The bands used were 1-3/4 by 1/4 in., except in the light column, where they were 1-3/4 by 3/16 in.

In his remarks regarding the tests at Minneapolis, Minn., Mr. Godfrey has failed to note that these tests, faulty as they undoubtedly were, both in the execution of the work, and in the placing of the reinforcement, as well as in the character of the hooping used, were sufficient to satisfy the Department of Buildings that rational design took into consideration the amount of hooping and the amount of vertical steel, and on a basis not far from that which the writer considers reasonable practice.

Again, Mr. Godfrey seems to misunderstand the influence of Poisson’s ratio in multiple-way reinforcement.  If Mr. Godfrey’s ideas are correct, it will be found that a slab supported on two sides, and reinforced with rods running directly from support to support, is stronger than a similar slab reinforced with similar rods crossing it diagonally in pairs.  Tests of these two kinds of slabs show that those with the diagonal reinforcement develop much greater strength than those reinforced directly from support to support.  Records of small test slabs of this kind will be found in the library of the Society.

Mr. Godfrey makes the good point that the accuracy of an elastic theory must be determined by the elastic deportment of the construction under load, and it seems to the writer that if authors of textbooks would pay some attention to this question and show by calculation that the elastic deportment of slabs is in keeping with their method of figuring, the gross errors in the theoretical treatment of slabs in the majority of works on reinforced concrete would be remedied.

Although he makes the excellent point noted, Mr. Godfrey very inconsistently fails to do this in connection with his theory of slabs, otherwise he would have perceived the absurdity of any method of calculating a multiple-way reinforcement by endeavoring to separate the construction into elementary beam strips.  This old-fashioned method was discarded by the practical constructor many years ago, because he was forced to guarantee deflections of actual construction under severe tests.  Almost every building department contains some regulation limiting the deflection of concrete floors under test, and yet no commissioner of buildings seems to know anything about calculating deflections.

In the course of his practice the writer has been required to give surety bonds of from $50,000 to $100,000 at a time, to guarantee under test both the strength and the deflection of large slabs reinforced in multiple directions, and has been able to do so with accuracy by methods which are equivalent to considering Poisson’s ratio, and which are given in his book on concrete steel construction.

Until the engineer pays more attention to checking his complicated theories with facts as determined by tests of actual construction, the view, now quite general among the workers in reinforced concrete regarding him will continue to grow stronger, and their respect for him correspondingly less, until such time as he demonstrates the applicability of his theories to ordinary every-day problems.