Concrete
hideConcrete is a construction material composed of cement (commonly Portland cement) as well as other cementitious materials such as fly ash and slag cement, aggregate (generally a coarse aggregate such as gravel, limestone, or granite, plus a fine aggregate such as sand), water, and chemical admixtures. The word concrete comes from the Latin word "concretus" (meaning compact or condensed), the past participle of "concresco", from "com-" (together) and "cresco" (to grow).
Concrete solidifies and hardens after mixing with water and placement due to a chemical process known as hydration. The water reacts with the cement, which bonds the other components together, eventually creating a stone-like material. Concrete is used to make pavements, architectural structures, foundations, motorways/roads, bridges/overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and footings for gates, fences and poles.
Concrete is used more than any other man-made material in the world. As of 2006, about 7.5 cubic kilometres of concrete are made each year—more than one cubic metre for every person on Earth. Concrete powers a US $35-billion industry which employs more than two million workers in the United States alone.[citation needed] More than 55,000 miles (89,000 km) of highways in the United States are paved with this material. Reinforced concrete and prestressed concrete are the most widely used modern kinds of concrete functional extensions.
For more information about Concrete, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with concrete
Engineers help secure California highways and roads
Dec 15, 2009 |
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Sprays of dirt flew out of a soil box that held a retaining wall as it violently shook from a simulated 7.4 magnitude earthquake. The wall was put to test recently by engineers at the UC San Diego Englekirk ...
'Green' research results in new geopolymer concrete technology
Sep 29, 2009 |
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Dr. Erez Allouche, assistant professor of civil engineering at Louisiana Tech University and associate director of the Trenchless Technology Center, is conducting innovative research on geopolymer concrete ...
New research brings 'invisible' into view (w/ Video)
Oct 06, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A group of researchers at Missouri University of Science and Technology has developed a handheld camera that uses microwave signals to non-destructively peek inside materials and structures ...
Self-healing concrete for safer, more durable infrastructure (w/Video)
Apr 22, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- A concrete material developed at the University of Michigan can heal itself when it cracks. No human intervention is necessary--just water and carbon dioxide.
Green Ideas: Making Concrete from Rice
Jul 21, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Concrete accounts for about 5% of all human-related CO2 emissions. The fact that we use so much cement in building could mean that the issue becomes even more pronounced in the future. Bu ...
MIT slows concrete creep to a crawl
Jun 16, 2009 |
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MIT civil engineers have for the first time identified what causes the most frequently used building material on earth — concrete — to gradually deform, decreasing its durability and shortening the lifespan of infrastructures ...
Concrete experiment may eliminate storm drains
Jun 15, 2009 |
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Shoreview, Minn., is betting on a new "green" concrete paving method that lets rainwater pass right through the street surface to prevent damaging runoff.
Concrete columns with internal bars made of glass fibers can make a building sturdier
Jul 14, 2009 |
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Conventional means of internal reinforcement for concrete member in buildings involve steel bars. Yet for structures that function in harsh environments like coastal regions, or for structures that support ...
Strong, lightweight green material could replace concrete, but contains no cement
Nov 25, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Each year, coal-burning power plants, steel factories and similar facilities in the United States produce more than 125 million tons of waste, much of it fly ash and bottom ash left over from ...
A full-sized California-style home made of bamboo
Apr 08, 2009 |
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A new type of eco-friendly residential house made of bamboo now stands in Changsha, Hunan Province, China.
One-story masonry building survives strong jolts during seismic tests (w/Video)
Apr 14, 2009 |
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A one-story masonry structure survived two days of intense earthquake jolts after engineering researchers at the University of California, San Diego put it to the test. The series of tests, performed at UC ...
New design means cheaper, more sustainable construction
Mar 03, 2009 |
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People are always looking for ways to make something less expensive and more environmentally friendly - and a team of researchers from North Carolina State University has figured out how to do both of those ...
New building design withstands earthquake simulation (Video)
Feb 26, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Michigan simulated an off-the-charts earthquake in a laboratory to test their new technique for bracing high-rise concrete buildings. Their technique passed ...
How Solid Is Concrete's Carbon Footprint?
May 18, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Many scientists currently think at least 5 percent of humanity's carbon footprint comes from the concrete industry, both from energy use and the carbon dioxide (CO2) byproduct from the produc ...
Viscosity-Enhancing Nanomaterials May Double Service Life of Concrete
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Jan 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Engineers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are patenting a method that is expected to double the service life of concrete. The key, according to a new paper*, is a nano-sized ...
