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How Ancient Roman Concrete Was Able to Last Thousands of Years
- litoE 3y agohttps://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-how-ancient-roman-concrete-was-able-to-last-thousands-of-years https://www.sciencealert.com/we-finally-know-how-ancient-rom...
- MilStdJunkie 3y agoIt's a neat trick, I'd be curious to see how those "self-healing" carbonate networks do in a simulation under load. We need to be careful around any notions about Roman concrete being somehow superior; this is one of those intellectual traps that Western civilization - having had a somewhat overactive overachiever as a father - can sometimes fall into. It's such a romantic notion - ha! romantic. I kill me - that it's hard to not fall for it a little. It is, however, important to note that Roman structures were generally overbuilt, with >5 meter walls not uncommon on lower levels (with such thicknesses capable of loads a fraction of those of modern concrete). And of course there's survivorship bias; we might just be seeing the Roman equivalent of Cheyenne Mountain. Probably the main reason contemporary structures have such relatively short shelf life is the inclusion of ferrous materials; although they make a much stronger structure, that rust inside the concrete is basically an egg timer so far as long term is concerned.
- gnabgib 3y agoThe source[0] of this low quality article (referenced at the very end under "Science Advances") has been posted a few times [1][2][3][4] never more than a few points, all a year ago. [0]: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add1602?adobe_mc=MCMID%3D91196085935417329474603991401538090131%7CMCORGID%3D242B6472541199F70A4C98A6%2540AdobeOrg%7CTS%3D1672798947&_ga=2.4327667.1163520329.1672696164-1154345832.1638937760 https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.add1602?adobe_mc=... [1]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34292891 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34292891 [2]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34300071 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34300071 [3]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34315784 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34315784 [4]: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34404936 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34404936
- fxd123 3y agoI feel like I've seen this title every month for the last 20 years. And of course, the not-included subtitle is: romans didn't have cars, that weighted a lot
- egberts1 3y agoThe Romans didn't put modern iron rebars into their concrete because it wasn't practical nor long-lived? headduck