Reading about the Roman concrete in the harbor at Caesarea

I always heard Roman concrete was good, but a paper from the University of Utah said the seawater actually made it stronger over time by forming rare minerals. That's the opposite of modern concrete. It makes me wonder if we should be trying to copy that old recipe for coastal projects, or if the materials are just too different now. Anyone know of modern projects actually using a similar volcanic ash mix?

4 comments

4 Comments

emma_jones1mo ago

Wait, didn't Roman concrete just get weaker in water like everything else? That's wild that the saltwater actually makes it stronger. Are they trying to make new stuff with the ash mix now?

sam_cooper1mo ago

Check out the new research on that ash mix, @emma_jones.

charlesschmidt22d ago

Totally feel you on that, Emma. It is wild how Roman concrete just gets tougher in saltwater instead of falling apart like everything else we build with lol. The research on this ash mix sounds promising, honestly. I really hope they can scale it up because our current stuff doesn't stand a chance against the ocean over time. Just seems like we should be paying way more attention to what the Romans figured out centuries ago.

hunt.hayden1mo ago

Actually modern concrete mixes already use fly ash which works on a similar idea.