It is also proposed to subject these test pieces, some made with water of known purity, and others with alkaline water, to contact with alkaline soils near the projects, and with soil of known composition near the testing laboratories at Pittsburg. As these tests progress and other lines of investigation are developed, the programme will be extended, in the hope that the inquiry may develop methods of preparing and mixing concrete and reinforced concrete which can be used in alkaline soils without danger of disintegration. Investigations into the effect of salt water on cement mortars and concretes, and the effect of electrolysis, are being conducted at Atlantic City, N.J., where the test pieces may be immersed in deep sea water for longer or shorter periods of time. At the Pittsburg laboratory a great amount of investigative work is done for the purpose of determining the suitability and availability of various structural materials submitted for use by the Government. While primarily valuable only to the Government, the results of these tests are of indirect value to all who are interested in the use of similar materials. Among such investigations have been those relating to the strength, elasticity, and chemical properties of wire rope for use in the Canal Zone; investigations of the suitability and cementing value of concrete, sand, stone, and pozzuolanic material found on the Isthmus; investigations as to the relative resistance to corrosion of various types of wire screens for use in the Canal Zone; into the suitability for use, in concrete sea-wall construction, of sand and stone from the vicinity of San Francisco; into the properties of reinforced concrete floor slabs; routine tests of reinforcing metal, and of reinforced concrete beams and columns, for the Supervising Architect of the Treasury Department, etc. The results have been set forth in three bulletins[9] which describe the methods of conducting these tests and also tests on constituent materials of concrete and plain concrete beams. In addition, there are in process of publication a number of bulletins giving the results of tests on reinforced concrete beams, columns, and floor slabs, concrete building blocks, etc. The Northampton laboratory was established because it is in the center of the Lehigh cement district, and therefore available for the mill sampling and testing of purchases of cement made by the Isthmian Canal Commission; it is also available for tests of cement purchased in the Lehigh district by the Supervising Architect and others. It is in a building, the outer walls of which are of cement plaster applied over metal lath nailed to studding. The partitions are of the same construction, and the floors and roof are of concrete throughout.