§ Miss Rathboneasked the Parliamentary Secretary to the Ministry of Works and Buildings what was the composition of the technical committee set up by his Department to inquire into the possibility of the use of blast furnace cement; and were their findings unanimous?
§ Mr. Hicks:The technical committee was composed of: —
Director of Cement (Lord Wolmer), Chairman.
Dr. Lea, Building Research Station.
Mr. Jensen, Chairman of Tunnel Portland Cement Co., Ltd., and Chairman of Clyde Portland Cement Co., Ltd. (manufacturers of blast-furnace cement).
Controller of Building Materials.
The technical committee was not set up to inquire into the possibilities of the use of blast-furnace cement, but to report on action to be taken to enable machinery to produce 400,000 tons of blast-furnace cement a year to be erected and operating by the summer of 1941. The report was unanimous on all major questions; the necessary Treasury sanction has been obtained and the work is now in hand. There was disagreement as to the relative values of some of the available slags. This is a matter which can only be settled by further investigation, which is taking place.