ABSTRACT

In the ve decades before 1917 there was a building boom in the United States as one result of dramatic industrial and commercial developments and a concomitant increase of population in northern urban centers. As a new and reproof construction material, reinforced concrete proved to be more ecient and exible than conventional materials of stone and brick, of cast iron or the newly available steel, a material that so easily deforms under extremes of heat that it must be protected. Concrete was and is not cheaper than red terra cotta but structurally superior. Except in compression as masonry, terra cotta-i.e. red clay-has no structural value.