Researchers say they have figured out why Roman concrete remains so resilient.
The ancient Roman Empire still makes its presence felt throughout Europe. Bathhouses, aqueducts, and seawalls built more than 2000 years ago are still standing—thanks to a special type of concrete that has proved far more durable than its modern counterpart. Now, researchers say they have figured out why Roman concrete remains so resilient: Quicklime used in the mix may have given the material self-healing properties.
The Romans were not the first to invent concrete, but they were the first to employ it on a mass scale. By 200 B.C.E., concrete was used in the majority of their construction projects. Roman concrete consisted of a mixture of a white powder known as slaked lime, small particles and rock fragments called tephra ejected by volcanic eruptions, and water.
Scientists have previously tried to explain why Roman concrete is so long-lasting. In 2017, for example, researchers found that—at least for structures exposed to the ocean—But were there other explanations? To find out, Admir Masic, a chemist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and colleagues gathered concrete samples from an ancient city wall in Privernum, a 2000-year-old archaeological site near Rome.
And indeed, when the researchers tried to make their own Roman concrete in the lab with quicklime, they ended up with material that was “identical” to the samples they gathered from Privernum, Masic says.
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