CONSTRUCTION OF COMMERCIAL ICE HOUSES.
The Earliest Forms of Ice Storage--Development of the Modern
Ice House--The Site and Its Requirements--Placing the
House--Survey--Foundations--Size of an Ice House--Details of
Construction for a House Embodying all Modern Improvements.
The earliest reference to the use of snow for cooling purposes occurs
in Holy Writ, and carries us back about three thousand years. History
records the custom which prevailed among the Romans, of storing snow
upon the mountains during the winter, which was made use of in the
summer for cooling beverages. Vaults, or pits, of circular form at the
top, and tapering to a point at the bottom, were scooped out in the
ground. The sides were lined, and the top thickly thatched with straw,
after being filled with snow, which was tightly packed. The doorway was
through the top. A modernized Roman snow cellar is shown in Figs. 44
and 45, which is taken from a cellar in use in Virginia. Its successor
in the transition to more modern designs is seen in Figs. 46 and 47.
Before ice was cut and stored for commercial uses in this country it
was secured, in many instances, by those who used it in their business.
Brewers, dairymen, butchers, and some physicians, had ice vaults, or
cellars, constructed on the Roman method. The first commercial ice
houses were built below the surface of the ground. Gradually they
emerged into the light and air, being only partly below the surface.
Brick, stone and wood were in use for building materials. Gradually,
experience leading the way, the ice dealer has evolved the modern ice
house.
THE MODERN ICE HOUSE represents many years of development, and has a
scientific, as well as a practical, value. Improvements may be expected
in this as in other branches of the ice business. The discoveries and
inquiries which scientific and practical men are continually making
in this direction are rapidly adding to our store of knowledge. Ice
houses, as now built and furnished, give few suggestions of their
original prototype.
[Illustration: Fig. 44. INTERIOR VIEW OF OLD STYLE ICE CELLAR.]
[Illustration: Fig. 45. ROOF OF SAME.]
[Illustration: Fig. 46. MODERN ICE PIT.]
[Illustration: Fig. 47. ITS CONSTRUCTION.]
THE SITE.--Many features are combined in a really good site for a
commercial or large ice house. Good ice in ample quantity, a porous
soil, easy accessibility both from the water and land, proximity to
market; also cheap and efficient transportation. Observance of the
first and last of these points is imperative. Where natural drainage is
lacking, the deficiency can be supplied, and access effected, in most
instances, if the other features warrant the expense.
In selecting a site, when the lay of the land will permit, place the
length of the house north and south, and arrange the incline and runs
with as few turns as practicable. The ice cakes require assistance
to keep them in motion on a crooked runway, and are constantly being
jammed and spalled. On a direct run of proper pitch the cakes will
travel without attention in freezing weather. On warm, sloppy days,
when the ice is soft, it will require assistance. The platforms for
winter shipments _via_ rail come in for attention in placing the
incline, which should be conveniently disposed for supplying them with
ice cakes as fast as they can be handled. System and dispatch are the
watchwords of the ice dealer while ice cutting is on.
SURVEY AND FOUNDATION.--The location and size of the house being
determined, a survey is made and all lines staked out. It is important
to have the foundations square and of the exact size, so that dimension
lumber and roof trusses will fit as designed. Levels, also, call for
attention, and the entire site should be brought to grade.
In the construction of foundations practice varies. They are partly
dependent upon local conditions and climatic influences. For large
houses, where the wastage is readily drained off and the sills are
comparatively dry, they are about as durable as the balance of the
building when placed directly on the ground.
The life of an ice house varies from so many causes, that no limit can
be given applicable to all cases. When the lumber is well selected and
the construction thorough, fifteen years of constant service will tell
plainly on the building. If repairs are made as often as required, its
term of usefulness is extended.
In warm climates, also for smaller houses, and for city supply depots,
foundations of stone or brick are employed to advantage. They should
be put in below frost, and extend about two feet above the surface.
[Illustration: FIG. 48. PLATE _A_. GROUND PLAN.]
DETAILS OF CONSTRUCTION.--In the building illustrated in plates _A_,
_B_, the sills are placed upon the ground. The house is divided into
four rooms, each forty feet wide in the clear, two hundred and fifty
feet deep, and forty feet high from sill to plate. The dimensions of
lumber required may be:
For outside sills, 8 × 10 inches, of such lengths as can most readily
be obtained.
Inside sills, 6 × 10.
Outside posts, 4 × 10 inches × 40 feet, set 12 feet apart.
Studding, 3 × 10 inches × 40 feet, with three feet centers.
Inside posts, 4 × 8 inches × 40 feet. Studding, 3 × 8 inches × 40 feet.
For outer circulating air space, the studding should be 2 × 8 inches ×
40 feet, with three feet centers.
For inner dead air spaces, 2 × 6 inches × 40 feet studding are placed
upright 12 feet apart, and horizontal cross studs 2 × 6 inches × 12
feet and three feet apart, are filled in between. This makes spaces 3 ×
12 feet on the inside of all the outer walls.
Plates on the outer walls are 3 × 10, and on inner walls 3 × 8 inches.
The main studding is lined on both sides with moisture-proof sheathing,
and boarded up with matched lumber. The inclosed space is filled with
non-conducting substance, usually sawdust or spent tan bark. The
filling must be dry and packed tightly.
The inner 2 × 6 studding is lined with sheathing, and then boarded up
with matched lumber. The joints of this studding should be made with
care and the lumber selected, no crooked stock being used. Sealing
up these joints with pitch adds to their efficiency, and also to the
durability of the lumber.
The outer studding is covered with weather boarding or ship siding.
Twelve inches at the bottom are left open and hinged covers swung over
them, which can be opened or closed as ventilation requires.
[Illustration: FIG. 49. PLATE _B_. CROSS SECTION.]
The interior walls have 4 × 8 inch × 40 feet posts, and 3 × 8 studding,
which are boarded on either side with matched lumber and filled.
The lower section of these walls, to a height of ten to fifteen feet,
is often left without filling, as it is more exposed to the ill effects
of moisture, and requires renewal before the upper portion. This is
more conveniently done where no filling is in the wall.
In the center of each room, on the end at which the ice cakes enter,
an opening is left extending from the sills to the plate. As the house
is filled with ice these openings are closed up. Boards are provided,
when building, which will fit into place and make the walls at these
openings, as near as practicable, the same as in other places. The
middle section being filled and planked by the inner and outer air
spaces.
At the opposite end of the rooms a similar opening is provided. For
closing it a slightly different plan is adopted. The outer section is
divided into doors five or six feet high, swung on hinges; these take
the place of the weather boarding. The interior wall is then arranged
the same as the one at the opposite end of the room. These doors can be
opened as the ice is coming out, and remain closed at other times.
Interior partition walls are sometimes of value. It is thought they add
to the durability of the house, and also effect a saving in wastage. In
the majority of houses they are dispensed with.
The construction of the roof will be found convenient and substantial,
if the plans shown in Plate _B_ are followed. Light-colored roofing
composition should be used, avoiding tar and gravel, or tin, as these
both attract and absorb the heat. Gable roofs, with good shingles laid
four or five inches to the weather, are the best roofs for ice houses.
They are cooler and more durable than most composition coverings.
The posts in Diagram _B_ can be extended and additional bracing put in.
The increased area and weight will require a proportional addition to
the strength of roof timbers. In the sizes of timbers for ice house
construction, noted in this chapter, consideration has been given to
durability, and while lighter material is employed, in some instances,
the houses are sooner racked and sprung out of place.
[Illustration: FIG. 50. PLATE _C_. SECTION OF ELEVATOR INCLINE AND
PLATFORM CONVEYORS.]
The ventilator on top is about twenty feet square and two feet high,
with slats on all sides. It will not be required on high gable roofs,
an opening in each gable end being sufficient to carry off the moisture
and heated air. The gable ends should be well braced against the wind.
At the center of roof trusses a floor is laid through the building,
dividing the space above the ice. Trap doors are cut through this
floor about seventy-five feet apart, four to six feet in size; these
doors are for ventilating the space between the ice and the floor, and
for dumping the sawdust through on top of the ice. It also affords a
convenient place in which the sawdust can be stored and dried, when the
houses are cleaned in the fall.
The outer circulating air-spaces are continued to the level of the loft
floor, discharging the air into the loft, where it finds vent through
the ventilator.
The eaves project about two feet, and are provided with ample gutters,
which are furnished with large conductor pipes every fifty feet. On the
side of the house where galleries are placed, the roof is extended to
cover them, or, if at a gable end, a special roof is provided.
Lightning rods are especially required on ice houses. Being often the
most prominent object in their locality, the electric fluid finds
its readiest path through them, and the escaping vapor and much
of the material used in their construction add to their exposure.
Copper strips, terminating in forked points, raised above the cone of
the roof, fifty or seventy-five feet apart each way, provide ample
protection. A line of points across the house should be connected, and
the copper strips extended, without any break or interruption, into
the ground. They should be buried several feet below the surface, and
if they terminate in a drain or other damp place, their efficiency is
increased.
[Illustration: FIG. 51. ELEVATION OF PLATFORM ALONG TRACKS FOR LOADING
CARS.]
[Illustration: FIG. 52. PLATE _D_. SECTION OF LOADING PLATFORMS.]
The floor of each room is graded slightly toward the center, and a
trench dug through the center from end to end. It should have a grade
toward the front of the house of about two inches in a rod. At the rear
of the house it may be nine inches square, gradually increasing to
double this size at the front of the house. Lateral drains, alternating
on either side, are desirable. If the surface drainage sets toward the
house, it should be intercepted and conducted away. After the trenches
are made they are filled with broken stone or cobbles about nine inches
deep at the start, and double the depth at the front of the house. The
side trenches may be six or eight inches wide, and filled about the
same depth.
On top of the stones, shavings, straw, reeds, or other porous filling,
is placed, to the level of the floor. The entire floor is now covered
with a layer of charcoal, or with coal ashes placed several inches
deep. On top are laid boards, not too closely placed, with length
toward the main drain. The spaces between the boards form channels to
conduct the waste water to the drains. Where the drains emerge from
the house they are trapped, to prevent any air currents from entering
through them, and collected into one or more main channels.
Plate _A_ illustrates the drainage plan, and a section view is
presented in Plate _B_. In porous soils, which can be depended on to
carry off the wastage, drains are not so necessary. For very large
houses, however, they should not be entirely neglected. In warm
climates and for city supply houses, cement floors are the best.
For loading cars for winter shipments, the platforms illustrated in
plates _A_, _C_ and _D_ are used for handling large quantities. The
ice cakes are elevated on the incline to runways (see _R_, in Plates
_A_, _C_ and _D_), and slide by gravity until landing on the platform.
An endless chain with cross-bars passes over the top of this platform,
carrying a cake before each bar. Where a railroad siding is placed
on both sides of the platform the work is expedited, as no delay is
occasioned by waiting for cars, a loaded train being pulled out and
empty cars run in on one track, while loading continues on the other.
[Illustration: FIG. 53. PLATE _E_. HOISTING GIGS AND REVERSING ENGINE.]
THE INCLINED WAYS shown in Plate _C_ are rigged with endless chains,
which carry cross-bars. In filling the house, the ice cakes are floated
to the foot of the incline, and fed on to it, one or two cakes at a
time in front of each bar, and thus is made to travel up the incline.
The cakes are passed through gates on to the runways at the various
levels desired, and pass over these, by gravity, into the ice house.
There are two methods of arranging the chains--called the over-shot
and the under-shot. The first named is mostly used, and is the one
shown in Plate _C_. The power required varies with the length of the
incline and with the style of the elevators, which are arranged for one
or two cakes on a bar. The smaller rigs are operated with an eight or
ten horse power engine, and the larger plants up to one hundred horse
power, where several elevators and platform conveyors are coupled on
to one engine. For filling smaller houses there are several methods in
use, a choice depending on the surroundings and size of the room or
house.
Next in importance to the endless chain system, are the jack grapples
by which large quantities of ice are annually stored. An incline is
used which is similar to the one shown on Plate _C_, but of lighter
build. These grapples are operated with horses, or with steam power,
when winding drums are employed. By using friction-winding drums, the
jack grapples readily accomplish the work of a single elevator, and are
less expensive. This plan is shown in Plate _E_. An ordinary threshing
engine furnishes ample power, and this method is rapidly growing in
favor. Where the ice house is placed at the edge of the water and there
is no room in which to place an incline, the gigs are very convenient.
When they are operated by means of a winding drum run by a reversing
engine, and large enough to handle four cakes at a time, they are very
efficient. Economy of power, simplicity and ease of management, are all
in their favor.
Small houses and cooling rooms are filled with the aid of hoisting
tongs.