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Concrete stresses and strengths for gravity loading in a Roman theatre
Published in Peter J. Moss, Rajesh P. Dhakal, Progress in Mechanics of Structures and Materials, 2020
The materials were chosen to give as close as a match as possible to the materials usedby the Romans. Unlike modern concrete, Roman concrete consisted of three components: lime, pozzolan, and aggregate. They are discussed as follows.
Building materials and construction techniques of monuments
Published in George G. Penelis, Gregory G. Penelis, Structural Restoration of Masonry Monuments, 2020
George G. Penelis, Gregory G. Penelis
It is the authors’ opinion that for masonry construction, the most critical milestones were first the introduction of the burnt bricks combined with the lime mortars (4th millennium B.C.) and second the Roman concrete (1st century B.C.). Both of them gave the freedom for constructing easily at a relatively low cost desirable forms of buildings by setting of mortar or concrete on site. Setting and strengthening of a lime mortar take place when exposed to the atmosphere for a long period of time, resulting in relatively low strength at mortar joints. Setting and strengthening of the Roman concrete take place in the presence of water, and its strength and durability are much higher than the first ones (hydraulic mortars). Therefore, the Roman concrete could be used for thick walls and piers, even in water (e.g. piers of bridges, harbour works etc.) for huge buildings and civil works of imposing dimensions. In this respect, it may be considered that Roman concrete caused a real revolution in construction and, therefore, may be characterised as the ancestor of modern concrete. It should also be noted that this type of concrete dominated all over the Roman Empire and later over the Byzantine and Ottoman Empires in the construction of big projects.
ce 500
Published in Paul Marsden, Digital Quality Management in Construction, 2019
He praised the Roman concrete called pozzolana, after the type of volcanic ash mixed with lime and rubble, as it ‘not only lends strength to buildings’ but ‘even when piers of it are constructed in the sea, they set hard under water’.
Assessment of the durability and environmental impact of seawater-activated portlandite-calcined clay binder
Published in Journal of Sustainable Cement-Based Materials, 2023
Adhora Tahsin, Salman Siddique, Warda Ashraf, Melanie Sattler
Ancient Roman concrete stands as a remarkable example of an extremely durable material that has endured exposure to seawater for over two millennia. It was produced using a mixture of seawater, volcanic ash, and slaked lime [11–14]. It offers a pathway to producing highly durable concrete with low environmental impacts [15,16], as the structures they built lasted for centuries; required much less energy to produce than modern OPC; and utilized seawater, which could mitigate our freshwater shortage [15,16]. Accordingly, in the past few years, several attempts have been made to develop novel cementitious materials by mimicking the ancient Roman concrete [16–18], but they were limited by the lack of raw materials such as coal fly ash and slag [19]. A previous study observed that combining calcined clay and portlandite with seawater can reproduce the microstructural phases of ancient Roman concrete while also providing reasonable compressive strength of around 17 MPa after 28 days of curing in seawater [20]. Seawater acts as an activator in this system and leads to faster hydration and superior strength compared to other lime-pozzolan binders [20]. This binder system was named ‘Recreated Roman Cement/Concrete’ or ‘RRC’ [20].