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Supply Cement Interest: The resulting cement, produced from the formerly discarded grappiers, was of much higher quality than that obtained from the unsintered material. This fact was firmly established by the English cement manufacturer L. C. Johnson in 1845, and the term "portland cement" has since been applied solely to the cement made from the sintered material. This period marks the real beginning of the portland cement industry.
From time to time throughout the early history of the United States, circumstances seemed to belie even these expectations. In George Washington's lifetime separatist movements in the trans-Allegheny West convinced him that it was necessary through transportation "to supply cement interest the cement of interest to bind all parts of the Union together by indissoluble bonds." In 1827 when Albert Gallatin, in the negotiations with the British over the Oregon country in the Pacific Northwest, strove to keep the area out of a monarchical system, he could hardly hope for its incorporation into the United States. All he could anticipate was a sister but independent republic.
The production of portland cement is a major industry in the United States, increasing from 8 million barrels (1.4 million metric tons) in 1900 —when it trailed natural cement slightly in output—to almost 400 million barrels (68.4 million metric tons) annually. (A 376-pound, or 171-kg, barrel is the standard unit of weight for hydraulic cement in the United States, even though no cement, except for export, is now shipped in barrels. The 94-pound, or 42.7-kg, bag now in general use contains one fourth of a barrel.) The leading cement-producing countries are the United States, the USSR, West Germany, Japan, and France. |
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