Oil-Mixed Portland Cement Concrete by Logan Waller Page examines an early approach to reducing the absorption of moisture by concrete. Published in Washington by the Government Printing Office in 1912, it is Bulletin 46 of the United States Department of Agriculture’s Office of Public Roads. The title page gives the issue date as August 8, 1912.
The problem behind the investigation
Page begins with the widespread use of Portland cement and the difficulty caused by porous or absorbent concrete. Basement dampness and leaking reservoirs provide familiar examples. His investigation grew from road-material experiments and led to the study of heavy mineral residual oil incorporated into cement mixtures.
The bulletin links laboratory work with proposed building applications. This makes it more focused than a general concrete handbook: the central question is how the added oil changes the material and where those changes might be useful. Readers interested in the history of building science can follow a specific proposal from explanation through testing.
The opening discussion includes both laboratory investigations and service tests. Photographic plates show work associated with vaults in the United States Treasury Department and laboratory experiments. These images give context to the text’s claims about reducing moisture penetration.
Materials and the method of making
A materials section addresses cement and specifications for fluid residual petroleum. The distinction matters because the investigation does not treat every substance called oil as equivalent. Its results belong to the materials and proportions actually examined.
The method-of-making section discusses preparation and provides quantities for a cubic yard. It belongs to the historical account of the process rather than to a current specification. A reader can use it to understand the arrangement of the experiment without assuming that modern products will behave the same way.
The booklet repeatedly connects resistance to moisture with other material properties. That is its most useful general lesson: changing a mixture to improve one characteristic can also change strength, setting or adhesion. A claim of improved damp-proofing is therefore only one part of evaluating the material.
Proposed applications around buildings
Basement floors and cellar walls receive separate treatments. The author considers both new work and the treatment of existing surfaces. Watering troughs and cisterns follow, alongside concrete blocks, stucco and engineering constructions.
For readers researching rural construction, these sections explain why moisture resistance attracted attention beyond road building. They also show how a laboratory material was translated into a variety of proposed uses. The same mixture was being discussed in relation to walls, floors, containers and surface finishes.
These passages should be read as evidence of historical practice. In particular, the presence of a trough or cistern example does not establish the suitability of an oil-containing mixture for present-day drinking-water contact. The publication’s value lies in documenting the investigation and its contemporary applications.
Strength, setting and absorption tests
The appendix records physical tests of oil-mixed Portland cement concrete. It covers tensile and crushing strength, the time of setting, resistance to impact, stiffness, permanent deformation, absorption, permeability and bond. Tables and plotted curves allow the reader to compare results rather than rely only on the introductory discussion.
The conclusions report tradeoffs as well as favorable effects. Added oil delayed setting and reduced crushing strength under the stated test conditions. The bond experiments distinguished plain from deformed reinforcing bars and found that oil affected their adhesion differently. These qualifications are essential to understanding the study.
The absorption and permeability work addresses the original damp-proofing question, while the other tests examine consequences of the modification. Reading them together gives a better account of the research than selecting a single successful result. The bulletin is a compact example of testing multiple properties of a proposed construction material.
Audience and digital format
This free ebook suits construction historians, researchers studying concrete admixtures and readers interested in early government materials research. It is a historical experimental report, and practical construction decisions need current evidence and professional assessment. The scan contains 33 PDF pages, including preliminary matter and plates. Searchable text is available, with some recognition errors in figures and tables. Page images should be checked whenever precise values or labels matter.
Book details
- Author: Logan Waller Page
- Publisher: Government Printing Office, Washington
- Year: 1912
- Edition: Office of Public Roads Bulletin 46; issued August 8, 1912
- Digital length: 33 PDF pages
- Language: English
- File size: 2.92 MB
