Concrete and Cement Timeline

Timeline of Concrete & Cement History

• Around 3000 BC, the Egyptians used early forms of concrete to build pyramids, mixing mud and straw for bricks, and gypsum and lime to make mortars.
• From 300 BC to 476 AD, the ancient Romans used a material remarkably similar to modern cement to construct architectural marvels

Pozzolanic Cement

• Ancient Romans mixed ground volcanic ash (pozzolana) with lime to produce cement, enabling underwater hardening useful for port construction.
• Animal products used as early admixtures.
• Remains of a Saxon concrete mixer in Britain reveal shallow bowls cut into bedrock with a central timber post; a wooden beam with paddles mixed the concrete, powered by humans or animals.

1824-Portland Cement

• Joseph Aspdin of England is credited with inventing modern Portland Cement, named after a rock quarry that produced very strong stone.
• Aspdin obtained the patent for Portland cement on October 21, 1824.

1913-Ready Mix

• The first load of ready mix was delivered in Baltimore, Maryland, revolutionizing the industry by mixing concrete at a central plant and delivering it by truck.

History of Decorative Concrete

• In 1915, Lynn Mason Scofield founded L.M. Scofield, the first company to manufacture color for concrete, offering color hardeners, integral colors, wax curing, sealers, and chemical stains.
• In the 1950s, Brad Bowman developed the Bomanite process, paving colored, textured, and imprinted architectural concrete in Monterey, California.
• In the 1980s, Buddy Rhodes and Fu-Tung Cheng pioneered concrete countertops, which became popular for their durability, beauty, and customizability.
• In 1990, Darrel Adamson designed the Engrave-A-Crete System.
• In 1999, HTC, a Swedish company, introduced concrete polishing in the United States, quickly gaining popularity for retail and residential locations.

Decorative Finishes

• Dry Shake Finish: Involves sprinkling a dry mixture of cement, sand, and pigment on fresh concrete after screeding and floating.
• Bush Hammered Finish: Achieved by fracturing the surface with a power-driven hammer with a corrugated, serrated, or toothed face.
• Float Finish: A fine texture obtained by smoothing fresh concrete plaster or stucco with a wood float.
• Swirl Finish: A textured finish created by traveling in a circular, overlapping motion.
• Broom Finish: Striated finish from stroking a broom or stiff brush over freshly troweled concrete.
• Pebbles/Cobbles (Exposed Aggregate): Aggregates or small rocks are set or rolled into wet concrete, with concrete hosed off to expose aggregates of various sizes, shapes, and colors, often used for borders, gardens, and garages.
• Stamped Concrete: Concrete is patterned, textured, or embossed to resemble brick, slate, flagstone, stone, wood, or other common materials for patios, sidewalks, and interior flooring.
• Stenciled Concrete: Uses paper patterns embedded in the surface, removed after setting to reveal the pattern, offering an alternative to decorative stamping.

Concrete Products

• Made with lightweight and heavyweight materials for use in exterior and interior load-bearing, firewalls, curtain and panel walls and partitions.

Concrete Block

• Made with both stone and lightweight aggregates.
• Hollow load-bearing concrete block: An 8" x 8" x 16" block weighs approximately 40-50 lb with heavyweight aggregate and 25-35 lb with lightweight aggregate.
• Solid load-bearing block: Defined as having a core area of not more than 25% of the gross cross-sectional area.
• Hollow/non-load bearing concrete block: The core area exceeds 25% of the cross-sectional area.
• Concrete building tile
• Concrete brick
• Common Sizes: 4" x 8" x 16" for non-load bearing partitions and 6" x 8" x 16" for load-bearing walls.
• Quality: Handmade is backyard industry, Machine made is commonly sold
• Steam cured: Manufactured by big factories, typically for government and multi-story buildings.

Lightweight blocks

• With perlite added reduce the weight to almost 50%.

Cast Stone

• Used to simulate stone from concrete methods.
• a. By splitting a solid concrete block to expose two rough surfaces.
• b. Mortar of cement and silicone sand, cast in molds, the face is shaped to simulate chipped sandstone, shale, or slate by mixing coloring material or placing it on the mold.
• c. Granite or marble chips mixed with a mortar, the unit is ground off when partially cured in order to expose stone

Cellular Concrete Blocks

• Lightweight blocks with thermal and sound insulation qualities, made from silica-rich sand, lime water, and aluminum powder. They are cut or sawed using woodworking tools and can be laid up with cement or cement-lime mortar, or directly nailed.
• Three Types: form blocks, insulation slabs, ceiling blocks.

Precast Facing Slabs

• Units can be custom-made any size to fit a particular structure. Fixed to building by pins or dowels to a steel frame and by metal strap anchors to concrete or backup wall

Other Products for Interior

• Decorative concrete blocks used for sun baffles and for fences
• Concrete balusters

Cement

• Binding element in both concrete and mortar.
• Made of limestone, clay, shells, & silica sand
• Sets & hardens when combined with water

Concrete

• Made of cement, sand, & gravel.
• Used for building: foundations, slabs, patios, & masonry
• Most flexible, forming into any mold & rock hard

Mortar

• Made of cement & sand.
• Used as the glue to hold bricks, blocks, etc. together.
• Various types available for specific applications

Cement

• Cement is commonly made of limestone, clay, shells, and silica sand, with limestone being the most prevalent ingredient.
• Cement a type of "hydraulic" cement, which simply it will set and harden when combined with water.

Brands of Portland Cement

• Island cement, Filipinas cement, Continental cement, Pacific cement, Hi-cement, Fortune cement, Union cement, Republic cement, Rizal cement, Northern cement

Brands of White Cement

• Prime White cement, Keene, Trinity, Snowcrete

Kinds of Cement Material

• Lime: White or grayish white, caustic, odorless solid made from heating calcium carbonate.

Natural cement

• Naturally occurring clayey limestone that produces a hydraulic cement when calcined and finely pulverized.
• capable of setting and hardening by a reaction with water.
• Gypsum- the source of plaster, used by Egyptians, Greeks and Romans.
• Pozzolan- A siliceous material that reacts chemically with slaked lime in the presence of moisture.
• Portland cement- hydraulic cement made by burning a mixture of clay and limestone in a rotary kiln, named for its resemblance to limestone quarried on the Isle of Portland, England.

Types of Portland Cement

• Type I: For general construction, with no distinguishing qualities.
• Type II: Modified Portland cement, more resistant to sulfates and generates less heat of hydration.
• Type III: High early strength cement, cures faster and gains strength earlier.
• Type IV: Low heat cement, generates less heat of hydration.
• Type V: Sulfate resisting cement, used where resistance to severe sulfate action is needed.
• White Portland cement: Raw materials low in iron oxide and manganese oxide, used in precast concrete work, terrazzo, stucco, and tile grout.
• Air-entraining Portland cement: Introduces minute air bubbles for freezing resistance.

Concrete

• Plastic mass that hardens into stone-like strength and durability; hardening called Setting.
• Strong in compression can handle tensile forces.
• Artifical, stone-like building material made by mixing cement and various mineral aggregates with sufficient water to cause the cement to set and bind the entire mass.
• Provides a fireproof construction, inherently strong in compression and can handle tensile force, can encase and bond with steel reinforcement.

Reinforced Concrete

• Steel reinforcement is embedded in such a manner that the two materials act together in resisting forces

Plain or Mass Concrete

• Concrete in which there is no reinforcement

Component of Basic Concrete Mix

• Cement: A mixture of cement and water for coating, setting, and binding the aggregated particles together in a concrete or mortar mix.

Aggregates

• Hard, inert, mineral materials like sand and gravel that represents 60% to 80% of the concrete volume.
• Aggregates should be hard, dimensionally stable, and free of clay, silt, and organic matter, which can prevent the cementing matrix from binding the particles together

Mixing Water

• Water with no harmful substances such as organic material, clay and salts is fit for drinking is acceptable.

Types of Aggregates

• Fine Aggregate: Sand with particles smaller than ¼ in. (6.4mm)
• Coarse Aggregate: Crushed stone, gravel, or blastfurnace slag with particles larger than 1½ in. (6.4mm).
• Expanded shale and slate: Lightweight aggregates obtained by the exfoliation of clay/shale and slate.
• Perlite and Vermiculite: Volcanic glass with lightweight, spherical particles and Mica lightweight aggregate

Kinds of Admixtures

• Air-entraining agent: Improves workability, resists freezing, and produces lightweight concrete.
• Accelerator: Hastens setting and strength development.
• Retarder: Slows setting for more placing time.
• Surface-active agent: Surfactant that increases the witting action, water reducing for workability.
• Integral waterproofing compound: Reduces water absorption but does not render it completely waterproof
• Coloring agent: Pigment or dye which alters the color

Masonry

• Building with stone, brick, or concrete block, usually with mortar.

Mortar

• Plastic mixture of cement or lime with sand and water used for bonding blocks or Bricks.
• Also known as Stucco or Cement Plaster.
• Project depends on types, Types M, S and N. Type M will achieve a compressive strength of 2500 psi at 28 days. Type S will yield 1800 while Type N yields 750.

Type of Mortar According to strength

• Type M mortar.
• Type S mortar
• Type N mortar
• Type O mortar
• Type K mortar

Type of Mortar According to material consistency:

• Cement Mortar.
• Cement-lime Mortar
• Masonry cement

Types of Mortar According to application:

• Grout
• Thin-Set

Types of Lime according to mixing:

• Lime mortar: a mix of lime, sand, and water
• Expoxy Mortar: mortar of epoxy resin, a catalyst, and fine aggregate.
• Non-staining mortar: content to minimize efflorescence or the staining of adjacent masonry.

Terms

• Plasticizers
• Setting-
• Siliceous –
• Sulfate action –
• Uniform grading –