SUMMARY OF THE RESULT OF THE INVESTIGATION OF THE BIBLIOGRAPHY PER- Dean of the School of Civil Engineering of the University of California. The reliability of existing information on the disintegration of concrete by alkali is questionable. This statement does not apply to the publications of the Bureau of Standards, Bulletins 12, 44 and 95, which are without question the most important contributions to the literature on this subject. Other investigations have been made but, taken as a whole, the results of investigations and tests are not conclusive. Future study, based on the present information, will no doubt yield important results. The most important examples of certain failure which have been reported are in Canada. Many of the articles telling of these failures describe only the extent of disintegration and attribute the cause to alkali because of its presence in the surrounding soil. In no case do they give the history of the concrete which may have been made with bank-run gravel (which is rarely of good grading) and sand with high organic content or may have been prepared with an excess of water or under conditions which would yield concrete of low resistance to stress and weathering. In Canadian territory the disintegration may have been hastened by frost action as well. One important structure which shows disintegration is the Winnipeg aqueduct; see Engineering News-Record, 84, 1097, June 3, 1920. But there are many instances where concrete is satisfactorily withstanding the forces which disintegrate some concrete. The alarm shown by certain writers does not seem to be justified by the facts. The subject is nevertheless very important and is being investigated by a committee of 12 engineers appointed by the Engineering Institute of Canada and the Portland Cement Association under the direction of Duff Abrams who is planning to conduct experiments in various parts of the United States. An attempt is also being made to interest the Research Council of Canada. The principal publications which we examined in our search are listed below. The 69 cards attached thoroughly cover the subject of THE EFFECT OF ALKALI ON CONCRETE. C. DERLETH, JR. Publications Examined in ALKALI Search 1. The Cement Age, Vol. 3-13 (changed to Concrete). 4. American Society for Testing Materials, v. 1-19 (1919). 5. American Institute of Chemical Engineers, v. 1-9, 1916. 6. Journal of the Franklin Institute, v. to August, 1920. 7. Journal of the American Chemical Society, to August, 1920. 8. Proceedings of the Institution of Civil Engineers, 1847 to 1907. 9. Journal of Agricultural Research, to August, 1920. 10. Chemical Engineering (Chemical Age), 1909 to 1920. 11. Chemical Abstracts, to August, 1920. 12. All available text books on concrete and materials of construction. |