Elusive recipe (Roman concrete)

[ATCclears]

One of the fascinating mysteries of Ancient Rome is the impressive longevity of some of their concrete harbour structures. Battered by sea waves for 2,000 years, these things are still around while our modern concoctions erode over mere decades.

Why 2,000 Year-Old Roman Concrete Is So Much Better Than What We Produce Today

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[Papa]

Cool

 

[Hybrid Slave]

Very interesting. Thanks. I'm a concrete mason from Los Angeles, myself, and I've noticed that concrete from even just the early 1900s in down town LA is more durable than much of the stuff I poured twenty years ago.

Like the Romans though, our answer is chemical additives. The cost would probably be way too high to duplicate what the Romans did, and would very likely have some heavy ecologic and environmental impact.

I've had this kooky conspiracy theory for years, after seeing close up pictures (an opportunity no longer available to the general public) of the Egyptian pyramids. Those blocks that all the main stream archaeologists say are cut stone sure look like they have a lot of aggregate imbedded in the eroded surface.

The big mystery has always been, "how did they move those blocks?". My theory has been that they didn't. I believe that they formed up the blocks with lumber (just like today), and had two long lines of workers; one line transporting vessels of dry pre-mix, and the other transporting vessels of water, both pouring the contents into the form while a number of workers agitated the mix with some kind of tool.

Like I said, it's just a kooky conspiracy theory. I mean, if it was so, it would capsize much of our history and create much turmoil in the academic community, not to mention civilization itself. Would an entire community of academians actually create a cover up like that? Hmmmmm..
Thanks again for the interesting article.

 

[Andy54Hawken]

Neat article ... thanks for the link.
Andy