Ancient Roman Concrete
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Concrete
During the classical period in
Ancient Rome, many fields of chemistry found their bases and principles.
Although a large amount of the concepts and ideas culminated went on to be
proven inaccurate, some managed to maintain credibility. Among the chemistry
that originated from Ancient Rome is the creation of concrete. An exemplary
paradigm of the success of the ancient concrete of the Romans is the Pantheon –
a temple of holy worship created in 126 AD.
The Romans, to create the
structurally-fit, weather-proof concrete that would stay in place for quite a
while, took many past discoveries and included them in their creation of
concrete. The ancient Romans were the first to create sturdy concrete. The
concrete they created was a mixture composed
of hydrate lime, pozzolan ash from a volcano, and pieces of fairly-sized rocks.
A practice in construction that the Romans incorporated from past projects was
the use of this hydrate limestone. The hydrate limestone protected the surface
of the concrete from erosion and weathering. The way the moist coating of thin,
white, burnt limestone worked was that it chemically reacted with the natural
gases in air to create a hard, molded cover upon the concrete’s surface. This
inclusion of hydrate limestone was first commonly used in small villages of
Italy, where limestone was abundant.
Without knowing, the Romans were
also making the concrete itself sturdier through a chemical reaction that took
place between the chemicals of the volcanic ash and the layer of calcium
hydroxide (limestone) that was added to the surfaces. The pozzolanic ash from
the volcanoes consisted of silica, small amounts of alumina, and iron oxide. When
the calcium hydroxide comes in contact with the volcanic ash, the calcium
hydroxide enters the atomic holes to make a concrete gel that expands, able to
bond pieces of rock together. This occurs because the pozzolanic ash has an
amorphous silica atomic structure, meaning it consists of many holes in its
molecular network. The fine powder condition that the pozzolanic ash consists
of provides a large surface area, enhancing the chemical reaction.
.......
Many of the tools and tricks that
the Romans originated, like waxing the exteriors of a surface with calcium
hydroxide is still practiced today. The Stillwater Dam in Colorado is a present
example of this. It has multiple layers of limestone and volcanic ash in its
composition.
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