construction of aircraft factories
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34 T H E LgTRUCTUR L
E NQ I N E E R
- J w t e 1937
DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AIRCRAFT FACTORIES.
y
F. S.
SNOW,
M.Inst.C.E. M.1.Struct.E.
The construct ion of aircraft,
beingmore or less amatter
of repetition, requires a factory
layout osuit heorderand
sequence of operations necessary to complete
th e finished product. racticallyheame
problemsarecontained nanyfacfory,such
as food or ot,her products, where the articles
are produced on mass-productive lines.
The. aeroplane, being such a bulky finished
product and requiring so much space, cannot
be constructed in what the late Lord Lever-
hulme described as a gravity building (this
being a building where the raw materials were
conveyed to th e ighest point and fed by means
of gravity into the various process rooms
with he finished article coming ou tat he
lowest point). t follows, therefore, that his
process of manufacture calls for argeopen
areas on the ground loor, and the construction
is generally ight teel ramewithpanelled
walls of brick or sheeting (dependent upon th e
length of time the factory is to stand, or alter-
natively the amountof capital t,o be expended)
with large span trusseso minimise obstruction.
Good light, preferably north light, ventilation
for the summer, and sufficient heat to keep the
factorycomfortablywarm for th e workmen
duringhewintermonths
;
aood hard
dustless floor, this being especially necessa,ry
in the assembly and paint shops. The various
componentparts of th e aeroplane a.re then
rucked as hey are completed from one
department to a,nother for final assembly,or
may be carried by chain conveyor as t present
demonstrated in theFord MMot,or Works at,
Dagenham.
If the actory is to be construct,ed nan
area where veryittleabour is available
then it will be necessary to arrange transport
facilities to bring hepersonnel to the works
untiluchimesshe necessaryousing
accommodation is provided.
t
will almostert,ainly e ecessary
to
provide
a
canteen where meals can be obtained
cheaply and in comfort a t a reasonable price.
tions.
P a p e r o be readat he Fifth Summela
Conference
f the n s t i t u t i o n of
tructurul
Engineers at W n s p o o n
Thu ;lzclay
10th
J zcw
1937
recreation room, and (where emale staff
aremployed)est room, administrative
block, directors and staff luncheon rooms will
follow as a ma,tter of course, whilst to provide
the powerapowerhouse and boiler house
may benecessary. Last,butnot east, he
whole of the factory grounds should be fenced
and a gate house with weighbridge provided.
In planningactory it
lanning becomes necessary to decide
for whetherheactory is to be
Production* built for the roduction of
wood or omposite ircraft, i.e., allmetal,
or acomposition of both, so that eithercan
be built a t one and the same time.
I n constructing one of the most impor tant
aircraftfactories nEngland, that of Messrs.
DeHavillands a t Hatfield, i t was ecided
that his should be planned on he a,ll wood.
principle, ndhedepa,rtments whichwere
taken into consideration by the architects and
generalmanagementandverycarefullycon-
sidered were the following :
General and Haw Material Stores,
Finished Pa rt Stores,
Wood Stores,
roo1
Stores,
Dope and Callulosc Stores,
Acid
St,ores,
Receiving and Dispatch Departments.
On the production side thesamecareand
attention had tobe given t30 ,he :
Wood
Mill,
Rough Saw Mill,
Wood Detail,
Plane Assembly Shops,
Fuselage Assembly Shops,
Machine Shop,
Tool
Room,
Fitting Shop,
Sheet Metal Shop,
Final Erecting Department,
Dope
and Fabricat ing Department,
Painting and Finishing Department,
Experimental Department, and
Technical School.
In the case of each department a floor pla,n
was made and on it were shown jigs, benches,
machine tools and special process, and a.n
estimated out,put perweek was arrived a t from
which the various floor areas were derived.
In th e erecting shops, painting and finishing
departments i t wa,s consideredessential t,hat
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JWE 1937
T H E S TRUCTURAL
ENQ I NEER 35
the roof spans be as
great as possible con-
sistent with econonlv
as these departments
have to house the
f i n i s h e dr o d u c t .
Generally in the e-
mainder of the depart.-
mentshe height.
under the roof trusses
was not less than 4 ft..
and each truss was de-
signed strong enough
to car ry a point load
of
2 tons at any oint.
The first erecting shop
was made
a
clear
height of 18 ft. under
the pans ndater
additions which were
constructedrought
the height to 24 ft.
underheot tom
member of the russ
with an allowance for
point loads of tons a t anypoint.
in erecting shops for flying
boats
heights
haveto be
NOTE.-It should here be
noted
that the dimensions
increasedand allowances made or heavier loads. At
the same time the author is of the opinion that whilst
large pansup to 300-f t. regarded as necessary in
tion for building spans
greater than that
required for
angars
are extremely
beautiful there is
no justifica-
various operations ast is uneconomical in cost
apart from the fact that it is difficult in erection and
therefore the ultimate completion date is onger.
When taking nto consideration he design
of the steelwork duecareand hought was
given
to
insulationheating ndventilation
equipmentworks ooters oftingunways
pipecarriers water gas and airlinecarriers
as o
it
these in whilst the steelwork is in
process of fabricationaves much expense
in drillingbyhand and on he site after he
steelwork is erected.
Roofing should not in my opinion be con-
sidered from the first cost point of view and
consideration should be given to the insulation
properties of the material .To-day hereare
many lternativeypes of materials which
show remarkable differences of hea t losses.
This is a very important point to consider in
the economy in fuel consumption.
In th e case of t he
floors
at th e De Havilland
Company hesegenerallyconsisted of 6 ins.
to
7
ins. of reinforced concrete th e reinforce-
Figure A.”
ment consisting of a ight teel mesh with
thickeningunder the various machines and
particularly where heavy presses guillotines
and tools of such a nature give a greater impact.
Beds for grinding machines were dealt with
specially as in some cases faults in the finished
producthave been traced tofaulty beds.
Whereworkmen were constantly confined
to one area in. wood block flooring was laid
as although this is costly in the initial stages
i t does away with the making and upkeep of
duck boards which are a particular danger in
tripping up the workmen.
The ype of doors used in hefactoryare
more or less specified by the Home Office
FireDepartmentand nsurance Regulations
and these authorities were consulted before a
final decision was madeupon the type to be
used.Thedoors to he hangars were top
hung on runners with a bottom rail to gulde
them and t was also possible to fold them
sideways. They were constructed of light
steelframe covered with galvanizedsheeting
and were designed to resist wind pressure over
their full height.
It was decided that by installing a complete
power plant consisting
of
high pressure Super
Lancashire Boilers feeding high pressure base
turbine direct coupled to th e lectric generator
cheap power could be produced. The excess
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F I N I S ~ I N G
A N D
- P A I N T S H O P .
F A B R I C
D O P E
A S S t M B L Y
W O O D
D E T A I L
W O O D M I L L -
I
J I
~ S A W
- R E C E I V I N G
O F F I C E
i
. E R E C T I N G
S H O P
l
c
- M ~ I N
I
1
I
I
I
P A N E L A N D F I T T I N G A N O O I C
l
C A D M I U M
A N D
M A C H I N E S
- O P F l C L -
M A C H I N E W O O D W O R K
L a
F i g u r e
P
T h e
De Haci l lad Aircraft Pactor ] Com pan?y Ltd . ,
Hatfield. Lay -ou t ( factory.
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38 T H E S T R U C T U R A L E N G I N E E R June 937
. I l I l t l l G
~~~ ~~
F i g u r e 3.
Aero Engine Factory
Radfwd
Couenty
or
Messrs. Daimter Company Ltd.
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June
1937 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R
39
Figure
Cont inued) .
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I
I
K L L V I I I O N
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242 T H E STRUCTUR L E N G I N E E R
June 1937
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June 1937 =
T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R 243
I
. .
Figu re 5 Po~t inued) .
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244 THE STRUCTUR L E N G I N E E R . J / t / J , 1 )3?
st eam from the turbine was used for hea ting
purposes taking up the steam required hrough
the reduction valve direct from theboiler and
am given to u nd er sh nd t ha t th e first year’s
opera tion of t hisplantcame well within he
est imated figures of cost.
I n t he case of the boiler house careful con-
siclerafion
was
given to th e spacing
of
all plant
to allow easy access for he cleaning and
drawing of tubes and cleaning of flues a nd easy
access to t heme~hanica~l stokers etc. Theoal
bunkers and coal stores were not covered in
nor s hisgeneral but heauthor is of the
opinion t’hat ll coa l stores of thisnature
should be covered to keep the coal dry.
The powerouse was 27 ft. high and
ventilated to give an evenemperature so
tha t he generat ordidnotgetoverheated.
I n this connection it may benot ed th at it
is often cheaper to have a building a few feet
higher to obviate thenecessity for mecha nical
means of ventilation s whilst the api tal
cost may be lower the ultimate upkeep costs
will be greater.
The wa lls and the floors of both the power
house and boiler house were tiled with he
exception that a.round thegenerator switch-
boa rd the floor was constructed of rubber t o
safeguard electricians et c. fromossible danger
of shock.
An nteresting eature was that he whole
of t he services from he power house to th e
factory were conveyed in underground t renches
constructed in einforced concrete Figure “ A ).
On t he walls of the trencheswere fixed various
cables etc. and a t intervals hroughout he
length of the rencheswatertight inspection
manholes were formed so tha t ease of inspection
of any services could be obtained.Thus he
fact orys ntirelyreeromhe onsta nt
vexatious interruption of exca.vating roads for
this purpose.
The imberstore was designed a.s a fairly
lofty buildingwith ventilationroundhe
sides formed by wood louvres set in between
the stanchions and about ns. wide slightly
ca nted with a space of 16 ins. between in
order to give free ventilation and at th e same
timeprotectionagainst heweather. Sliding
doors of thehangar ype wereplacedalong
the whole length where unloading and receiving
takes place.
NOTE.
t
should bo noted that spruce
for
aircraft
construction
should
contain moisture within the limits
of 10
per cent. o
1 4
per cent.
Descriptions
Construction
Figztre
1 shows the general
layout of the factory at Ha t-
and field designed by Messrs. James
M Monro Son o Glasgow.
n
the foreground fwing he
main oadare heornamental gardens nd
lilyond
;
beyond areheanteen n n i
administrative blocks which in turn blank the
fa ct ory immediately behindanti give privacy
to he work of manufacture. O n the left of
the ent ra nce oad is t he gate house inti wejgh-
bridge with the boiler house power house and
repair shops ehind.
It will be noted fhat the timber store is a
separate building
i n
order to ohviate the risk
in case of fire.
In the ext remebackground to the left can
be seen the compass at th e e nd of the slipway
which is etoutby he Air Minisitry and
enables the nstrument n he aeroplane to
be checked after flight.
a.m not concerned in this paper with the
type of building materials nd onst ruction
knowno you all nd beyond a general
description propose to describe in t ieb il only
the special methods and mat erials which have
been used generally to the est of my knowledge
during the past five years.
The obvious materialor a lily pond is
reinforced concrete and the store cant’een and
administrative blocks as also the
one
storey
gate house areconstructed in this nmterial.
The chimney is in reinforced concrete and as
previously stated he oads axe also in his
ma terial. The remainderof the buildings are of
lightsteelconstruct ionwith brick walls.
Figwre 2
shows the ayout
of
the actory
section. On the left is the woodmill where a
rigid inspection of timber is carriedout.
Every knot and shake is cut outf the timbe
and the small lengths are used in the manufac-
ture of the wings etc. of the aeroplane.
This t imber is then taken into the wood detail
room a ndfinally assembled and it will be noted
that he ig store glueroom and ime office
adjoins. Beyond the assembly is the abric
section where the fabric is treatedwith
’‘
dope
’
mainly hy female la bour. In t he cent re a re t h
main toreswith cloakrooms lavatories a nd
storerooms inhe foreground. n the ight
foreground arehetores first aid rooms
laboratory rest room various class rooms for
trainees and the drawing office the woodwork
school and machine shops-also for rainees
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June 1937 T H E S T RUC TURA L E N G I N E E R 45
experimental department and laboratory with
various ofices
;
the final fitting and machine
rooms with subsections for sand blasting, heat
treatment, ank esting, inning,bufingand
various other stores.
In the area at the back is th e final erection
shops where machinesn a fairly advanced stage
of erectionareaccommodated,whilston the
left of this is the finishing andpaintshop.
Again a considerable amount of this is carried
outby emaleabour.This is then, o ll
practicalurposes, the ordern which
machinesreonstructed a t thisactory.
Finally, they are put out on to the slipway,
have the compass tested, and flight tests made
before being dispatched to the purchasers.
The general width of the spans between the
steelwork is 35 f t . 4 0 ft . the lengths varying
indifferentdepartments ndangingrom
85
f t . to
140
ft., the latter being the width of
the spans in the finishing and erecting shops.
Figures 3 nd
indicate the general layout
and
cross
sections of the Aero Engine Factory
at Coventrydesigned by
Mr. W G
Phillips
and erected for the Daimler Company. In this
case the general layout can be seen and is in
many wayssimilar nparts o hatalready
described. On this tructure, owever, cor-
rugatedasbestos heetingon
in. G
T.
boards has been used forhe roof of the fac tory
(the imberactingasan nsulator),and he
height of the underside of thenorth ight
roof trusses is
16
ft., whilst the steel bays are
approximately 30 f t . by
80
ft. The inished
product here is relatively small and, therefore,
the outside tanchions re paced a t closer
intervals.The otalarea of thisextension s
725 ft. by 240 ft.
Figure 5 shows the general rrangement
and ayout of the dministrative block. t
is to be noted that the roads on this factory.re
composed of Tarmaconplainconcrete.
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246
T H E
S T RU C T U RA L ENO I NEER June , 1937
Figure
6
shows th e steelwork of this factory
in course of construction a t one end, whilst
Figure
7 shows the erection of brickwork
proceedingoncurrently at he othernd.
t
will be noted th at the corrugated asbestos
sheeting gives qui te a neat finished appearance
althoughheentilatorsmakeather a.n
unsightly skyline.
The factory obtains ts power from the boiler
house in an anci llary building 390 f t . long by
40 f t .
wide adjoining th e main building. This
building is split up into staff and workmen’s
canteens,itchenavatories,craptore,
works amendments, coal store, boiler house and
transport works.
At the north end theuilding
is fitted with three roller shu t-
ters. In addition to side win-
dows the building is top lighted
with patent glazing each side
of theruss.The flue from
the three boilers is run into a
self-supportingteelhaft
120 f t . high and ft. 10 ns.
in diameterwhich is founded
on a base of concrete 18
ft.
by
18
ft.
by ft . deep.
Figure
8hows anerial
view of the DeHavilland
f,,ctory,and one has only to
study carefully its proportions
to realise how beautifuland
efficient it is.
Figure
9 shows an nterior
view and the clear spans may
benoted. One may also see the nter ior
fire
walls and dooropeningswhich are covered
with teel fire shu tte rsbo th of which are
necessary for Home Office regulations.
Figure
10 illustrates a further interior view
showing the steel shut ters fixed, and the wire
screen formed n expanded metalmesh between
departments may be noted.
Figure
11 shows another interior view with
the ventilation duct in the foreground.
Heating.
Therearemany forms of factoryheating.
In this caseexcess steam wasused, but he
author is of the opinion that small units spaced
Figure
8
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Ju tbe 1957 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R 247
extremely opular n ermanentypes of
factories nd is beingused at he at e of
500,000 sq. ft. per annum at th e present time.
This roofing is nowbeingemployed in he
construction
of
the Blackburn Aircraft Factor
at Dumbartondesignedby
Mr.
Williams of
Messrs. Williams L Jopling, Hull, where it has
created records in speedy erection.
. A - side of this teeldeck sprotected.The nsula-
tion prevents condensation and the underside
Many of you may wonderow thender-
igure 9.
around the building with a pull-in fan from the
fresh air,electricallyheatedand blown into
the factory, is by far the most compact and
satisfactory form of heating.
Thematerialemployed or roofing in he
factory was a steel deckcovered with ruberoid.
This material is extremely. speedy in erection
and s also very ight weighingonly 4 lbs.
per sq. f t . As can be seen from Fig . 11 it can
be fixed on to purlins and these purlins may
be spaced up o 10 f t . centres. omparison of
its insulationvalue s also shown rom th e
table given in Figure 12 ; this material is also
competitive in cost.
Figure
13 shows the onstruction of th i s
material which at
the resentmoment is
F ure
10.
Xnozu on
AircraftFactories.
is protectedbyvarious ypes of paint,but
the author has found th at non-oxidising paint,
th at is to say a paint whichremainsplastic
after application, is most suitable.
Figure 14 shows the interior and underside
of the steel deck a t this facto ry in theourse of
Figure 11.
construction nd gain llustrates he arge
spans. Figure 15 shows an aerial view of the
same factory. The total roof area of this job
is 42 000 sq. yds., of which 17 000 have been
completely erected in three weeks.
One of thegreatestproblemsencountered
in the construct ion of large span roofs of this
type
is
the dificultyof getting
rid
of rain water
as uickly s possible through s mall
number of downpipes as possible. Thesmall
number of downpipes isdesirable to reduce
obstruction oanabsoluteminimum n he
building.
The manner in hich the gutterswere formed
a t De Havillands, where he roof line measured
3
f t . and the ole of the gutter to theidge ofthe
glazing 13 f t .
6
ins., was t o introduce a short
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248
T H E BTRUCTURAL ENQ I N E ER June,
-1937
ELLOW
-54
DRESSED
S1
AND
57
MATCHED 2.72
-
CRACKS
-
l l . U
Figure 12.
strip of roof deck below th e glazing junction-
ini'with th e deck unit on the eaveof the south
slope. Thevalley husformed was insulated
and graded with foamed concrete filling which
had an average widthof 12 ins., nd an ave rage
depth of
3
ins. The lathus ormed was
weatheredwith wo ayers of ruberoid.This
type of guttereliminated henecessity or
snow boards, t also preserved an unbroken line
of insulated roof, was dus t tight andeffected
a
saving of approximately
2s. Qd.
perrunning
foot as compared with cast iron troughing, etc.
Theompanyroducing the ruberoid
materialare nowmanufacturing an external
camouflage effectitharious coloured
surfaces. Themethod of manufacture is to
use only coloured slate dust ando press
it
into
th e bed of theelt uringmanufacturing
process. The roof colour of the factory escribed
is grass green, and
it
can be seen from igure 16
that
i
the walls weresimilarlycoloured the
buildings woulderactically invisible.
Undoubtedly, if the roof is camouflaged to
harmonizewithormalurroundingsreat
advantages can be gained from aerial attack.
Figure
17
shows an nter ior view of the
factory before building work has commenced
and after the steelwork haseen erected on he
concrete foundation.
Figure
18 shows an exteriorview of th e
canteen block. As previously xplainedhis
is in reinforced concrete, the brick base being
added for appearance nly and being carried on
areinforcedconcretebeambelow0oor level.
The cills and columns between the windows are
covered in green faience. The exterior facewas
poured against a pressed board an d the whole
treated with a coating of white cement slurry.
Figure
19
indicates an interior view of th e
workmen's anteen. Herehe columns and
walls are panelled with a well-known pressed
board, and he columns are imber battened
and stained.
The service is on the cafeteria ') principle
and the service hatch can be seen. Excellent
kitchen arrangements are provided,ne factory
alone providing for over 4,000 workmenn two
shifts.
Figure 20 is he nter ior of th e recreation
roomwhich hasaspringdance floor and a.
stage at the far end . The oof is formed in one
of t he well-knownboards,panelled, and, if
one may beallowed to criticise, the tie-rods
are atherunsightlyand lower th e genera,l
height of t he roof.
A
special feature, which may wellbe used
to advantage in other factories, was the con-
struction of the chimney to th e boiler house.
This chimney which s 6
f t .
in diameter and
60 f t .
highwas constructed ymeans of
sliding formsoperatedby acks, hegeneral
arrangement of which is shown on
Figure
21.
From the time of commencement to the time
of completion the whole of the
60
f t .
chimney
was poured in a total time of 57 hours, and
it can be een that he ime schedule was
vastly improved upon.
Figure 13.
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Jurw
1937 T H ET R U C T U R A LNG I N E E R
249
viously made
have pre-
reference to
the necessity for a hard dust-
less floor th e need for which
is obvious,and would strongly
recommend the use of a floor
laid monolithic with the base
concrete. Theype of floor
which was used in he ac-
tories referred to in this paper
was carefully studiedso
purpose and cost, he former
mostlygoverning the att er.
Theurposebviouslyas
reference to th e class of traffic
and resis tance to special con-
ditionsuchs chemical
effects, etc.
For a light duty floor a d ry
mortargradedwith five par ts
of in.ranite chippings to
.
two parts portland cement and
trowelled into the face of th e
wet concrete, beinginished
off
_ . y y
Figure
14.
“ V .
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250 T H E BTRUCTURAL ENQ INEER J u n e , 1937
according to the usual grano-
lithicpractice, he hickness
recommended is in.he
volume of themortaran
vary froma ight prinkling
to a complete covering weigh-
ing
25
lbs. per yard super in
its dry state.
For
heavy duty traffic the
specification shoulde the
sameaspreviouslydescribed
butwithhe ddition of a
proportion of a special at tr i-
tionesistantaterial,
trowelled into he surface of
the granolithic and,
or, mixed
inhemortar.Such special
materialsouldonsist of
either carborundum, alnndum,
Figure
17.
Xnow
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J u t r e ,
1937 H ET R U C T U R A LNG I N E E R
25
Figure 18.
angularsteelgrit,etc.The hickness recom-
mended is in.Thepaving houldollow
up the concreting asoon as practical lypossible
so
th at th e base of th e concrete, n addition
to not getting itsfinal set, should be clean and
free from workmen's debris, etc.
t is an advantage to useone of the well-
knownhardeners mmediately th e paving is
laid a ) o enable the new surface successfully
to resist the traffic fromother rades,and
b )
to allow thishardenerogetntohe
pores of the floor whilst the floor is in its
cleanestandmost accessible condition.
Manyobjectionshavebeen aisedagainst
thedoption of monolithic finishes, the
practical objections to its execution being th at
it s difficult to finish off onwetconcrete.
Paving of
l
entrustedo specialised firms who have a.
trained staff to cope with this particular type
of work.Such firms will give guarantee,
without qualification, of anything from 5 to 10
years gainst racking
or
crazing rom the
baseconcrete.Theauthorcannotemphasise
too trongly th e necessityor mploying a
firm with a good reputation and whose past
record is aguarantee of their eliability to
be specified for this most important feature in
anyaircraft actory,as he esult smainly
dependent upon the qualityf labour employed.
Atumbartonhe soil conditionsre
exceedingly bad here beingsoft andwater-
bound lay or
a
considerabledistance. At
20
to
30
ft.
below ground there was a slightly
stiffer laver of clav and as the stanchion loads
theype mentionedhould ewere l ig k t was decided to use bulb pile.
This nabled onsiderable
saving to be effected on he
length of the piles.
Piling.
The operations in the forma-
tion of a, bulb pile
of
the type
used are s follows Figure
(U)
The ube is erectedon
the ground in the driving
position anda charge of
dr y concrete is deposited
at the bottomf the tube.
6 ) The pile is drivenby
means of a monkey work-
ing inside the ubeand
driving on he padof con-
crete which pulls the tube
after ituntilsuch imes
22 :
Figure 19.
Snow on Aircraft
Factories.
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252 T H E
S T R U C T U R A L E N GrIN EE R
___ _
June
1937
Figure
21 .
De
avillund Aircraft 2i actory,
Hertfordshire. Progress diagram
u d
det il
of
sliding
shutter
for
reinjorceclconcrete chimwey.
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June 937 T H E
S T R U C T U R A L
E N G I N E E R 53
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254 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R
___
z tne , 1937
Figure 23 indicatesone of
these piles 26 f t . long after
excavation. These were speci-
fied as 15-in. diameterpiles
but a t he narrowest oint
of the shaft were 164 ins.
Figure 4 indicates the base
of one of these piles, and
Figure 5 shows another of th e
piles in estcarrying a tota.1
load o 110 tons with
a
settle-
ment
of
in. which I venture
to suggest is extremely satis-
factory.
The costs of
the completed
building on hree factories of
the De Havillandype e-
scribed, which includes the Con-
tractors' profit, are as ollows :
as he necessary soil resistance is met.
Factory in steel fram ed construction, 13s 6d. per ft.
an d including oundations, teel- of floor area,
added ndammed ntiluchimes s
fm ed walls, anductsndnternal
the bulb is formed.
Figure
20
C ) Furtherharges of concreterehen
work, steeleck roofing, brick-
or
74d. per
cube.
finishings.
Administrative blocks ...
18s
per ft. of
d ) The subsequent charges of concrete are
floor area,
or
added nd ammed whilst the ube is
1s
9d. per
cube.
being withdrawn until such imes as he
Canteen buildings, including concert ame as
completed pile is formed (as indicated on
hall andestaurant ... above.
Roads an d drainage and fences From
79
o
theast). These piles may be
15
perent.
reinforced to suit the pecification.
of cost of
buildings.
F i b w e 22.
Steps
in formatiola of
Bzrlb
Pile.
Snow o
AircraftFactories.
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J unr
I937 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R ~ 255
achievement to them in place of an uninspired
piece of brickwork or concrete.
I havehadgreatassistance from aircraft
engineersgenerally in the cons truc tion work,
but I have found that the aircraft manufac-
turers themselves, of necessity ecausehe
industry is young, employ very keen men n
executive positions whose minds work on mass
productive lines. Now whilst it may be possible
to build an aeroplane nmass roductive
lines, every architect andengineer has different
views on the layout and construction of air-
craft actories,and bricks cannot be aid n
the same manner as aeroplane components can
be turned out of machines.
I
have been shown around factoriesdesigned
andconstructedunder hedirection of th e
senior executive of aircraf t,andhave been
toldhe cost of the buildingwhich was
extremely low), but the obvious retort would
have been th at they were dear at an yprice.
It
is not our business as structural en ineers
to show aeronautical engineers how togdesign
aeroplanes. Similarly, we cannot expect them
to
show us how to design buildings.
Much labour trouble is caused by this type
Figure
2 3 .
Medium size
ulb
ile excavated.
I
have
no
figures of costs of the ype of
buildingdesigned by Mr. W. G. Phillips,but
should imagine from their type of construction
th at th e cost works out a t somethingunder
th e figures given.
It is my opinion tha t he
Labour
sitetructural engineerhould
studv his workmen as well as
.I
the technicalproblems of construction.This
requires a.bility and is not sufficiently recog-
nised by employers or clients a.s
it
ought to be.
It is also necessary to provide some social
relief during off-time hours.
Concert parties and cinema shows should be
encouraged, and the ngineer should, f possible,
take pa rt in organising or other means. There
is a t least one very excellent party of enter-
tainers touring at the present moment which
emanated from onstructionob. I have
also f0un.d that it hasmost timulating
effect on he work to explain heultimate
objectandpurpose of the ob o hemen,
either verbally or by progress schedules, as a
consequence of which they ethoroughly
interestedndhe buildingecomes an
Xnow
on Aircraft Factories.
Figure
24.
Base
of
a
ulb
Pile
excavated.
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256 ~ T H E
S T R U C T U R A L E N G I N E E R
___
une 1937
of interferenceduringbuildingconstruction.
If
clientswould understandhat
a
good
organisereavesisinishingworks under
cover, so as o keephismencontinuallyon
full ime for the occasionwhen there iswet
weather, then this paper would have achieved
one of it s objects.
I
should like to place on record my apprecia-
tion nd hanks o he following for their
assistance and also their permission to produce
r‘..- “W-
3
drawings, photographs, etc.,
for
this paper :
~
y
Jam es M. Monro Son, F.R.I.B.A., of Glasgow-.
Mr. Williams of Messrs. Williams Jopling ,
Architects, Hull.
A. T.
S.
Goombridge, Esq., late of De Havilland
Company, and now of the BlackburnAircraft
Co., Ltd.
e W. G. Phillips, Esq.
H. L. Plummer, Esq.
Commander D. M. G. Newton.
S.
Johnson, Esq., an d
Figure 2 5 .
Showing
Test
Load.
Messrs. Holland andannennd Cubitts, Ltd.
BOOK
REVIEW.
I Modern Railway Welding Practice.”
By
I)IPL.-ING.
0
BONDY. (London TheRailway
Gazette,
33
Tothill Street, S.W.l.) 89in. 5frin.
128 pp. llustrated. Price
5s.
net.
This book originated in
a
series of special articles in
T h e
Railway Engineer
and
The Railway Gazette
dealing
with variousbranches of railway practice in which
welding has proved satisfactory. The aim is to provide
concise information on
a number of specific fields of
application for welding an d o afford assistance to
engineers in practice-whether at the drawing board,
men t of new and rn porh nt applicat.ions of welding
n the workshop, or on the site-in the furt herdevelop-
technolopy. The author’s examples are drawn largely
from German practice, Germa,ny having been
a
leader
in new welded construction, not only of rolling stock
but of bridges and of buildings.
After
a
general survey of the subject, the aut hor eals
in Chapters
I1
to
V
with the application of welding to
rolling stock. Chapter V is devoted to welding regula-
tions in various countries with particular reference t o
railway station roof stru ctur es and bridges, an d th e
those of Germany
;
then follow chapter s onnew welded
strengthening of bridges. A special chapter
is
devoted
to the P,ugendamm Bridge in Germany, of plate girder
design, and one of the most remarkable welded struc-
welding of rails, an d he volume concludes with
a
tures so far built.There s also
a
chapter on the
useful index.
THEEWRESIDEKT.
both the academic and practicalpherensures
Conti~~ued:
r o m
page
2 3 3 . )
another year of progressor thenstitution.
All those who have had thehonour o knowing
exception of oneyear,hehasbeen an
ex officio
the new Presidentare ooking orwardwith
member of allhe nstitution’sStanding Corn- pleasure t o servingunderhim duringhe
mittees.rofessorusband’sminence
in
coming Session.
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