The dictionary defines concrete as a heavy, rough building material made from a mixture of broken stone or gravel, sand, cement, and water, that can be spread or poured into molds and that forms a stone-like mass on hardening.
But, while technically correct, it barely scratches the surface of this remarkable material’s flexibility and myriad uses.
10 amazing facts about concrete that you may not know:
- The Ancient Romans were the first to develop concrete as a building material. They accomplished this by mixing lime, water, and volcanic ash.
- Cement is one of the main ingredients in concrete, and over 2 billion tons of cement is produced each year.
- The Venetian in Las Vegas held the U.S. record for largest continuous concrete foundation pour with 21,000 cubic yards. However, in February 2014, the Wilshire Grand Center in Los Angeles beat that record with a continuous pour of 21,200 cubic yards!
- Concrete is used more than any other man-made material on the planet.
- Thomas Edison held 49 patents related to concrete. He experimented with concrete houses and concrete furniture. Concrete furniture?! Imagine binge-watching Netflix on a concrete couch!
- The Pantheon was built using concrete, and it’s still the world’s largest unreinforced concrete dome.
- About 6 billion cubic meters of concrete is made each year, which equals one cubic meter for every person on Earth.
- A natural deposit of cement rock was discovered in 1796 by the English. They quarried the material and sold it as Roman Cement.
- Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest concrete structure in the world, standing at 607 feet high and 7,575 feet long.
- In 1909, the first modern concrete road was built on Woodward Avenue between Six and Seven Mile Roads in Greenfield Township, now northwest Detroit.
For more information on our concrete installation and removal services, please call Colucci Realty at 908.782.3910.