Roman 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.

The Roman Empire is credited with the development of many great achievements. These achievements can still be seen in Rome and throughout the world. The Romans are well known for their aqueduct system and huge colosseum that are still standing today. These monumental building feats would not have been created without the use and knowledge of many different techniques. The use of cement was one of the technologies employed to build these large structures. The utilization of arches was another. Many people associate the idea of arches with the Romans. However, they were not the first people to utilize arches. This paper will concentrate on why the Romans were credited with developing the arch; what they did to improve previous cultures use of arches; and how the Romans used arches to create massive structures that are still standing today.

The reasoning for this concrete mixture being so popular is that it prevented cracks from spreading, thus being able to be used in different shapes for building, and it also provided an alternative resource other than stone, brick or wood. Dome and half oval shapes, pillars and symmetrical buildings were very popular within Roman architecture. Though many structures made are still standing today due to the Roman concrete, when that concrete was not invented yet many of the structures were easily damaged, therefor the Roman people built structures on top of the old structures, often reusing materials. The creation of very large buildings was common in this Era, such as the creation of the Colosseum. The colosseum was one of the most innovative and complex buildings in this time-period, not only was it massive and could hold around 50,000 people, there was also an underground labyrinth, hiding the gladiators and wild animals, only to be seen when pulled up, into the main arena on an early version of an elevator, consisting of a platform and ropes. The excitement with the colosseum does not end there, it could even be flooded to hold fake naval battles for entertainment purposes when necessary. Bathhouses were also an addition to Ancient Rome during the Pax Romana era, they were very common and were not only for cleaning oneself, but for socialization, exercise and entertainment

In the field of architecture and engineering , the Romans are well known for their creative engineering achievements such as: the Roman highways that constituted extended road networks that play major role in travel, trade, and maintaining control over the Empire’s vast regions and facilitating the rapid deployment of armies when needed. Also, the aqueducts that consisted of waterways, tunnels and pipelines that bring water from distant mountains and rivers into cities and towns to provide water to the cities’ fountains, public baths , houses of wealthy and to power watermills and other machines. Moreover, Roman contributed a lot to building technology by inventing the Concrete which allowed the construction of impacted bridges and buildings with architectural designs such as castles and cathedrals. Romans also invented the watermill that were widely used in Europe and were the first to use advanced technology in mining operations. In the field of literature, the Romans genirally were the

The achievements and contributions of ancient Romans are extensively present in many aspects of modern day society. The impact that Roman inventions have in areas like science, philosophy, politics, military strategy, architecture, engineering, law or art is broad and full of detail. The aim of this paper is to cover a little portion of the Roman heritage. Through this pages the author will expose some of the Roman contributions to civil engineering and architecture. The paper intention is to illustrate how this advancements helped and contributed to enhance the life of Roman society. With this purpose in mind the author selected the Segovia aqueduct and the road system developed by romans as illustrative examples for his research.

Ancient Romans helped create roads, concrete, aqueducts, bridges and stadiums. Roads were used to move military and helped with trade. Aqueducts transported fresh water to their cities. Bridges and stadiums used arches to help support them. Ancient Romans were influenced

One of the greatest technological changes that the Romans came up with was concrete. Concrete served as many proposes in Ancient Rome, just as it does today. Concrete was used to build aqueduct as previously stated, but also it was used to build house, bathhouses, and markets, really any structure in Rome used concrete. The Pantheon was then a Roman temple which still is standing and is used today as a church more than two thousand years later. Researchers had spent years to try to understand how these structures had been standing for so long compared to modern day concrete that does not last anywhere close to that amount of time. They figured out that it had been the volcanic ash they would use in their concrete mix, mixed with the sea

We use this structure as entertainment. The Roman’s also contributed to creating the arches and domes. In Legacy of the Roman Empire, “Roman baths and other public buildings often had great arched vaults. The Pantheon, a magnificent temple that still stands in Rome, is famous for its huge dome. The Romans used concrete to help them build much bigger arches than anyone had attempted before,”.

Rome has had many great contributions to today's society. I believe the biggest invention Rome created with was within their architecture. They created many beautiful things including archways, columns, buildings, and bridges. Their construction technique was exquisite. They created a big portion of their beautiful creations by using concrete. They created concrete from scratch using volcanic ash. I find it very interesting that they figured out how to make something as strong as concrete by themselves. It is a true example of how amazing the human mind can be, and how crucial Rome's contributions have been to our success today.

The Roman Pantheon is a monumental building that has clearly influenced many forms of architecture throughout history. The entire building has been constructed of concrete and at the time in history, is an extraordinary feat to accomplish with its dome form with no real interior structural support. Although the Pantheon has influenced many buildings, it is not particularly an eye pleasing building to view compared to the pavilion in an English Garden from the 18th Century. For example, the exterior of the Pantheon consists of an octastyle portico, backed against a tall, square attic block connecting the cylindrical walls and the portico. This combination of different forms and shapes coming together does not create a pleasing connection or

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.

The aqueducts also gave birth to another landmark in building of early mega-structures: the arches. Through use of arches, aqueducts could be made taller and longer without using a lot of building materials. The aqueducts enabled expansion of Rome and helped keep the city clean. Through aqueducts the common Roman citizen had access to running water, a quantum leap in the civic amenities as per many experts.

Roman arches are of great importance, not only to Rome but to the world as a whole. The arch was not invented by the Romans, as arches have been used in cultures far predating the Romans; however, the Romans did find a way to perfect the arch. Before the Romans, arches were used to support relatively small amounts of weight, such as in storerooms, these arches limited the scale of buildings they supported. The Romans however used arches to support immense amounts of weight. The reason for the arches newfound strength lies not with the shape of the arch, but within the material used to construct it. Through the invention of concrete, Romans were able to construct arches that would hold the weight of structures such as the aqueduct, which provided water to entire cities. Soon, several cultures adopted the Roman arch to support their own

One of Roman Engineering’s greatest accomplishments was the use of the arch. The arch shape is very strong, able to support great amounts of weight. This allowed Romans to build massive structures that would stand for many centuries. The Romans adapted the arch design to fit many purposes. The barrel vault is merely an elongated arch; this was used for buildings tombs and sewers. The dome is an adaptation of the arch. The dome is an arch revolved on its vertical axis. The best example of the dome in ancient Rome is the Pantheon. The basic arch was used in almost every large building in Rome. Romans also used

As the saying goes “Rome wasn’t built in a day,” however long it took to build the capital, the days, months, years, centuries of work can be viewed as a long lasting landmark which paved the way for new and challenging architecture to come (How Roman architecture influenced modern architecture [sa]). According to Tony Rook (2013: [sp] ch.2) the typical Roman temple shows the Etruscan tradition combined with the Greek one. Although some of their premature concepts were acquired from the ancient Greeks and Egyptians, Roman architects transformed the body of architecture for all time to come, offering buildings and structures that has never been before, along the side of public buildings and infrastructure that could be used by