CHAPTER V.

METHODS AND COST OF DEPOSITING CONCRETE UNDER WATER AND OF SUBAQUEOUS GROUTING. Mixed concrete if emptied loose and allowed to sink through water is destroyed; the cement paste is washed away and the sand and stone settle onto the bottom more or less segregated and practically without cementing value. In fact, if concrete is deposited with the utmost care in closed buckets and there is any current to speak of a considerable portion of cement is certain to wash out of the deposited mass. Even in almost still water some of the cement will rise to the surface and appear as a sort of milky scum, commonly called _laitance_. Placing concrete under water, therefore, involves the distinctive task of providing means to prevent the washing action of the water. It is also distinguished from work done in air by the fact that it cannot be compacted by ramming, but the main problem is that of preventing wash during and after placing. ~DEPOSITING IN CLOSED BUCKETS.~--Special buckets for depositing concrete under water are made by several manufacturers of concrete buckets. These buckets vary in detail but are all similar in having doors to close the concrete away from the water and, generally, in being bottom dumping. The bucket shown by Fig. 26 was designed by Mr. John F. O'Rourke, and is built by the Cockburn Barrow & Machine Co., of Jersey City, N. J. This bucket was used in depositing the concrete for the City Island Bridge foundations described in Chapter XII and also in a number of other works. It consists of a nearly cubical shell of steel open at top and bottom, and having heavy timbers rivetted around the bottom edges. The open top has two flat flap doors. Two similar doors hinged about midway of the sides close to form a V-shaped hopper bottom inside the shell and serve when open, to close the openings in the sides of the shell. In loading the bucket the bottom doors are drawn inward and upward by the chains and held by a temporary key. The loaded bucket is then lifted by the bail and the key removed, since when suspended the pull on the bail holds the chains taut and the doors closed. As soon as the bucket rests on the bottom the pull of the concrete on the doors slides the bail down and the doors swing downward and back discharging the concrete. The timbers around the bottom edges keep the bucket from sinking into the deposited concrete, and the doors and shell exclude all water from the batch until it is finally in place. [Illustration: Fig. 26.--O'Rourke Bucket fur Depositing Concrete Under Water.] The subaqueous concrete bucket shown by Figs. 27 and 28 is made by the Cyclopean Iron Works Co., Jersey City, N. J. Fig. 27 shows the bucket suspended full ready for lowering; the cover is closed and latched and the bail is held vertical by the tag line catch A. Other points to be noted are the eccentric pivoting of the bail, the latch unlocking lever and roller B and C, and the stop D. In the position shown the bucket is lowered through the water and when at the proper depth just above bottom the tag line is given a sharp pull, uncatching the bail. The body of the bucket turns bottom side up, revolving on the bail pivots, and just as the revolution is completed the bail engages the roller C on the latch unlocking lever and swings the lever enough to unlatch the top and allow it to swing down as shown by Fig. 28 and release the concrete. The stop D keeps the body of the bucket from swinging beyond the vertical in dumping. [Illustration: Fig. 27.--Cyclopean Bucket for Depositing Concrete Under Water (Closed Position).] [Illustration: Fig. 28.--Cyclopean Bucket for Depositing Concrete Under Water (Open Position).] Figures 29 and 30 show the subaqueous concrete bucket made by the G. L. Stuebner Iron Works, Long Island City, N. Y., essentially the same bucket, omitting the cover and with a peaked bail, is used for work in air. For subaqueous work the safety hooks A are lifted from the angles B and wired to the bail in the position shown by the dotted lines, and a tag line is attached to the handle bar C. The bucket being filled and the cover placed is lowered through the water to the bottom and then discharged by a pull on the tag line. ~DEPOSITING IN BAGS.~--Two methods of depositing concrete in bags are available to the engineer; one method is to employ a bag of heavy tight woven material, from which the concrete is emptied at the bottom, the bag serving like the buckets previously described simply as means of conveyance, and the other method is to use bags of paper or loose woven gunnysack which are left in the work, the idea being that the paper will soften or the cement will ooze out through the openings in the cloth sufficiently to bond the separate bagfuls into a practically solid mass. [Illustration: Fig. 29.--Stuebner Bucket for Depositing Concrete Under Water (Closed Position).] [Illustration: Fig. 30.--Stuebner Bucket for Depositing Concrete Under Water (Open Position).] [Illustration: Fig. 31.--Bag for Depositing Concrete Under Water.] [Illustration: Fig. 32.--Form for Molding Footing for Block Concrete Breakwater.] The bag shown by Fig. 31 was used to deposit concrete for leveling up a rough rock bottom and so provide a footing for a concrete block pier constructed in 1902 at Peterhead, N. B., by Mr. William Shield, M. Inst. C. E. Careful longitudinal profiles were taken of the rock bottom one at each edge of the footing. Side forms were then made in 20-ft. sections as shown by Fig. 32; the lagging boards being cut to fit the determined profile and the top of the longitudinal piece being flush with the top of the proposed footing. The concrete was filled in between the side forms and leveled off by the T-rail straight-edge. In placing the side forms the longitudinal pieces were placed by divers who were given the proper elevations by level rods having 10 to 15-ft. extension pieces to raise the targets above the water surface. When leveled the side pieces were anchor-bolted as shown to the rock, the anchor-bolts being wedged into the holes to permit future removal. The concrete was then lowered in the bag shown by Fig. 31, the divers assisting in guiding the bag to position. The mouth of the bag being tied by one turn of a line having loops through which a wooden key is slipped to hold the line tight, a sharp tug on the tripping rope loosens the key and empties the bag. The bags used on this work had a capacity of 2¼ cu. ft. To permit the removal of the side forms after the concrete had hardened, a strip of jute sacking was spread against the lagging boards with a flap extending 15 to 18 ins. under the concrete. The forms were removed by divers who loosened the anchor bolt wedges. In placing small amounts of concrete for bridge foundations in Nova Scotia, bags, made of rough brown paper were used to hold the concrete. Each bag held about 1 cu. ft. The bags were made up quickly and dropped into the water one after the other so that the following one was deposited before the cement escaped from the former one. The paper was immediately destroyed by submersion and concrete remained. The bags cost $1.35 per hundred or 35 cts. per cu. yd. of concrete. Concrete was thus deposited in 18 ft. of water without a diver. [Illustration: Fig. 33.--Steel Tremie for Depositing Concrete Under Water.] ~DEPOSITING THROUGH A TREMIE.~--A tremie consists of a tube of wood or, better, of sheet metal, which reaches from above the surface to the bottom of the water; it is operated by filling the tube with concrete and keeping it full by successive additions while allowing the concrete to flow out gradually at the bottom by raising the tube slightly to provide the necessary opening. A good example of a sheet steel tremie is shown by Fig. 33. This tremie was used by Mr. Wm. H. Ward in constructing the Harvard Bridge foundations and numerous other subaqueous structures of concrete. In these works the tube was suspended from a derrick. Wheelbarrows filled the tube and hopper with concrete and kept them full; the derrick raised the tube a few inches and swung it gently so as to move it slowly over the area to be filled. Care being taken to keep the tube at one height, the concrete was readily deposited in even layers. Concrete thus deposited in 18 ft. of water was found to be level and solid on pumping the pit dry. [Illustration: Fig. 34.--Tremie and Traveler Used at Charlestown, Mass., Bridge.] Another method of handling a tremie was employed in constructing the foundations for the Charlestown Bridge at Boston, Mass. Foundation piles were driven and sawed off under water. A frame was built above water and supported by a curbing attached to certain piles in the outer rows of the foundation reserved for this purpose. In this frame the vertical members were Wakefield sheet-piling plank, spaced 6 to 10 ft. apart, and connected by three lines of double waling bolted to the verticals at three different heights. This frame was lowered to the bottom so as to enclose the bearing piles. The posts or verticals were then driven, one by one, into the bottom, the frame being flexible enough to permit this. The spaces between the posts or verticals were then filled by sheet-piling and the frame was bolted to the curbing piles. This curbing afterward supported the traveler used in laying the concrete. Thus a coffer dam was formed to receive the concrete as shown in Fig. 34. The 1-2-5 concrete was deposited up to within 5½ ft. of the mean low water level, the last foot being laid after water was pumped out. The tremie used to deposit the concrete was a tube 14 ins. in diameter at the bottom and 11 ins. at the neck, with a hopper at the top. It was made in removable sections, with outside flanges, and was suspended by a differential hoist from a truck moving laterally on a traveler, Fig. 34. The foot of the chute rested on the bottom until filled with concrete; then the chute was slowly raised and the concrete allowed to run but into a conical heap, more concrete being dumped into the hopper. As the truck moved across the traveler a ridge of concrete was made; then the traveler was moved forward and another parallel ridge was made. The best results were obtained when the layers were 2½ ft. thick, but layers up to 6 ft. thick were laid. If the layer was too thick, or uneven, or if the chute was moved or raised too quickly, the charge in the tube was "lost." This was objectionable because the charging of the chute anew resulted in "washing" the cement more or less out of the concrete until the chute was again filled. To reduce this objection the contractor was directed to dump some neat cement into the tube before filling with concrete. A canvass piston was devised which could be pushed ahead of the concrete when filling the chute. It consisted of two truncated cones of canvass, one flaring downward to force the water ahead, and the other flaring upward to hold the concrete. The canvass was stiffened and held against the sides of the chute by longitudinal ribs of spring steel wire; the waist was filled by a thick block of wood to which all the springs were attached; and to this block were connected additional steel guides to prevent overturning and a rope to regulate the descent. Very little water forced its way past this piston and it was a success, but as the cost was considerable and a piston was lost each time, its use was abandoned as the evil to be avoided did not justify the outlay. The chute worked best when the concrete was mixed not quite wet enough to be plastic. If mixed too wet the charge was liable to be "lost," and if dry it would choke the chute. An excess of gravel permitted water to ascend in the tube; and an excess of sand tended to check the flow of concrete. In constructing the piers for a masonry arch bridge in France in 1888 much the same method was followed, except that a wooden tremie 16 ins. square made in detachable sections was used. This tremie had a hopper top and was also provided with a removable cap or cover for the bottom end, the latter device being intended to keep the water out of the tube and prevent "washing" the first charge of concrete. The piers were constructed by first driving piles and sawing them off several feet above the bottom but below water level, and then filling them nearly to their tops with broken stone. An open box caisson was then sunk onto the stone and embracing the pile tops and then filled around the outside with more broken stone. The caisson was then filled with concrete through the tremie which was handled by a traveling crane. The crane was mounted and traveled transversely of the pier on a platform which in turn moved along tracks laid lengthwise of the caisson. The tube was gradually filled with concrete and lowered, the detachable bottom of the tube was then removed, allowing the concrete to run out. The tube was first moved across the caisson and then downstream and back across the caisson, and this operation repeated until a 16-in. layer was completed. The tube was then raised 16 ins. and the operations repeated to form another layer. There was almost no _laitance_. From 90 to 100 cu. yds. were deposited daily. Still another example of tremie work is furnished by the task of depositing a large mass of concrete under water in the construction of the Nussdorf Lock at Vienna. This lock has a total width of 92 ft. over all, and is 49.2 ft. clear inside. The excavation, which was carried to a depth of 26.24 ft. below water level, was made full width, between sheet piling, and the bottom was filled in with rammed sand and gravel, forming a kind of invert with its upper surface horizontal in the middle and sloping upwards a trifle at both sides. A mass of concrete having a total thickness of 13.12 ft. was built on this foundation in the center where the upper surfaces were 13.12 ft. below the water level. Concrete walls were carried up at the sides of the lock to a height of 3.28 ft.; these walls were 8.2 ft. thick. The methods used in placing the concrete were as follows: Three longitudinal rows of piles were driven on each side of the axis of the lock, these piles supporting a 6-rail track about 7 ft. above the water level. Three carriages spanning the full width of the lock transversely moved on this track. Each carriage had three trolleys, one in each of the main panels of the transverse pile bends. These trolleys each carried a vertical telescopic tube, by means of which the concrete was deposited at the bottom of the lock. These tubes or chutes were of different lengths in the three carriages; the first ones deposited the concrete up to a level of 23 ft. below the surface; the next set deposited the concrete between that level and 19.7 ft., and the last set completed the subaqueous work up to the final height of 16.4 ft. below the surface. The tops of the tubes were level with a transverse track extending the full length of the carriage. The ends of these tracks just cleared the outside rows of piles, which, on one side of the lock, supported a distribution track parallel to the axis of the lock. Dump cars running on this distribution track delivered the concrete to smaller dump cars on the carriage tracks, and in turn these smaller cars dumped into either of these chutes on each carriage. The carriages were moved from end to end of the lock, the whole area of the lock coming under the nine chutes, inasmuch as each chute moved one-third the length of the carriage. The concrete was deposited in three horizontal layers 3.28 ft. thick, the layers being built in comparatively narrow banks, so that the different layers would key together and form a corrugated mass. The chutes were shortened as the concrete was deposited, three layers being placed successively. The main body of the bottom and the side walls were built by this method, and then the water was pumped out and a 2.3 ft. layer of concrete rammed over the bottom and completed with a finished surface 9 ft. thick. ~GROUTING SUBMERGED STONE.~--Masses of gravel, broken or rubble stone deposited under water may be cemented into virtually a solid concrete by charging the interstices with grout forced through pipes from the surface. Mr. H. F. White gives the following records of grouting submerged gravel: In experiment No. 1 a reservoir 10 ft. square was filled to a depth of 18 ins. with clean gravel ballast (1½ to 2-in. size) submerged in water. A 2-in. gas pipe rested on the gravel and was surmounted with a funnel. A 1:1 Portland grout was poured in. After 21 days set the water was drawn off, and it was found that the grout had permeated the ballast for a space of 8 ft. square at the bottom and 6 ft. square at the top, leaving a small pile of pure cement mortar 6 ins. high about the base of the pipe; 16 cu. ft. of cement and 16 cu. ft. of sand concreted 100 cu. yds. of ballast. In experiment No. 2, under the same conditions, a grout made of 1 part lime, 1 part surki (puzzulana or trass) and 1 part sand, was found to have spread over the entire bottom, 10 ft. square, rising 5 ins. on the sides, and making the concreted mass about 3½ ft. square at the top; 25 cu. ft. of the dry materials concreted 100 cu. ft. of ballast. In experiment No. 3 the ballast was 2½ ft. deep. A grout (using 8 cu. ft. of each ingredient) made as in experiment No. 2 covered the bottom, rose 14 ins. on the sides and made a top surface 4½ ft. square; 32 cu. ft. of the dry materials grouted 100 cu. ft. of ballast. In experiment No. 4 the ballast was of bats and pieces 3 or 4 ins. in size laid 7 ft. deep. A grout made as in experiment No. 2 (using 88 cu. ft. of each ingredient) concreted the whole mass to a depth of 6 ft. up the sides, and 2½ ft. square at the pipe on the surface of the ballast. Mr. White says that a grout containing more than 1 part of sand to 1 of Portland cement will not run freely through a 2-in. pipe, as the sand settles out and chokes the pipe. Even with 1:1 grout it must be constantly stirred and a steady flow into the pipe maintained. The lime-trass grout does not give the same trouble. Mr. W. R. Knipple describes the work of grouting rubble stone and gravel for the base of the Hermitage Breakwater. This breakwater is 525 ft. long, 50 ft. wide at base and 42 ft. wide at top, and 68 ft. high, was built on the island of Jersey. Where earth (from 0 to 8½ ft. deep) overlaid the granite rock, it was dredged and the trench filled in with rubble stones and gravel until a level foundation was secured. Cement grout was then forced into this filling through pipe placed 8 to 10 ft. apart. The grouting was done in sections 12½ ft. long, from 7 to 10 days being taken to complete each. Upon this foundation concrete blocks, 4×4×9 to 12 ft., were laid in courses inclined at an angle of 68°. The first four courses were laid by divers, the blocks being stacked dry two courses high at a time. The joints below water were calked by divers and above water by masons, and a section was then grouted. When two courses had been laid and grouted, two more courses were laid and grouted in turn, and so on. In places, grouting was done in 50 ft. of water. The grout should be a thick paste; a 30-ft. column of grout will balance a 60-ft. column of water.