About concrete

The exceptional qualities of today's concrete are the result of its rich past, marked by decades of technical innovation and improvement.  

While in fact the history of concrete dates back all the way to the age of the Roman Empire, the material as we know it today actually came into existence in the year 1867, in France, where a gardener named Josef Monier first developed the system of reinforced concrete for his flowerpots.  It was not long before the world learned of this new material's strength, and applications of concrete spread quickly around the globe.

The essence of concrete is a simple blending of earthen materials, mixed with water to create an entirely new substance of tremendous strength.  Its basic components are cement, sand and aggregates, usually gravel or crushed stone.  



Concrete is a material of tremendous variability according to the needs of its application.  Simply by changing the proportion between water and other components the basic characteristics of concrete can be changed.  

By changing the aggregates in the mixture we can produce a concrete which is so light that it can even float on water, or so heavy that it is almost twice its normal density.  

Concrete can be made impermeable to moisture, for making dams, or completely porous, for the creation of filter beds at sewage treatment plants.   It is truly fascinating how many different characteristics and variations can be achieved from the same material.