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Why isn't Roman Concrete used today? [8:23]
YouTube ^ | October 4, 2024 | Garrett Ryan, Ph.D as toldinstone

Posted on 10/19/2024 7:18:00 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

Roman concrete redefined the limits of architecture. But could it be used to build a modern skyscraper?
Chapters:
0:00 The origins of concrete
1:25 Building with Roman concrete
2:49 Why the Romans didn't build skyscrapers
3:33 A hypothetical modern project
4:20 The "Insula" method
5:23 The "Colosseum" method
7:17 Possible, not comfortable
Why isn't Roman Concrete used today? | 8:23
toldinstone | 520K subscribers | 170,044 views | October 4, 2024
Why isn't Roman Concrete used today? | 8:23 | toldinstone | 520K subscribers | 170,044 views | October 4, 2024

(Excerpt) Read more at youtube.com ...


TOPICS: History; Science; Travel
KEYWORDS: concrete; godsgravesglyphs; romanconcrete; romanempire
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To: brownsfan
No matter how strongly built, transportation projects and major buildings have a limited useful life before replacement or costly renovations, repairs, and upgrades. Spending more than necessary for the sake of longer life is usually wasteful.

In practice, engineering is therefore commonly about using the least and cheapest materials in an economic manner, not using the best possible materials for the sake of permanence. If it was, many of us would be living in small, old houses made of solid stone and steel based on the needs and designs of decades ago, driving on obsolete and hopelessly crowded roads, and working and shopping in old buildings.

We would also be complaining that we did not have more of the new designs that engineers dreamed up but could not build except to a limited degree. As it is, the frequent demolition and dramatic new building seen in Las Vegas and Florida's theme parks is what modern engineering tends toward when it has the money. And, approve it or not, people like Las Vegas and Florida's theme parks.

21 posted on 10/19/2024 8:16:10 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: SunkenCiv

Fo future reference.


22 posted on 10/19/2024 8:36:16 AM PDT by matthew fuller (What we learned before, we will learn again... or something...)
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To: Red6

Worse, when you watch it until it dries.


23 posted on 10/19/2024 8:38:37 AM PDT by Eli Kopter
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To: SunkenCiv

Rebuilding roads and bridges every 4-6 years is good for their business.


24 posted on 10/19/2024 8:43:15 AM PDT by boycott
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To: dznutz

LOL. The bottom picture looks like the Dan Ryan expressway(I57) when it fell apart 20+ years ago during a brutal Chicago winter.


25 posted on 10/19/2024 8:46:01 AM PDT by EVO X ( )
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To: Rockingham

Your point could be much added to but there is much that could be said counter to it, something like the 9mm versus 45 arguments.


26 posted on 10/19/2024 8:46:34 AM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: KobraKai

I had thought that we really don’t know how to recreate Roman concrete, even today. And that it may require ingredients we don’t have in quantity


27 posted on 10/19/2024 8:53:28 AM PDT by desertsolitaire ( Lee Harvey Oswald and the Bands final performance)
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To: SunkenCiv

Roman concrete was used in San Mateo, California, in 1888 to build the Crystal Springs Dam. The dam survived both the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, despite its location about 300 yards (270 m) east of the San Andreas Fault. It was subject to severe shaking in both earthquakes.


28 posted on 10/19/2024 9:01:09 AM PDT by Thud
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To: Larry Lucido

It gets VERY interesting at 18:11.

I saw it in a theater when it was first released… no, that was ET. My bad.


29 posted on 10/19/2024 9:15:36 AM PDT by normbal (normbal. somewhere in socialist occupied America ‘tween MD and TN)
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To: SunkenCiv

That was really eeeenteresting. I was thinking the ‘secret’ of Roman concrete had been lost.


30 posted on 10/19/2024 9:47:01 AM PDT by Paal Gulli
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To: brownsfan

There is a way to make asphalt last longer, (I think it was a kind of infusion of rubber, not sure), but we don’t use it. I know it’s more expensive, but it would last, which probably explains why it’s not used.


Used in WI, but goes away fast after a winter season with the snowplows scraping it off - lasts maybe 2-3 winters. Gives a real nice ride, however, when its new.


31 posted on 10/19/2024 9:56:32 AM PDT by PIF (They came for me and mine ... now its your turn)
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To: SaxxonWoods

You got it!


32 posted on 10/19/2024 10:38:51 AM PDT by Rich21IE
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To: ansel12

Rereading my post, I wince at how easily it could be rephrased to make a similar point about human longevity. With more years behind me than in front, for people at least, I find myself firmly on the side of building to last and preserving what is old.


33 posted on 10/19/2024 10:57:46 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: EVO X

It seems that by the time they finish redoing a stretch of the expressways around here, it’s time to start over again where they began.


34 posted on 10/19/2024 11:16:32 AM PDT by dznutz
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To: Rockingham

I was thinking of how much of the past buildings, cars, tools, clothing etc, that we would like to return due to their longevity and quality.


35 posted on 10/19/2024 12:18:06 PM PDT by ansel12 ((NATO warrior under Reagan, and RA under Nixon, bemoaning the pro-Russians from Vietnam to Ukraine.))
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To: dznutz

Laying concrete roadways takes a lot of time, but it lasts along time unless there are construction errors. I’ve been on road trips where a 10 mile 2 lane road can be resurfaced with asphalt in a couple of weeks or so. One week to remove the old asphalt, reprocess it and lay the new new road.


36 posted on 10/19/2024 3:05:50 PM PDT by EVO X ( )
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To: P.O.E.

Can you pour Roman concrete in cold temps?


37 posted on 10/19/2024 9:37:20 PM PDT by virgil (The evil that men do lives after them )
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The other GGG topics added since the previous digest ping, alpha:

38 posted on 10/19/2024 10:09:10 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: 240B; 75thOVI; Adder; albertp; asgardshill; At the Window; bitt; blu; BradyLS; cajungirl; ...
This is now the Digest topic, mainly because I just realized I'd not pinged it. [blush] The list of Digest topics also accidentally includes this one, and is in an earlier reply.

39 posted on 10/19/2024 10:11:32 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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To: cymbeline

It’s not, but it has been studied.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_concrete#Modern_use


40 posted on 10/19/2024 10:13:49 PM PDT by SunkenCiv (Putin should skip ahead to where he kills himself in the bunker.)
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