In concreting the bench-walls, the concrete was first placed on the side containing the single conduit until it reached the top of the four tiers laid, then the concrete gang was turned over to the side with the 4-way conduits while four more tiers of single conduits were laid, the work thus progressing, the conduits being laid on one side while concrete was placed on the other. On the side of the 4-way conduits the concrete was built in two layers while that on the side of the single ducts was built in three; the interval between the different layers was not sufficiently long to prevent a complete bond being obtained, and there were only one or two instances where there was any mark on the face to indicate a break.
After the work had been in progress some time, it was found to be quite feasible to build all the 4-way conduits at night and half the single conduits, that is, 6 ducts high, as the mandrels proved amply sufficient to hold them in place; in fact, had it been necessary, the writer has no doubt that all the ducts might have been laid and held in place with very little extra precaution, by the use of the expanding mandrels, as described under the head of conduit laying. A =V=-shaped joint about ½ in. deep was made between each section of bench-wall so that the expansion cracks would follow this joint rather than show irregularly on the face. These joints divided the face into the even 25-ft. panels, and were very effectual in concealing what few cracks there were.
After the construction of the sand-walls was discontinued, the space behind the bench-walls, between the neat line and the rock, was filled with rock packing, which was generally built, part way up at least, as a dry wall ahead of the construction of the bench-wall, or it was put in place simultaneously with the concrete, care being taken to keep it as free as possible for the drainage of any water there might be. Toward the latter part of the work, owing to the difficulty of getting sufficient rock packing during the day, a rough back form for the bench-wall was built at the neat line, in places where the section was at all large, and the space was filled with rock afterward, generally at night or on Sundays.