Steel Sheeting and Sheet-Piling

The subject of steel sheeting and sheet-piling, for some time past, has been receiving a great deal of attention from both engineers and contractors, and the many advantages of these materials, in comparison with the types of timber construction customarily used, is readily appreciated. The general idea of metal piles is not new, but only within the last five or six years has any considerable progress been made in developing a form which was commercially practical and at the same time sufficiently economical to permit of its use except in special cases. The earlier forms were of cast-iron, and a very interesting paper, by Mr. Michael A. Borthwick, published in 1836 and reprinted in “Ordinary Foundations, ” by Charles Evan Fowler, M. Am. Soc. C. E., gives drawings of a number of these forms, and describes their use at considerable length.