[Robert A Cook PE]

But the original 1910-1913 concrete poured by the American “rookies” of the concrete world is doing just fine! (The Panama Canal was one of the first major concrete works done in modern steel and reinforcing bars!)

[thackney]

The first use of iron-reinforced concrete was by the French builder François Coignet in Paris in the 1850s.

http://www.britannica.com/biography/Francois-Coignet

[tiki]

I have seen them use cardboard for reinforcement in Mexico and they always use too much sand.