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posted by martyb on Tuesday October 17 2017, @09:31AM   Printer-friendly
from the Roman-concrete-lasts-2000-years...-why-not-our-roads? dept.

The story of concrete is so ancient that we don't even know when and where it begins. It is a story of discovery, experimentation, and mystery. Emperors and kings became legends for erecting great concrete structures, some of which are still a mystery to engineers today. Many of history's most skilled architects found inspiration in slabs of the gray building material. Common bricklayers advanced the technology, and a con man played a crucial role in the development of concrete recipes.

Today, the world is literally filled with concrete, from roads and sidewalks to bridges and dams. The word itself has become a synonym for something that is real and tangible. Press your handprints into the sidewalk and sign your name to history. This is the story of concrete.

[...] Let's get this out of the way right here: cement and concrete are not the same thing. Cement, a mixture of powdered limestone and clay, is an ingredient in concrete along with water, sand, and gravel.

So ubiquitous and fundamental, that nobody thinks about it. Its inventor is unknown, but that person changed history.

Related: Volcanic Rocks Resembling Roman Concrete Explain Record Uplift in Italian Caldera
Roman Concrete Explained


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  • (Score: 3, Funny) by realDonaldTrump on Tuesday October 17 2017, @01:01PM

    by realDonaldTrump (6614) on Tuesday October 17 2017, @01:01PM (#583436) Homepage Journal

    Being a builder is like being flat-chested. A person who is very flat-chested is very hard to be a 10. And a person who is a builder has a very hard time getting noticed. A very hard time getting respect. My whole life really has been a "no" and I fought through it. It has not been easy for me. It has not been easy for me. I started off in Brooklyn. My father gave me a small loan of a million dollars. I came into Manhattan and I had to pay him back, and I had to pay him back with interest. Let me tell you, a million dollars isn't very much compared to what I built. I mean, I built one of the great companies. My father made me president of his company. I came into Manhattan, I started buying up properties, and I did great. I did a good job. But I was always told that would never work. In Manhattan we have the UN. The cheap 12-inch square marble tiles behind the speaker at the UN always bothered me. UGLY, UGLY TILES! I will replace them with beautiful large marble slabs if they ask me. But they won't ask. It's like I don't exist. To them I'm a nothing. I'm a fantastic builder but they ignore me. I have a great environmental record. I have a record that, in my opinion, everybody would love. But it's very hard to get my message out.

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