Concrete

:This article is about the construction material. For the philosophical term, see Concrete (philosophy). For the comic book, see Concrete (comics). For the film see Concrete (film).

History

The Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as cement in their concretes. The Egyptians used lime and gypsum cement. In the Roman Empire cements made from pozzolanic ash and an aggregate made from pumice were used to make a concrete very similar to modern portland cement concrete. In 1756, British engineer John Smeaton pioneered the use of portland cement in concrete, and used pebbles and powdered brick as aggregate. In the modern day, the use of recycled/reused materials as concrete ingredients are gaining popularity due to increasingly stringent environmental legislation. The most conspicuous of these are pulverized fuel ash (pfa), recycled from the ash by-products of coal power plants. This has a significant impact in reducing the amount of quarrying and the ever attenuating landfill space.

Related Topics:
Assyrians - Babylonian - Clay - Cement - Egyptian - Lime - Gypsum - Roman Empire - Pozzolanic ash - Pumice - 1756 - British - John Smeaton

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