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66 THE MARINE REVIEW February, 1912 Notes on Pile Protection N THE course of some wharf con- struction for the Guatemala Co. in Puerto Bar- rios, Guatemala, it deal with some creosoted southern United States piles which had been in place for' about 17 years. These piles were nearly all of them in fair condi- tion excepting at and near the water line, but at this belt -for, say, 5 ft. in width, most of them were badly eaten, many having cavities extending complete- ly through them, the result of the com- bined activity of the teredo and the limnoria. The expense of replacing these piles with new ones would ap- proximate $50 each. The incentive for saving them by placing some. re- inforcement was so great that the writer gave much time to its consid- eration. Saving the Piling. The first idea was to place such re- - inforcement by using a chamber clam- shell like, each half of which should have a semi-circular opening in the parting line of the bottom for em- bracing the pile when clamped about it, and which would admit a workman. after unwatering the chamber, the an- nular space about the pile being first calked. A test chamber was made, but trials in controlling it against the effect of even a wind-chopped sea of moderate force proved the futility of rapid and economical manipulation, and the idea of working in the dry was abandoned. Had the apparatus proved successful it was proposed to place a reinforcement of nails, poultry netting and cement mortar, similar to that hereinafter described for pro- tecting some of the piles which were placed in the new construction. Accordingly, forms were prepared for placing in the wet about the old piles a reinforced cement-mortar en- velope which should have a width of about 8 ft. and a minimum thickness of 2 in. These forms were made of No. 26 gage galvanized iron shaped into cylindrical shape with a slight taper and 10 ft. in length. A 2-in. by 3-in. strip of pine having a length of 8 in. greater than the form was. at- tached on each side of the parting aia i *From a naper read before Society of Civil Engineers. the Boston Railway > became necessary to. By T. Howarp Barnes, * line, which was up and down. The metal was folded about the strip an inch on to the three-inch side, leaving two inches for attaching an oakum strand, which was needed to prevent egress of mortar. Two 2-in. by 4-in. stiffeners of same length as the fac- REINFORCEMENT OF OLD CREOSOTED PILES PUERTO BARRIOS-GUATEMALA 18 +--__| sy == Wye \ 6 oe STIFFENERS " 3" : ee H 10'0" - NNEC | STIFFENERS € Da ef COLLAR =<] NO, 26 AAS] GALVANIZED SR IRON Ra Horne cy 2"X 3"FACING STRIPS we Ries OAKUM STRAND' SECTIONS OF PILE- REINFORCEMENT FORMS ' VERTICAL SECTION ON C-D HORIZONTAL SECTION ON A-B Fig. 1 ing strips were fastened to the form at the one-third point as shown in the aut. Vig. ol. A collar of 2-in. stock made from narrow 'blocks was _ pro- vided at the foot to serve as a gage for regulating the thickness of the mortar, as well as serving to calk against in closing the foot against the escape of the mortar. The mortar envelope was reinforced by a wrapping of poultry fencing of No. 16 gage with 1%4-in. mesh. The procedure was first to scrape off the mussel growth on the pile to be treat- --B [NO. 26 L-- T@aLVANIZED IRON bet | SECTIONIAL WOODEN COLLAR " ° Y\2 X 4 WOODEN NO.26 GALVANIZED Wy 2"x 4"WODDEN WEAK MORTAR | i) ed. This growth forms a complete mat, but is detached quite readily. The poultry fencing is then put in place. | This is made up into a roll, 8 ft. long, and having enough fullness to lap on to itself several inches when placed about the pile. The form, nearly SSS SSS =-- St pots ee od a USUAL HIGH WATER SJ SSA SS aS 8 SS Ss ING Ss 5 SS SS sss SS SSS SEE = SS SS SSs SS S Sw SS LS See = Ss SSS SEs PORTLAND CEMENT i ~S SN MORTAR SS »~D> aS aS p POULTRY FENCING | NOW16 x 16" 7? STIFFENER ZONE OF oakum Wes CAULKING Ki fi md \ WOODEN. |My coLLar |] be | 4 ELEVATION | SHOWING Ne COMPLETED WorRK 4% SECTION SHOWING CONSTRUCTION Fig. 2 stiffeners, is then floated into place, first having been provided with a wreath of fluffy oakum affixed to the collar. The fac- ing strips are closed tightly with car- riage clamps hung from them by cords of such length that when the clamps are squared into horizontal position they are in the proper place for screw- ing up by the divers. The divers are naked, and their further duties are to buoyant with the