Abstract
Mr. N. Stutterheim and Mr. J. Shaw, of the Investigation Section of the Building Control, South Africa, described some work carried out by the Section during the ten months of its existence at a meeting of the South African Society of Civil Engineers on March 15. They discussed particularly the investigation of substitutes for steel and timber for building purposes. The work is being carried out in the Civil Engineering Department, University of the Witwatersrand, under Prof. Bernard H. Knight, acting head of the Department. The most promising material examined, taking South African conditions of service and also the"question of supplies into consideration, appears to be 'Sorel' cement with sawdust filler, reinforced with wood lathes. It can be sawn, nailed and screwed, and tends to expand and contract with varying moisture conditions much as timber does. Its chief economic recommendation is that it can be cast to any size or shape without the use of high temperature, high pressure or skilled labour. Some houses have been built in Johannesburg in which all timber has been replaced with 'Sorel' cement composition. A sawdust cement composition has also been developed by certain South African firms. Other research work carried out by the Investigation 'Section has been the testing of tiles and flooring materials; for testing the latter, a machine has been devised in the University of the Witwatersrand consisting of leather pads fed with crusher dust to simulate the abrasive effect of leather soles and dust.
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Substitutes for Structural Material in South Africa. Nature 154, 78 (1944). https://doi.org/10.1038/154078d0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/154078d0