Concrete Essay

When reading of the concrete that the ancient Romans used, and learning of their unique mixture of volcanic ash and slaked lime (“pozzolana”) I find it most interesting that this concrete still proves to be standing in some places today! It is said to be less sturdy than what we use here in America (Andrews, 2012) but no doubt it gave modern civilization the ingenuity to create what we use today.

Concrete can be looked at as a material made from sand, gravel and cement. According to Lambert (2002), “the first major concrete users were the Egyptians in around 2,500 BC and the Romans from around 300 BC”. Roman concrete like modern concrete was an artificial building material made up of aggregate, binding agent and water. Aggregate could be gravel, chunks of stone, chunks of rubble, broken bricks, etc. Binding agent could be mud , lime or gypsum, mixed with rubbles stone. The Roman added pozzolona, a special volcanic dust found in central Italy (Archserve, n.d). The addition of pozzolona made the bond with the aggregate far stronger than what was traditionally being used. This development drastically changed and shaped construction work in the life of Rome.

Concrete was a recent invention which the Romans were still learning how to use. Not knowing exactly how strong the substance was the Romans

Many people credit the Roman aqueducts still standing more than 2100 years later to cement; a powdery substance made with calcined lime and clay. It is mixed with water to form mortar or mixed with sand, gravel, and water to make concrete.

“Roman concrete (opus caementicium), like modern concrete, is an artificial building material composed of an aggregate, a binding agent, and water. Aggregate is essentially a filler, such as gravel, chunks of stone and rubble, broken bricks, etc. Binding agent is a substance which is mixed with the aggregate wet (water added) and solidifies when it dries, or "sets." Many materials, even mud, can be a binding agent, and used to make, what we generally call, mortar. Historically lime or gypsum, mixed with rubble stones, have been used as binding agents in making a strong mortar” (Roman Concrete).

Cement is made from a mixture of limestone, sandstone, ash, chalk, iron, and clay. Researchers discovered the Roman concrete contained aluminum tobermorite, a rare mineral that adds extra strength. Cement was used by plebeians because they were the farmers, craftsmen, laborers, and soldiers of ancient Rome.

The Romans didn’t invent concrete however, it was how they mixed and what material they used in their concrete, that made it special. They used a material called pozzolana as the basis for the mixture. This chocolate colored material was essentially the ashes originating from volcanoes found near Greek settlements (Kamm, n.d.). With this new

structures that would last for a very long time. Roman architects learned that using concrete as a filling

First, concrete durable. Concrete is something that will outlive other products up to three times over (“What Makes…”). In addition to durability, concrete is efficient. Concrete can be made with byproducts from power plants, and other aspects of manufacturing. Concrete is primarily made up limestone, the most abundant material on Earth. Above all of this concrete can be recycled. Concrete can be crushed and recycled into another structure or product, reducing the need to mine the limestone for production. Concrete also allows water to pass through which reduces the chance of flash flooding, erosion, and water table depletion as compared to other materials. This is a major check in the sustainability of concrete; the conservation of soil, landscape and ecosystems. Concrete is a very green option when it comes to building

The Development of Concrete

During an era of the Roman Empire, the use of concrete was an extraordinary achievement. However, the application

Roman building using cement (Labate, 2016) dates from the third century BCE. Cement was used with crushed bricks and rock to produce concrete used for building. The cement was made from volcanic dust (pozzolana), lime (calcium oxide) or gypsum (calcium sulphate). This mixture reacts when mixed with water, binding the concrete into a permanent, strong, impermeable structure. The Roman engineers discovered that the use of cement in their mortar dramatically increased its strength. Special types of cement were discovered and used for under-water structures like harbors and bridge piers. Roman workmen perfected the skill of building with concrete, some of which, like the Parthenon, are still intact and beautiful to this day. During the first century CE, Rome had a “Concrete Revolution”, many concrete buildings being built as skill developed.

3. The ancient Roman invented concrete.. Ancient Romans used a mixture that included lime and volcanic sand and thus produced an intensely durably material.

This material was concrete. Romans created a concrete mixture consisting of several materials such as lime and volcanic sand. The Romans had created a very strong and durable type of concrete. This substance combined with the design of the arch created a very strong building. Walls could also be built from the concrete. Along with bricks concrete would be place with in the wall to hold the bricks together making a more ridged structure. Aqueducts where then created which provided water to the cities. This made architects interested in the material and later on lead to larger and different structures. Soon several cultures adopted the Roman arch. Other cultures adapted the Roman arch and developed it further. Experimentation lead cultures to design pointed, scalloped, and horseshoe arches to symbolize mosques and palaces. The Roman arch was a very important solution to a very important issue of construction. The Roman arch also caused the Romans themselves to make further architectural developments. They combined arches to form ceilings or roofs called

Although our reading states "the indubitably Roman invention of concrete." (Kamm, 2009), concrete was used on a smaller scale for thousands of years before the Romans emerged. The earliest records of cement being used dates to the Nabateans, the likely builders of Petra, with evidence showing use as early as 6500 BCE (Gromicko