(1) Road Engineering (2) Reinforced Concrete Bridge Design

Abstract

EVEN to the casual observer, it is evident that road engineering has advanced in recent years, although it may not be so evident that rule of thumb methods are giving place to careful investigation and scientific design. Two commonplace materials may be taken in illustration: cement concrete, familiar in road structures, and the asphaltic concrete which forms the upper crust of many main roads. Both are composed of broken stone fragments of varying sizes held together by a binding material, and it might appear that casual selection and a few rough trials to fix suitable proportions would suffice. This method has indeed been used, frequently with deplorable results. But care both in selection and proportioning is essential if the product is to be reliable, and it appears that further investigation of the stability of such mixtures at various stages is necessary before complete control of their properties can be attained.

(1) Road Engineering.

By E. L. Leeming. (The Glasgow Text Books of Civil Engineering.) New and revised edition. Pp. xx + 377. (London: Constable and Co., Ltd., 1933.) 18s. net.

(2) Reinforced Concrete Bridge Design.

By C. S. Chettoe Haddon C. Adams. Pp. xviii + 400 + 24 plates. (London: Chapman and Hall, Ltd., 1933.) 42s. net.