Building Materials

Concrete

Information

Concrete is a composite(1) construction material made primarily with aggregate, cement and water,

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There are many formulations of concrete, that provide varied properties, and concrete is the most man-made used matarial in the world.

Concrete is widely used for building; architectural structures, foundations, brick/block walls, pavements, bridges,motorways/road, runways, dams, and even boats.

Famous concrete structures include ; Burj Khalife, Hooever Dam, Panama Canal and The partheon in Rome,

Concrete technology was known by the ancient romans, and was widely used by the Roman Empire. The Colesseum was largely built by concrete, however after the empire passed, the use of concrete became scarce, until the technology was re-pioneered in the mid 18th century.

Reinforcement

Concrete is strong in compression, as the aggregate efficiently carries the compression load, however it is weak in tension as the cement holding the aggregate in place can crack, allowing the structure to fail, reinforced concrete adds either steel reinforcing bars, steel fibers, glass fiber, or plastic fiber to carry the tension load

Properties

Concrete has relatively high compressive strenght but much lower tension strenght, for this reason is usually reinforced with the materials that are strong in tension(often steel)

The elasticity of concrete is relatively constant at low stress levels but starts decreasing at high stress levels as matrix cracking develops,

Concrete has a very low coefficient of thermal expansion and shrinks as it matures.

Different mixes of concrete ingredients produce different strengths, which are measured in psi or MPa.

How much does it cost?

Estimating concrete prices is not an easy exersice, as many factors are involved in pricing concrete, Some of this factors involve the following: grading,subbase preparation, concrete forms and finishing, reinforcement..however;

An estimate of standard square metre charges by concreters are:

Plain concrete: $55-$73 per square metre.
Coloured concrete: $63-$87 per square metre.
Slate impression: $72+ per square metre
Stenciled finish: $82+ per square metre.

Plain Concrete;