For floors of cellars, courtyards, etc., laid on the ground, a base of cement concrete 3 inches thick should first be laid; and over this is put a layer of asphalt from to 14 inch thick, according to the use to which it is to be put. For ordinary cellar floors, the asphalt need not be more than inch thick: for yards on which heavy teams are to drive, it should be 14 inches thick. In specifying asphalt pavement, both the thickness of the concrete and of the asphalt should be given: it should also be remembered, "asphalt pavement does not include the concrete foundation unless so specified. In laying asphalt over plank or boards, a layer of stout, dry (not tarred) sheathing-paper should first be put down, and the asphalt laid on this. Asphalt floors for stables should be at least 1 inch thick. The cost of rock asphalt in the large cities varies from 15 to 20 cents per square foot in jobs of 2,000 feet and over. This does not include the concrete foundation. Imitation asphalts are laid for considerably less, and German and other cheap asphalts for about two-thirds the above price. CAPACITY OF FREIGHT CARS. [From the "American Architect."] A car-load is nominally 20,000 pounds. It is also 70 barrels of salt, 70 of lime, 90 of flour, 60 of whiskey, 200 sacks of flour, 6 cords of soft wood, 18 to 20 head of cattle, 50 to 60 head of hogs, 80 to 100 head of sheep, 9000 feet of solid boards, 17,000 feet of siding, 13,000 feet of flooring, 40,000 shingles, one-half less of hard lumber, one-fourth less of green lumber, one-tenth of joists, scantling, and all other large timbers, 340 bushels of wheat, 400 of corn, 680 of oats, 400 of barley, 300 of flax-seed, 360 of apples, 430 of Irish potatoes, 360 of sweet potatoes, 1000 bushels of bran. Chestnut, dry. heaped bushel, loose Ash, American white, dry. Asphaltum. Brass (copper and zinc), cast 66 rolled. Brick, best pressed 66 66 common hard Brickwork, pressed brick Cement, hydraulic, ground, loose, American, Rosen hydraulic, ground, loose, American, Louis- 66 hydraulic, ground, loose, English, Portland, Cherry, dry. Coal, bituminous, solid 80 38 .87 504 524 150 125 100 140 112 56 50 90 42 Weight of Cubic Foot of Substances (Continued). Lime, quick, ground, loose, or in small lumps 83 53 Masonry, of granite or limestone, well-dressed 66 "mortar rubble 165 154 Weight of Cubic Foot of Substances (Concluded). Water, pure rain or distilled, at 60 degrees F. Average weight, in lbs. 183 103 80 to 110 120 59 52 32 to 45 55 25 34 45 1342 165 69 45 49 90 to 106 99 to 117 120 to 140 151 162 655 175 5 to 12 15 to 50 25 490 125 37 62 459 20 to 30 38 623 64 60.5 437 Wax, bees' Zinc or spelter. Green timbers usually weigh from one-fifth to one-half more than dry. |
