UC BERKELEY (US) — Ancient Roman structures that have withstood the elements for more than 2,000 years are showing engineers how to make today’s concrete more durable and sustainable.
Using the Advanced Light Source at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, engineers and geologists examined the fine-scale structure of Roman concrete. The findings showed for the first time how the extraordinarily stable compound—calcium-aluminum-silicate-hydrate (C-A-S-H)—binds the material used to build some of the most enduring structures in Western civilization.