8 Facts About Concrete that Every Mason Should Know
8 Facts About Concrete that Every Mason Should Know
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Over 20 billion tons of concrete are used in construction every year!
The term “concrete” is, as you may have guessed, Latin in origin. The Romans named the material after the word “concretus,” meaning “to grow together.”
Ancient Romans pioneered large-scale rustic concrete architecture with structures like the Pantheon, which remains the world’s largest unsupported concrete dome.
Reinforced concrete architecture is more sturdy than steel-framed buildings due to the higher rigidity of concrete – it won’t bend nearly as much in wind or an earthquake.
The world’s largest concrete structure is China’s Three Gorges Dam along the Yangtze River. It took 12 years and about 565 million cubic feet of concrete to fully construct this dam!
China is responsible for half the world’s overall concrete usage each year. The country used more between 2011 and 2013 than the United States used in the entire 20th century!
During World War II, the British built 15-foot-diameter concrete “ears” – vertical bowl-like structures with a large, spherical indentation. They were placed along the coastline to pick up the sound of approaching enemy planes from as far as 30 miles away. Many still remain intact today!
Under normal conditions, concrete is actually stronger a decade after pouring than it originally was! Calcium conversions on a chemical level and concrete’s tendency to absorb CO2 both contribute to this natural strengthening.
