10/25/2022
People spend a lot of time choosing the right finishing for their countertops and making sure that their wood floor is of the exact right color and quality. But little thought is given to one of most important materials used in construction today: CONCRETE! The vital role it has played in the creation of the modern world we see today cannot be emphasized enough. And so, here are 5 facts that you probably didn’t know about this amazing material:
1. The Romans used concrete for the first time. It was a more crude version than what we have today and was made by mixing lime, volcanic ash and water and was called “pozzolana.” The Pantheon, one of the most famous Roman buildings in the world, features the largest dome made from this type of concrete.
2. Thomas Edison was really, really passionate about concrete. So much so that he filed 49 different patents related to concrete.
3. Concrete is fairly easy to make as it is comprised of water, sand, gravel and air. Contrary to popular belief, cement is different than concrete and a small amount of cement is needed to create concrete.
4. The Space Needle, built in 1962 for the World’s Fair, marks the largest continuous concrete pour in the United States. It was built stable enough to withstand earthquakes and is still going strong today.
5. Reinforced concrete is both waterproof and fireproof. Not only that, when compared to other materials, concrete has a very impressive compression strength. For example, wood has a PSI strength of about 1,000 on average. Concrete mixtures can range between 2,500 and 7,000 PSI strength. In some cases, it can get as strong as 20,000 PSI. That’s more than 2-20x stronger!
Needless to say, we love concrete, the most widely used material in the world, and all the amazing benefits it has to offer!
