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I finally realized why that Roman concrete thing keeps getting oversimplified
Been seeing a lot of posts lately about how Roman concrete is 'better than modern stuff' because it self-heals. From what I understand from talking to a guy who actually studied ancient construction methods, the truth is way more complicated. That volcanic ash mix they used? It works great in certain conditions but falls apart in others. I read a paper from 2019 that showed their formula actually degraded faster in cold climates. Just bugs me when people act like ancient tech was this perfect thing we can't replicate. Anyone here actually tried comparing modern vs Roman concrete specs up close?
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jason_stone599d ago
Wait, are you telling me that TikTok videos about Roman concrete might not be the most reliable source of historical engineering knowledge?
Honestly, it drives me NUTS when people act like the Romans had some magical secret recipe that modern science can't figure out. Like, yeah, their concrete was great for building stuff in a WARM, VOLCANIC region. But you try using that stuff in a place that actually freezes and see how well it holds up. I've seen the numbers from the 2019 paper you mentioned and the difference in cold weather performance is MASSIVE.
People always want to believe that ancient civilizations were either total idiots or super-geniuses. The truth is they were just good at what worked for their specific situation, same as us. We could totally make concrete that self-heals if we wanted to, but modern buildings have different priorities like cost and speed and working in ALL climates.
So yeah, the oversimplification bugs me too. But good luck trying to explain that to someone who just watched a 30 second video about "lost ancient technology.
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nathankim9d agoMost Upvoted
Exactly. You really think they'd pick mortar over their aqueducts if forced to choose?
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