Structural Tiles.

Progress, Volume XVI, Issue 8, 1 April 1921, Page 181

Structural Tiles.

A recent issue of the Christchurch Press pub lished a description of a new invention in building by a i\ew Zealander from its “Own Correspondent in .London. the writer says: Of the various constructional methods for housing senemes winch nave been placed before the Housing Department ol the JMicish Government, Mr. m Hurst meager (Christchurch), who is interesting himself in tins matter, is of the opinion that the “McLeod Bystem'' holds second place only to tne “waller Bystem.” Mr. w. McLeod, of Wanganui, brought his invention before the i\ew Zealanu government some months ago. Bince then, However, he has submitted it to various Government Departments in the United Mates, and lias also brought it before the authorities in tins country, witn the result that it has been approved by the Ministry of Health. Before leaving the Dominion he had a very comprehensive picture him taken of the process of building with the “structural tiles” he has invented, and recently Bir James Allen and Mr. Hurst Seager witnessed an exhibition of this him. Bor the construction of walls the system is undoubtedly an ingenious one. The “structural ale” units take the form of thin-sided hollow concrete blocks—one might describe them as concrete boxes, with no tops or bottoms, 'these units, which are very light and made in convenient sizes for handling, are placed in position in courses in the usual way, but no mortar is used. When the wall reaches a convenient height, say, five or six courses, concrete of a wet consistency is poured into the cavities and rodded, thus forming a monolithic wall. This procedure is repeated until the desired height is attained. Walls may be made of any necessary thickness, or a double wall may be built with an internal air space. Columns either round or square are easily formed. For curved walling and circular piers or columns the units are made with the required curve, and built up in the same manner. I he system is in effect one in which a monolithic wall is built without the use of removable shuttering, and the “structural tiles,” in addition to providing the forms in which the concrete is held in position whilst setting, also forms the surface of the finished wall. If desired, reinforcement can be incorporated in the wall either horizontally by laying rods throughout the length of the wall in the cavities formed in the units for the purpose, or vertically by embedding rods in the cavity of the wall as the work proceeds. Mr. McLeod maintains that beside all the obvious advantages of the system for mass production, walls of houses may be erected at a cost of 25 per cent, less than those built of bricks, and this is borne out by the report of a well-known firm of quantity surveyors. It is proposed to manufacture the tiles in factories equipped with machinery such as are already used for similar purposes in America, where machines are in use which are turn-

ing out 12,000 tiles in hours. The cost of such a machine would probably be about £ 2,000. Mi. McLeod, however, in the course of his investiga tions, has found that a cheaper method would be to make the tiles of clay, the machinery for which could be installed in ordinary brickyards for a comparatively small cost.