This machine was acquired for the purpose of test ing the strength of large blocks oi stone, columns of concrete and brick used in the building and construction work of the government The Fed eraI government is the largest build CT in the world. and 1t is essential, II the money is to be expended wisely, that there be a complete knowledge of the strength of the materials used The building and engineering con struction work will require during the present and the next few years mora than 70.000,0 600 per annun. lt em braces the most important ana far reaching engineering work under taken by any government at any time and program of public buildings costing from $t2,090.000 to sl5,0OO.- 000 yearly
 ssThe testing in this machine oi the stone, concrete and brick columns will determine the relative safety, adaptability and durab lity of these materials. and how the quantity oi each material used may be safely diminished. thus reducing the cost 0' the construction work.
 Tn the past it has been necessary to determine the strength of large columns on tho assumption of tho values obtained from testing smaller
 
 smallest uieces tested were without the usual quarried effects and seaml which are to be found in large piece' Of stone. and such tests as have beer made show that the strength of tbi stone decreases as the size of tin stone increases. In the erection O large buildings the strength of thesl columns becomes very impOrtan matter and it is absolutely neeessar that there be accurate data as 10 tb strength which may be expected iron these materials when used in large masses.
 "In the rapid development Of thi country the enormous locomotives c constantly ind'easing size and tn heavier tonnage have demanded a cor stant increase in the size of bridge with bUlt-up structural members C such size tbaf we have been uuahl to keep pace with experimental dat to serve as a guide for such struc ures. As a result, today VIC nav practically DO knowledge of th strength Of these structures froI actual tests and must base our fl formation on the tests of very muc smaller members. Bridges such a that which collapsed at uebec. COT posed of q number of members hel together by riFeted connections, q pend largely upon the design an workmanship, and this failure hs demonstrated it Is absolutely uece sary that tests of large sized men bers De made in order that the e ginecr may know to what extent tf built-up structure is affected by q workmanship, so that he may kno the strongth fo allow for these ri eted connections. There is no m chine in the world that cOald te chord of the size of that Whie failed in the uebec Bridge at the pre ent time, or Of the s'ze Of the reeer iy completed Blackwell Island Bridc machine of th canacity which . are building in PittsbGrg would te pieces o4 One-haif the fun size of the. limit of the material. and wou'd gi, the "a~essarv info1Tsa.iou which
 SO desired by the engineer"
 PsshaWur, British India--Tt is I ported that 1209 arrests have bes made at yeilabad. Afkhanistan,
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