destructive agencies.

Other lines of research may be stated briefly as follows:

The extent to which concrete made from cement and local materials can be
most safely and efficiently used for different purposes under different
conditions;

The best methods for mixing and utilizing the various constituent
materials locally available for use in Government construction;

The materials suitable for the manufacture of cement on the public
lands, or where the Government has planned extensive building or
engineering construction work, where no cement plants now exist;

The kinds and forms of reinforcement for concrete, and the best methods
of applying them in order to secure the greatest strength in
compression, tension, shear, etc., in reinforced concrete beams,
columns, floor slabs, etc.;

The influence of acids, oils, salts, and other foreign materials,
long-continued strain, or electric currents, on the permanence of the
steel in reinforced concrete;

The value of protective coatings as preventives of deterioration of
structural materials by destructive agencies; and

The establishment of working stresses for various structural materials
needed by the Government in its buildings.