[MassHistPres] industrial type smokestacks

[Dennis De Witt]

It seems that there isn't much on the preservation of these large weather-stressed and increasingly rare structures.

I thought I'd share one note which taught me more than I knew before about how they were constructed.  Nothing yet on the best preservation strategy though.

Virtually all brick industrial chimneys, and all that vented very hot gasses, contained a separate inner lining that actually carried the smoke.  It was always separated from the structural outer shell with some sort of air space, and was braced from the shell (but not connected to it) for support at designed intervals.  The separation was primarily to deal with expansion and contraction (when the chimney was in service venting hot gases).  But often the lining ended short of the top of the shell (by which time the gasses had cooled a little), and it was typical for there to be little or no connection between lining and shell at the top, even if lining did rise all the way to the top.  Moisture was not of much concern when the chimney was operating, since that kept the water and water vapor issues to a minimum.  

Dennis De Witt



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