We Finally Know How Ancient Roman Concrete Was Able to Last Thousands of Years

01 February 2024
By MICHELLE STARR

The ancient Romans were masters of building and engineering, perhaps most famously represented by the aqueducts. And those still functional marvels rely on a unique construction material: pozzolanic concrete, a spectacularly durable concrete that gave Roman structures their incredible strength.

Even today, one of their structures – the Pantheon, still intact and nearly 2,000 years old – holds the record for the world’s largest dome of unreinforced concrete.

Read more:

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-how-ancient-roman-concrete-was-able-to-last-thousands-of-years

Witty Rejoinder said:

We Finally Know How Ancient Roman Concrete Was Able to Last Thousands of Years

01 February 2024
By MICHELLE STARR

The ancient Romans were masters of building and engineering, perhaps most famously represented by the aqueducts. And those still functional marvels rely on a unique construction material: pozzolanic concrete, a spectacularly durable concrete that gave Roman structures their incredible strength.

Even today, one of their structures – the Pantheon, still intact and nearly 2,000 years old – holds the record for the world’s largest dome of unreinforced concrete.

Read more:

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-how-ancient-roman-concrete-was-able-to-last-thousands-of-years

QI.

Shame about the hype.

Witty Rejoinder said:

We Finally Know How Ancient Roman Concrete Was Able to Last Thousands of Years

01 February 2024
By MICHELLE STARR

The ancient Romans were masters of building and engineering, perhaps most famously represented by the aqueducts. And those still functional marvels rely on a unique construction material: pozzolanic concrete, a spectacularly durable concrete that gave Roman structures their incredible strength.

Even today, one of their structures – the Pantheon, still intact and nearly 2,000 years old – holds the record for the world’s largest dome of unreinforced concrete.

Read more:

https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-how-ancient-roman-concrete-was-able-to-last-thousands-of-years

Wasn’t it volcanic ash?

Would there be volcanic ash deposits in Australia that could be used for concrete?

Asking for a friend

wookiemeister said:

Would there be volcanic ash deposits in Australia that could be used for concrete?

Asking for a friend

Tell your friend there is no evidence of primitive concrete making in Australia.

wookiemeister said:

Would there be volcanic ash deposits in Australia that could be used for concrete?

Asking for a friend

There’s a pair of little islands of to our East that are practically made out of the stuff.

(and that have been using it to make concrete for many years)

The Rev Dodgson said:

wookiemeister said:

Would there be volcanic ash deposits in Australia that could be used for concrete?

Asking for a friend

There’s a pair of little islands of to our East that are practically made out of the stuff.

(and that have been using it to make concrete for many years)

Here, have another f.

f

Use it as you see fit.

wookiemeister said:

Would there be volcanic ash deposits in Australia that could be used for concrete?

Asking for a friend

Ancient ones, no doubt. But why not buy the fresh stuff from say Tonga or The Philippines and help out our near neighbours through trade and commerce?

Just had a thought – it would be great if we could build roads out of this stuff.

party_pants said:

Just had a thought – it would be great if we could build roads out of this stuff.

As it turns out, I sometimes do build roads out of crushed concrete.

One of the recycling places here takes in skip bins full of builders waste, like timber, plastic, bricks, concrete, and other miscellaneous stuff that are in skip bins, and they sort through it. The bricks and concrete are sent to the crusher plant and come back as road base, which I use and make roads out of.

The local tip charges are ridiculously expensive, so some people just dump their stuff outside the gate.

Kingy said:

party_pants said:

Just had a thought – it would be great if we could build roads out of this stuff.

As it turns out, I sometimes do build roads out of crushed concrete.

One of the recycling places here takes in skip bins full of builders waste, like timber, plastic, bricks, concrete, and other miscellaneous stuff that are in skip bins, and they sort through it. The bricks and concrete are sent to the crusher plant and come back as road base, which I use and make roads out of.

The local tip charges are ridiculously expensive, so some people just dump their stuff outside the gate.

If we could use the rubble and use the volcanic ash and quicklime mix as a binder we might be on to something. Use that as the road base and put a thickish layer of asphalt on top as the road surface.

my father’s ethmoid cancer was said to have been cause by crushing coral to make an airstrip in WW2.

the conversation made me think of this again even though his cancer was rare and unlikely.

wookiemeister said:

Would there be volcanic ash deposits in Australia that could be used for concrete?

Asking for a friend

None recent.