Excerpt from Erecting Work AN engine, to be properly set, must be set rigidly. It is necessary to have the foundation of ample size, rightly proportioned, of good material, and skilfully built. The nature of the ground must be carefully considered and provision made, in preparing it for the foundation, to reduce the liability of settling to a minimum. Concrete foundations for engines have come into general use throughout the country, owing to their cheapness and durability, and some points on the building of these will be of service. Material for the foundations should be the best of its kind. The stone (if stone is used) should be broken clean and dry. The sand should be coarse and gritty. Wet a small quantity of cement, and mold it in the hands; then put the sample away and see how long it takes it to set After it has set, see how much pound ing will be required to break it up. By these simple means, bearing in mind that good cement should set in twenty-four hours, or less, the quality of the cement can be readily determined. The length of time it takes a foundation to set before weight may be safely placed on it can be ascertained. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.