Concrete Progress

Concrete progress deals with the technology that made concrete the most widely used building material in the world in the course of the past hundred years, and the most indispensable for the global socio-economic development in the new millennium. It offers an insight into many people's dedicated, exploratory concrete research, and into strategic planning and management of research and its transfer to engineering practice. This book is introduced by retrospectively highlighting the international history of concrete technology and uses.

This book reviews the fundamental causes and spectrum effects of ASR. It considers he advances that have been made in our understanding of this problem throughout the world.

Concrete will be the key material for Mankind to create the built environment of the next millennium. The requirements of this infrastructure will be both demanding, in terms of technical performance and economy, and yet be greatly varied, from architectural masterpieces to the simplest of utilities.Concrete durability and repair technology forms the Proceedings of the three day International Conference held during the Congress, Creating with Concrete, 6-10 September 1999, organised by the Concrete technology Unit, University of Dundee.

Concrete: We use it for our buildings, bridges, dams, and roads. We walk on it, drive on it, and many of us live and work within its walls. But very few of us know what it is. We take for granted this ubiquitous substance, which both literally and figuratively comprises much of modern civilization's constructed environment; yet the story of its creation and development features a cast of fascinating characters and remarkable historical episodes. Featuring a new epilogue on the Surfside condominium collapse and the current state of infrastructure in America, this book delves into this history, opening readers' eyes at every turn. In a lively narrative peppered with intriguing details, author Robert Courland describes how some of the most famous personalities of history became involved in the development and use of concrete-including King Herod the Great of Judea, the Roman emperor Hadrian, Thomas Edison (who once owned the largest concrete cement plant in the world), and architect Frank Lloyd Wright. Courland points to recent archaeological evidence suggesting that the discovery of concrete directly led to the Neolithic Revolution and the rise of the earliest civilizations. Much later, the Romans reached extraordinarily high standards for concrete production, showcasing their achievement in iconic buildings like the Coliseum and the Pantheon. Amazingly, with the fall of the Roman Empire, the secrets of concrete manufacturing were lost for over a millennium. The author explains that when concrete was rediscovered in the late eighteenth century it was initially viewed as an interesting novelty or, at best, a specialized building material suitable only for a narrow range of applications. It was only toward the end of the nineteenth century that the use of concrete exploded. During this rapid expansion, industry lobbyists tried to disguise the fact that modern concrete had certain defects and critical shortcomings. It is now recognized that modern concrete, unlike its Roman predecessor, gradually disintegrates with age. Compounding this problem is another distressing fact: the manufacture of concrete cement is a major contributor to global warming. Concrete Planet is filled with incredible stories, fascinating characters, surprising facts, and an array of intriguing insights into the building material that forms the basis of the infrastructure on which we depend.

Developments in the Formulation and Reinforcement of Concrete, Second Edition, presents the latest developments on topics covered in the first edition. In addition, it includes new chapters on supplementary cementitious materials, mass concrete, the sustainably of concrete, service life prediction, limestone cements, the corrosion of steel in concrete, alkali-aggregate reactions, and concrete as a multiscale material. The book's chapters introduce the reader to some of the most important issues facing today's concrete industry. With its distinguished editor and international team of contributors, users will find this to be a must-have reference for civil and structural engineers. Summarizes a wealth of recent research on structural concrete, including material microstructure, concrete types, and variation and construction techniques Emphasizes concrete mixture design and applications in civil and structural engineering Reviews modern concrete materials and novel construction systems, such as the precast industry and structures requiring high-performance concrete

The building explosion during the years 1945-1960 will inevitably lead to increased demolition in the next decades since the lifetime distribution of structures no longer fulfills its functional social requirements in an acceptable way. In the building period mentioned there was a great increase in reinforced and prestressed concrete construction. Consequently there is now more and more concrete to be demolished. Increasingly severe demands will be made upon demolition technology, including the demand for human- and environment-friendly techniques. On the other hand, the possibility of disposing of debris by dumping is steadily diminishing, especially close to major cities and generally in countries with a high population density. At the same time in such countries and in such urban areas a shortage of aggregates for making concrete will develop as a result of restrictions on aggregate working because of its effect on the environment and because of the unavailability of aggregate deposits due to urban development. From the foregoing it follows that recycling and re-use of environment- and human-friendly demolished and fragmented building rubble should be considered. The translation of this general problem into terms of materials science is possible by forming clear ideas of adhesion and cohesion: the whole process of demolition, fragmentation, and recycling or re-use of concrete is to break the bonding forces between atoms and molecules and to form new bonds across the interfaces of various particles of either the same nature or a different nature.

Assessing Progress toward Sustainability: Frameworks, Tools, and Case Studies provides practical frameworks for measuring progress toward sustainability in various areas of production, consumption, services and urban development as they relate to environmental impact. A variety of policies/strategies or frameworks are available at national and international levels. This book presents an integrated approach to sustainability progress measurement by considering both the frameworks and methodological developments of various tools, as well as their implementation in assessing the sustainability of processes, products and services through a global perspective. Combining methods and their application, the book covers a variety of topics, including lifecycle assessment, risk assessment, nexus thinking, and connection to SDGs. Organized clearly into three main sections --Frameworks, Tools, and Case Studies--this book can serve as a practical resource for researchers and practitioners alike in environmental science, sustainability, environmental management and environmental engineering. Offers an integrated approach to sustainability assessment using the most up-to-date frameworks and tools Includes extensive, diverse case studies to illustrate the methods and process for using the frameworks and tools outlined Provides practical insights related to challenges and opportunities to reduce environmental impacts and increase resources and energy efficiency