Construction of Aircraft Factories

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34 T H E LgTRUCTUR L

E NQ I N E E R

- J w t e 1937

DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF AIRCRAFT FACTORIES.

y

F. S.

SNOW,

M.Inst.C.E. M.1.Struct.E.

The construct ion of aircraft,

beingmore or less amatter

of repetition, requires a factory

layout osuit heorderand

sequence of operations necessary to complete

th e finished product. racticallyheame

problemsarecontained nanyfacfory,such

as food or ot,her products, where the articles

are produced on mass-productive lines.

The. aeroplane, being such a bulky finished

product and requiring so much space, cannot

be constructed in what the late Lord Lever-

hulme described as a gravity building (this

being a building where the raw materials were

conveyed to th e ighest point and fed by means

of gravity into the various process rooms

with he finished article coming ou tat he

lowest point). t follows, therefore, that his

process of manufacture calls for argeopen

areas on the ground loor, and the construction

is generally ight teel ramewithpanelled

walls of brick or sheeting (dependent upon th e

length of time the factory is to stand, or alter-

natively the amountof capital t,o be expended)

with large span trusseso minimise obstruction.

Good light, preferably north light, ventilation

for the summer, and sufficient heat to keep the

factorycomfortablywarm for th e workmen

duringhewintermonths

;

aood hard

dustless floor, this being especially necessa,ry

in the assembly and paint shops. The various

componentparts of th e aeroplane a.re then

rucked as hey are completed from one

department to a,nother for final assembly,or

may be carried by chain conveyor as t present

demonstrated in theFord MMot,or Works at,

Dagenham.

If the actory is to be construct,ed nan

area where veryittleabour is available

then it will be necessary to arrange transport

facilities to bring hepersonnel to the works

untiluchimesshe necessaryousing

accommodation is provided.

t

will almostert,ainly e ecessary

to

provide

a

canteen where meals can be obtained

cheaply and in comfort a t a reasonable price.

tions.

P a p e r o be readat he Fifth Summela

Conference

f the n s t i t u t i o n of

tructurul

Engineers at W n s p o o n

Thu ;lzclay

10th

J zcw

1937

recreation room, and (where emale staff

aremployed)est room, administrative

block, directors and staff luncheon rooms will

follow as a ma,tter of course, whilst to provide

the powerapowerhouse and boiler house

may benecessary. Last,butnot east, he

whole of the factory grounds should be fenced

and a gate house with weighbridge provided.

In planningactory it

lanning becomes necessary to decide

for whetherheactory is to be

Production* built for the roduction of

wood or omposite ircraft, i.e., allmetal,

or acomposition of both, so that eithercan

be built a t one and the same time.

I n constructing one of the most impor tant

aircraftfactories nEngland, that of Messrs.

DeHavillands a t Hatfield, i t was ecided

that his should be planned on he a,ll wood.

principle, ndhedepa,rtments whichwere

taken into consideration by the architects and

generalmanagementandverycarefullycon-

sidered were the following :

General and Haw Material Stores,

Finished Pa rt Stores,

Wood Stores,

roo1

Stores,

Dope and Callulosc Stores,

Acid

St,ores,

Receiving and Dispatch Departments.

On the production side thesamecareand

attention had tobe given t30 ,he :

Wood

Mill,

Rough Saw Mill,

Wood Detail,

Plane Assembly Shops,

Fuselage Assembly Shops,

Machine Shop,

Tool

Room,

Fitting Shop,

Sheet Metal Shop,

Final Erecting Department,

Dope

and Fabricat ing Department,

Painting and Finishing Department,

Experimental Department, and

Technical School.

In the case of each department a floor pla,n

was made and on it were shown jigs, benches,

machine tools and special process, and a.n

estimated out,put perweek was arrived a t from

which the various floor areas were derived.

In th e erecting shops, painting and finishing

departments i t wa,s consideredessential t,hat



JWE 1937

T H E S TRUCTURAL

ENQ I NEER 35

the roof spans be as

great as possible con-

sistent with econonlv

as these departments

have to house the

f i n i s h e dr o d u c t .

Generally in the e-

mainder of the depart.-

mentshe height.

under the roof trusses

was not less than 4 ft..

and each truss was de-

signed strong enough

to car ry a point load

of

2 tons at any oint.

The first erecting shop

was made

a

clear

height of 18 ft. under

the pans ndater

additions which were

constructedrought

the height to 24 ft.

underheot tom

member of the russ

with an allowance for

point loads of tons a t anypoint.

in erecting shops for flying

boats

heights

haveto be

NOTE.-It should here be

noted

that the dimensions

increasedand allowances made or heavier loads. At

the same time the author is of the opinion that whilst

large pansup to 300-f t. regarded as necessary in

tion for building spans

greater than that

required for

angars

are extremely

beautiful there is

no justifica-

various operations ast is uneconomical in cost

apart from the fact that it is difficult in erection and

therefore the ultimate completion date is onger.

When taking nto consideration he design

of the steelwork duecareand hought was

given

to

insulationheating ndventilation

equipmentworks ooters oftingunways

pipecarriers water gas and airlinecarriers

as o

it

these in whilst the steelwork is in

process of fabricationaves much expense

in drillingbyhand and on he site after he

steelwork is erected.

Roofing should not in my opinion be con-

sidered from the first cost point of view and

consideration should be given to the insulation

properties of the material .To-day hereare

many lternativeypes of materials which

show remarkable differences of hea t losses.

This is a very important point to consider in

the economy in fuel consumption.

In th e case of t he

floors

at th e De Havilland

Company hesegenerallyconsisted of 6 ins.

to

7

ins. of reinforced concrete th e reinforce-

Figure A.”

ment consisting of a ight teel mesh with

thickeningunder the various machines and

particularly where heavy presses guillotines

and tools of such a nature give a greater impact.

Beds for grinding machines were dealt with

specially as in some cases faults in the finished

producthave been traced tofaulty beds.

Whereworkmen were constantly confined

to one area in. wood block flooring was laid

as although this is costly in the initial stages

i t does away with the making and upkeep of

duck boards which are a particular danger in

tripping up the workmen.

The ype of doors used in hefactoryare

more or less specified by the Home Office

FireDepartmentand nsurance Regulations

and these authorities were consulted before a

final decision was madeupon the type to be

used.Thedoors to he hangars were top

hung on runners with a bottom rail to gulde

them and t was also possible to fold them

sideways. They were constructed of light

steelframe covered with galvanizedsheeting

and were designed to resist wind pressure over

their full height.

It was decided that by installing a complete

power plant consisting

of

high pressure Super

Lancashire Boilers feeding high pressure base

turbine direct coupled to th e lectric generator

cheap power could be produced. The excess

Snow o Aircraft Factories





F I N I S ~ I N G

A N D

- P A I N T S H O P .

F A B R I C

D O P E

A S S t M B L Y

W O O D

D E T A I L

W O O D M I L L -

I

J I

~ S A W

- R E C E I V I N G

O F F I C E

i

. E R E C T I N G

S H O P

l

c

- M ~ I N

I

1

I

I

I

P A N E L A N D F I T T I N G A N O O I C

l

C A D M I U M

A N D

M A C H I N E S

- O P F l C L -

M A C H I N E W O O D W O R K

L a

F i g u r e

P

T h e

De Haci l lad Aircraft Pactor ] Com pan?y Ltd . ,

Hatfield. Lay -ou t ( factory.



38 T H E S T R U C T U R A L E N G I N E E R June 937

. I l I l t l l G

~~~ ~~

F i g u r e 3.

Aero Engine Factory

Radfwd

Couenty

or

Messrs. Daimter Company Ltd.



June

1937 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R

39

Figure

Cont inued) .





I

I

K L L V I I I O N

Snow o Aircraft Fuclories .



242 T H E STRUCTUR L E N G I N E E R

June 1937



June 1937 =

T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R 243

I

. .

Figu re 5 Po~t inued) .



244 THE STRUCTUR L E N G I N E E R . J / t / J , 1 )3?

st eam from the turbine was used for hea ting

purposes taking up the steam required hrough

the reduction valve direct from theboiler and

am given to u nd er sh nd t ha t th e first year’s

opera tion of t hisplantcame well within he

est imated figures of cost.

I n t he case of the boiler house careful con-

siclerafion

was

given to th e spacing

of

all plant

to allow easy access for he cleaning and

drawing of tubes and cleaning of flues a nd easy

access to t heme~hanica~l stokers etc. Theoal

bunkers and coal stores were not covered in

nor s hisgeneral but heauthor is of the

opinion t’hat ll coa l stores of thisnature

should be covered to keep the coal dry.

The powerouse was 27 ft. high and

ventilated to give an evenemperature so

tha t he generat ordidnotgetoverheated.

I n this connection it may benot ed th at it

is often cheaper to have a building a few feet

higher to obviate thenecessity for mecha nical

means of ventilation s whilst the api tal

cost may be lower the ultimate upkeep costs

will be greater.

The wa lls and the floors of both the power

house and boiler house were tiled with he

exception that a.round thegenerator switch-

boa rd the floor was constructed of rubber t o

safeguard electricians et c. fromossible danger

of shock.

An nteresting eature was that he whole

of t he services from he power house to th e

factory were conveyed in underground t renches

constructed in einforced concrete Figure “ A ).

On t he walls of the trencheswere fixed various

cables etc. and a t intervals hroughout he

length of the rencheswatertight inspection

manholes were formed so tha t ease of inspection

of any services could be obtained.Thus he

fact orys ntirelyreeromhe onsta nt

vexatious interruption of exca.vating roads for

this purpose.

The imberstore was designed a.s a fairly

lofty buildingwith ventilationroundhe

sides formed by wood louvres set in between

the stanchions and about ns. wide slightly

ca nted with a space of 16 ins. between in

order to give free ventilation and at th e same

timeprotectionagainst heweather. Sliding

doors of thehangar ype wereplacedalong

the whole length where unloading and receiving

takes place.

NOTE.

t

should bo noted that spruce

for

aircraft

construction

should

contain moisture within the limits

of 10

per cent. o

1 4

per cent.

Descriptions

Construction

Figztre

1 shows the general

layout of the factory at Ha t-

and field designed by Messrs. James

M Monro Son o Glasgow.

n

the foreground fwing he

main oadare heornamental gardens nd

lilyond

;

beyond areheanteen n n i

administrative blocks which in turn blank the

fa ct ory immediately behindanti give privacy

to he work of manufacture. O n the left of

the ent ra nce oad is t he gate house inti wejgh-

bridge with the boiler house power house and

repair shops ehind.

It will be noted fhat the timber store is a

separate building

i n

order to ohviate the risk

in case of fire.

In the ext remebackground to the left can

be seen the compass at th e e nd of the slipway

which is etoutby he Air Minisitry and

enables the nstrument n he aeroplane to

be checked after flight.

a.m not concerned in this paper with the

type of building materials nd onst ruction

knowno you all nd beyond a general

description propose to describe in t ieb il only

the special methods and mat erials which have

been used generally to the est of my knowledge

during the past five years.

The obvious materialor a lily pond is

reinforced concrete and the store cant’een and

administrative blocks as also the

one

storey

gate house areconstructed in this nmterial.

The chimney is in reinforced concrete and as

previously stated he oads axe also in his

ma terial. The remainderof the buildings are of

lightsteelconstruct ionwith brick walls.

Figwre 2

shows the ayout

of

the actory

section. On the left is the woodmill where a

rigid inspection of timber is carriedout.

Every knot and shake is cut outf the timbe

and the small lengths are used in the manufac-

ture of the wings etc. of the aeroplane.

This t imber is then taken into the wood detail

room a ndfinally assembled and it will be noted

that he ig store glueroom and ime office

adjoins. Beyond the assembly is the abric

section where the fabric is treatedwith

’‘

dope

’

mainly hy female la bour. In t he cent re a re t h

main toreswith cloakrooms lavatories a nd

storerooms inhe foreground. n the ight

foreground arehetores first aid rooms

laboratory rest room various class rooms for

trainees and the drawing office the woodwork

school and machine shops-also for rainees

ASnow, ow Aircraft Ir’actories.



June 1937 T H E S T RUC TURA L E N G I N E E R 45

experimental department and laboratory with

various ofices

;

the final fitting and machine

rooms with subsections for sand blasting, heat

treatment, ank esting, inning,bufingand

various other stores.

In the area at the back is th e final erection

shops where machinesn a fairly advanced stage

of erectionareaccommodated,whilston the

left of this is the finishing andpaintshop.

Again a considerable amount of this is carried

outby emaleabour.This is then, o ll

practicalurposes, the ordern which

machinesreonstructed a t thisactory.

Finally, they are put out on to the slipway,

have the compass tested, and flight tests made

before being dispatched to the purchasers.

The general width of the spans between the

steelwork is 35 f t . 4 0 ft . the lengths varying

indifferentdepartments ndangingrom

85

f t . to

140

ft., the latter being the width of

the spans in the finishing and erecting shops.

Figures 3 nd

indicate the general layout

and

cross

sections of the Aero Engine Factory

at Coventrydesigned by

Mr. W G

Phillips

and erected for the Daimler Company. In this

case the general layout can be seen and is in

many wayssimilar nparts o hatalready

described. On this tructure, owever, cor-

rugatedasbestos heetingon

in. G

T.

boards has been used forhe roof of the fac tory

(the imberactingasan nsulator),and he

height of the underside of thenorth ight

roof trusses is

16

ft., whilst the steel bays are

approximately 30 f t . by

80

ft. The inished

product here is relatively small and, therefore,

the outside tanchions re paced a t closer

intervals.The otalarea of thisextension s

725 ft. by 240 ft.

Figure 5 shows the general rrangement

and ayout of the dministrative block. t

is to be noted that the roads on this factory.re

composed of Tarmaconplainconcrete.

Snow o

AircraftFactories.



246

T H E

S T RU C T U RA L ENO I NEER June , 1937

Figure

6

shows th e steelwork of this factory

in course of construction a t one end, whilst

Figure

7 shows the erection of brickwork

proceedingoncurrently at he othernd.

t

will be noted th at the corrugated asbestos

sheeting gives qui te a neat finished appearance

althoughheentilatorsmakeather a.n

unsightly skyline.

The factory obtains ts power from the boiler

house in an anci llary building 390 f t . long by

40 f t .

wide adjoining th e main building. This

building is split up into staff and workmen’s

canteens,itchenavatories,craptore,

works amendments, coal store, boiler house and

transport works.

At the north end theuilding

is fitted with three roller shu t-

ters. In addition to side win-

dows the building is top lighted

with patent glazing each side

of theruss.The flue from

the three boilers is run into a

self-supportingteelhaft

120 f t . high and ft. 10 ns.

in diameterwhich is founded

on a base of concrete 18

ft.

by

18

ft.

by ft . deep.

Figure

8hows anerial

view of the DeHavilland

f,,ctory,and one has only to

study carefully its proportions

to realise how beautifuland

efficient it is.

Figure

9 shows an nterior

view and the clear spans may

benoted. One may also see the nter ior

fire

walls and dooropeningswhich are covered

with teel fire shu tte rsbo th of which are

necessary for Home Office regulations.

Figure

10 illustrates a further interior view

showing the steel shut ters fixed, and the wire

screen formed n expanded metalmesh between

departments may be noted.

Figure

11 shows another interior view with

the ventilation duct in the foreground.

Heating.

Therearemany forms of factoryheating.

In this caseexcess steam wasused, but he

author is of the opinion that small units spaced

Figure

8

Snow

on

Aircra,ft

Factories.



Ju tbe 1957 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R 247

extremely opular n ermanentypes of

factories nd is beingused at he at e of

500,000 sq. ft. per annum at th e present time.

This roofing is nowbeingemployed in he

construction

of

the Blackburn Aircraft Factor

at Dumbartondesignedby

Mr.

Williams of

Messrs. Williams L Jopling, Hull, where it has

created records in speedy erection.

. A - side of this teeldeck sprotected.The nsula-

tion prevents condensation and the underside

Many of you may wonderow thender-

igure 9.

around the building with a pull-in fan from the

fresh air,electricallyheatedand blown into

the factory, is by far the most compact and

satisfactory form of heating.

Thematerialemployed or roofing in he

factory was a steel deckcovered with ruberoid.

This material is extremely. speedy in erection

and s also very ight weighingonly 4 lbs.

per sq. f t . As can be seen from Fig . 11 it can

be fixed on to purlins and these purlins may

be spaced up o 10 f t . centres. omparison of

its insulationvalue s also shown rom th e

table given in Figure 12 ; this material is also

competitive in cost.

Figure

13 shows the onstruction of th i s

material which at

the resentmoment is

F ure

10.

Xnozu on

AircraftFactories.

is protectedbyvarious ypes of paint,but

the author has found th at non-oxidising paint,

th at is to say a paint whichremainsplastic

after application, is most suitable.

Figure 14 shows the interior and underside

of the steel deck a t this facto ry in theourse of

Figure 11.

construction nd gain llustrates he arge

spans. Figure 15 shows an aerial view of the

same factory. The total roof area of this job

is 42 000 sq. yds., of which 17 000 have been

completely erected in three weeks.

One of thegreatestproblemsencountered

in the construct ion of large span roofs of this

type

is

the dificultyof getting

rid

of rain water

as uickly s possible through s mall

number of downpipes as possible. Thesmall

number of downpipes isdesirable to reduce

obstruction oanabsoluteminimum n he

building.

The manner in hich the gutterswere formed

a t De Havillands, where he roof line measured

3

f t . and the ole of the gutter to theidge ofthe

glazing 13 f t .

6

ins., was t o introduce a short



248

T H E BTRUCTURAL ENQ I N E ER June,

-1937

ELLOW

-54

DRESSED

S1

AND

57

MATCHED 2.72

-

CRACKS

-

l l . U

Figure 12.

strip of roof deck below th e glazing junction-

ini'with th e deck unit on the eaveof the south

slope. Thevalley husformed was insulated

and graded with foamed concrete filling which

had an average widthof 12 ins., nd an ave rage

depth of

3

ins. The lathus ormed was

weatheredwith wo ayers of ruberoid.This

type of guttereliminated henecessity or

snow boards, t also preserved an unbroken line

of insulated roof, was dus t tight andeffected

a

saving of approximately

2s. Qd.

perrunning

foot as compared with cast iron troughing, etc.

Theompanyroducing the ruberoid

materialare nowmanufacturing an external

camouflage effectitharious coloured

surfaces. Themethod of manufacture is to

use only coloured slate dust ando press

it

into

th e bed of theelt uringmanufacturing

process. The roof colour of the factory escribed

is grass green, and

it

can be seen from igure 16

that

i

the walls weresimilarlycoloured the

buildings woulderactically invisible.

Undoubtedly, if the roof is camouflaged to

harmonizewithormalurroundingsreat

advantages can be gained from aerial attack.

Figure

17

shows an nter ior view of the

factory before building work has commenced

and after the steelwork haseen erected on he

concrete foundation.

Figure

18 shows an exteriorview of th e

canteen block. As previously xplainedhis

is in reinforced concrete, the brick base being

added for appearance nly and being carried on

areinforcedconcretebeambelow0oor level.

The cills and columns between the windows are

covered in green faience. The exterior facewas

poured against a pressed board an d the whole

treated with a coating of white cement slurry.

Figure

19

indicates an interior view of th e

workmen's anteen. Herehe columns and

walls are panelled with a well-known pressed

board, and he columns are imber battened

and stained.

The service is on the cafeteria ') principle

and the service hatch can be seen. Excellent

kitchen arrangements are provided,ne factory

alone providing for over 4,000 workmenn two

shifts.

Figure 20 is he nter ior of th e recreation

roomwhich hasaspringdance floor and a.

stage at the far end . The oof is formed in one

of t he well-knownboards,panelled, and, if

one may beallowed to criticise, the tie-rods

are atherunsightlyand lower th e genera,l

height of t he roof.

A

special feature, which may wellbe used

to advantage in other factories, was the con-

struction of the chimney to th e boiler house.

This chimney which s 6

f t .

in diameter and

60 f t .

highwas constructed ymeans of

sliding formsoperatedby acks, hegeneral

arrangement of which is shown on

Figure

21.

From the time of commencement to the time

of completion the whole of the

60

f t .

chimney

was poured in a total time of 57 hours, and

it can be een that he ime schedule was

vastly improved upon.

Figure 13.

Xrww

on AircraftFactories.



Jurw

1937 T H ET R U C T U R A LNG I N E E R

249

viously made

have pre-

reference to

the necessity for a hard dust-

less floor th e need for which

is obvious,and would strongly

recommend the use of a floor

laid monolithic with the base

concrete. Theype of floor

which was used in he ac-

tories referred to in this paper

was carefully studiedso

purpose and cost, he former

mostlygoverning the att er.

Theurposebviouslyas

reference to th e class of traffic

and resis tance to special con-

ditionsuchs chemical

effects, etc.

For a light duty floor a d ry

mortargradedwith five par ts

of in.ranite chippings to

.

two parts portland cement and

trowelled into the face of th e

wet concrete, beinginished

off

_ . y y

Figure

14.

“ V .

Snow, n

AircraftFactories.



250 T H E BTRUCTURAL ENQ INEER J u n e , 1937

according to the usual grano-

lithicpractice, he hickness

recommended is in.he

volume of themortaran

vary froma ight prinkling

to a complete covering weigh-

ing

25

lbs. per yard super in

its dry state.

For

heavy duty traffic the

specification shoulde the

sameaspreviouslydescribed

butwithhe ddition of a

proportion of a special at tr i-

tionesistantaterial,

trowelled into he surface of

the granolithic and,

or, mixed

inhemortar.Such special

materialsouldonsist of

either carborundum, alnndum,

Figure

17.

Xnow

o n AircraftFactories.



J u t r e ,

1937 H ET R U C T U R A LNG I N E E R

25

Figure 18.

angularsteelgrit,etc.The hickness recom-

mended is in.Thepaving houldollow

up the concreting asoon as practical lypossible

so

th at th e base of th e concrete, n addition

to not getting itsfinal set, should be clean and

free from workmen's debris, etc.

t is an advantage to useone of the well-

knownhardeners mmediately th e paving is

laid a ) o enable the new surface successfully

to resist the traffic fromother rades,and

b )

to allow thishardenerogetntohe

pores of the floor whilst the floor is in its

cleanestandmost accessible condition.

Manyobjectionshavebeen aisedagainst

thedoption of monolithic finishes, the

practical objections to its execution being th at

it s difficult to finish off onwetconcrete.

Paving of

l

entrustedo specialised firms who have a.

trained staff to cope with this particular type

of work.Such firms will give guarantee,

without qualification, of anything from 5 to 10

years gainst racking

or

crazing rom the

baseconcrete.Theauthorcannotemphasise

too trongly th e necessityor mploying a

firm with a good reputation and whose past

record is aguarantee of their eliability to

be specified for this most important feature in

anyaircraft actory,as he esult smainly

dependent upon the qualityf labour employed.

Atumbartonhe soil conditionsre

exceedingly bad here beingsoft andwater-

bound lay or

a

considerabledistance. At

20

to

30

ft.

below ground there was a slightly

stiffer laver of clav and as the stanchion loads

theype mentionedhould ewere l ig k t was decided to use bulb pile.

This nabled onsiderable

saving to be effected on he

length of the piles.

Piling.

The operations in the forma-

tion of a, bulb pile

of

the type

used are s follows Figure

(U)

The ube is erectedon

the ground in the driving

position anda charge of

dr y concrete is deposited

at the bottomf the tube.

6 ) The pile is drivenby

means of a monkey work-

ing inside the ubeand

driving on he padof con-

crete which pulls the tube

after ituntilsuch imes

22 :

Figure 19.

Snow on Aircraft

Factories.



252 T H E

S T R U C T U R A L E N GrIN EE R

___ _

June

1937

Figure

21 .

De

avillund Aircraft 2i actory,

Hertfordshire. Progress diagram

u d

det il

of

sliding

shutter

for

reinjorceclconcrete chimwey.



June 937 T H E

S T R U C T U R A L

E N G I N E E R 53



254 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R

___

z tne , 1937

Figure 23 indicatesone of

these piles 26 f t . long after

excavation. These were speci-

fied as 15-in. diameterpiles

but a t he narrowest oint

of the shaft were 164 ins.

Figure 4 indicates the base

of one of these piles, and

Figure 5 shows another of th e

piles in estcarrying a tota.1

load o 110 tons with

a

settle-

ment

of

in. which I venture

to suggest is extremely satis-

factory.

The costs of

the completed

building on hree factories of

the De Havillandype e-

scribed, which includes the Con-

tractors' profit, are as ollows :

as he necessary soil resistance is met.

Factory in steel fram ed construction, 13s 6d. per ft.

an d including oundations, teel- of floor area,

added ndammed ntiluchimes s

fm ed walls, anductsndnternal

the bulb is formed.

Figure

20

C ) Furtherharges of concreterehen

work, steeleck roofing, brick-

or

74d. per

cube.

finishings.

Administrative blocks ...

18s

per ft. of

d ) The subsequent charges of concrete are

floor area,

or

added nd ammed whilst the ube is

1s

9d. per

cube.

being withdrawn until such imes as he

Canteen buildings, including concert ame as

completed pile is formed (as indicated on

hall andestaurant ... above.

Roads an d drainage and fences From

79

o

theast). These piles may be

15

perent.

reinforced to suit the pecification.

of cost of

buildings.

F i b w e 22.

Steps

in formatiola of

Bzrlb

Pile.

Snow o

AircraftFactories.



J unr

I937 T H ET R U C T U R A LN G I N E E R ~ 255

achievement to them in place of an uninspired

piece of brickwork or concrete.

I havehadgreatassistance from aircraft

engineersgenerally in the cons truc tion work,

but I have found that the aircraft manufac-

turers themselves, of necessity ecausehe

industry is young, employ very keen men n

executive positions whose minds work on mass

productive lines. Now whilst it may be possible

to build an aeroplane nmass roductive

lines, every architect andengineer has different

views on the layout and construction of air-

craft actories,and bricks cannot be aid n

the same manner as aeroplane components can

be turned out of machines.

I

have been shown around factoriesdesigned

andconstructedunder hedirection of th e

senior executive of aircraf t,andhave been

toldhe cost of the buildingwhich was

extremely low), but the obvious retort would

have been th at they were dear at an yprice.

It

is not our business as structural en ineers

to show aeronautical engineers how togdesign

aeroplanes. Similarly, we cannot expect them

to

show us how to design buildings.

Much labour trouble is caused by this type

Figure

2 3 .

Medium size

ulb

ile excavated.

I

have

no

figures of costs of the ype of

buildingdesigned by Mr. W. G. Phillips,but

should imagine from their type of construction

th at th e cost works out a t somethingunder

th e figures given.

It is my opinion tha t he

Labour

sitetructural engineerhould

studv his workmen as well as

.I

the technicalproblems of construction.This

requires a.bility and is not sufficiently recog-

nised by employers or clients a.s

it

ought to be.

It is also necessary to provide some social

relief during off-time hours.

Concert parties and cinema shows should be

encouraged, and the ngineer should, f possible,

take pa rt in organising or other means. There

is a t least one very excellent party of enter-

tainers touring at the present moment which

emanated from onstructionob. I have

also f0un.d that it hasmost timulating

effect on he work to explain heultimate

objectandpurpose of the ob o hemen,

either verbally or by progress schedules, as a

consequence of which they ethoroughly

interestedndhe buildingecomes an

Xnow

on Aircraft Factories.

Figure

24.

Base

of

a

ulb

Pile

excavated.



256 ~ T H E

S T R U C T U R A L E N G I N E E R

___

une 1937

of interferenceduringbuildingconstruction.

If

clientswould understandhat

a

good

organisereavesisinishingworks under

cover, so as o keephismencontinuallyon

full ime for the occasionwhen there iswet

weather, then this paper would have achieved

one of it s objects.

I

should like to place on record my apprecia-

tion nd hanks o he following for their

assistance and also their permission to produce

r‘..- “W-

3

drawings, photographs, etc.,

for

this paper :

~

y

Jam es M. Monro Son, F.R.I.B.A., of Glasgow-.

Mr. Williams of Messrs. Williams Jopling ,

Architects, Hull.

A. T.

S.

Goombridge, Esq., late of De Havilland

Company, and now of the BlackburnAircraft

Co., Ltd.

e W. G. Phillips, Esq.

H. L. Plummer, Esq.

Commander D. M. G. Newton.

S.

Johnson, Esq., an d

Figure 2 5 .

Showing

Test

Load.

Messrs. Holland andannennd Cubitts, Ltd.

BOOK

REVIEW.

I Modern Railway Welding Practice.”

By

I)IPL.-ING.

0

BONDY. (London TheRailway

Gazette,

33

Tothill Street, S.W.l.) 89in. 5frin.

128 pp. llustrated. Price

5s.

net.

This book originated in

a

series of special articles in

T h e

Railway Engineer

and

The Railway Gazette

dealing

with variousbranches of railway practice in which

welding has proved satisfactory. The aim is to provide

concise information on

a number of specific fields of

application for welding an d o afford assistance to

engineers in practice-whether at the drawing board,

men t of new and rn porh nt applicat.ions of welding

n the workshop, or on the site-in the furt herdevelop-

technolopy. The author’s examples are drawn largely

from German practice, Germa,ny having been

a

leader

in new welded construction, not only of rolling stock

but of bridges and of buildings.

After

a

general survey of the subject, the aut hor eals

in Chapters

I1

to

V

with the application of welding to

rolling stock. Chapter V is devoted to welding regula-

tions in various countries with particular reference t o

railway station roof stru ctur es and bridges, an d th e

those of Germany

;

then follow chapter s onnew welded

strengthening of bridges. A special chapter

is

devoted

to the P,ugendamm Bridge in Germany, of plate girder

design, and one of the most remarkable welded struc-

welding of rails, an d he volume concludes with

a

tures so far built.There s also

a

chapter on the

useful index.

THEEWRESIDEKT.

both the academic and practicalpherensures

Conti~~ued:

r o m

page

2 3 3 . )

another year of progressor thenstitution.

All those who have had thehonour o knowing

exception of oneyear,hehasbeen an

ex officio

the new Presidentare ooking orwardwith

member of allhe nstitution’sStanding Corn- pleasure t o servingunderhim duringhe

mittees.rofessorusband’sminence

in

coming Session.

Documents

Construction of Aircraft Factories