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 |
not rated yet |
0
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 ...
Search results for concrete
Hourly employees happier than salaried
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Dec 10, 2009 |
4 / 5 (1) |
0
People paid by the hour exhibit a stronger relationship between income and happiness, according to a study published in the current issue of Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin (PSPB), the official journal of the So ...
How to Set Achievable Wellness Goals
Dec 11, 2009 |
3.5 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Small decisions, made throughout the day, are reflected in overall health and wellness. These decisions help achieve countless goals every day. Wellness goals can be as small as “I’m going to get eight hours ...
Report: Arizonans make good neighbors, but not good citizens
Other Sciences / Social Sciences
Dec 16, 2009 |
3 / 5 (2) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- Polls consistently show that Arizonans take pride in their state, enjoy their quality of life, and like and trust their neighbors. Yet despite such positive outlooks, the percentage of Arizona citizens who ...
Samoan Tsunami wave was 46 feet high
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 04, 2009 |
4.7 / 5 (7) |
0
(AP) -- The tsunami that killed more than 200 people in the Samoan islands and Tonga earlier this year towered up to 46 feet (14 meters) high - more then twice as tall as most of the buildings it slammed into, scientists ...
Going vertical: Fleeing tsunamis by moving up, not out
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 14, 2009 |
4.8 / 5 (4) |
0
(PhysOrg.com) -- In the minutes after a strong earthquake struck offshore of the Indonesian city of Padang on Sept. 30, fears of a tsunami prompted hundreds of thousands of residents to evacuate the coastal ...
Government overseas aid is no bar to individual giving
Dec 13, 2009 |
2 / 5 (1) |
0
Overseas development charities are highly dependent on donations from individuals. In this new study, researchers from the Universities of Southampton, Oxford and Cass Business School examined how the level of donations to ...
New curriculum mixes nanotechnology and skiing (w/ Video)
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Dec 14, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
Nanotechnology seems a daunting subject, but for mechanical engineering students at the University of Nevada, Reno, it has taken on a real world approach - in Ski Building 101.
Waterpipe tobacco smokers inhale same toxicants as cigarette smokers
Dec 02, 2009 |
not rated yet |
1
Smoking tobacco through a waterpipe exposes the user to the same toxicants - carbon monoxide and nicotine - as puffing on a cigarette, which could lead to nicotine addiction and heart disease, according to a study led by ...
Ecosystem, vegetation affect intensity of urban heat island effect
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Dec 15, 2009 |
5 / 5 (2) |
0
NASA researchers studying urban landscapes have found that the intensity of the "heat island" created by a city depends on the ecosystem it replaced and on the regional climate. Urban areas developed in arid and semi-arid ...
Clinical trials launched for treating most aggressive brain tumor with personalized cell vaccines
Nov 30, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
The University of Navarra Hospital (Spain) has launched a series of clinical trials in order to assess the efficacy of an immunotherapy treatment. This approach involves the application of personalised vaccines —produced ...
List of search results for concrete
