Clean Technica | The Guardian | By: Steve Hanley | July 7th, 2017:
Sea walls and barriers built by the Romans have endured for 1,500 years — far longer than anything made with modern concrete, which relies almost exclusively on Portland cement. A group of scientists was curious about what made Roman concrete so durable. Instead of breaking down when in contact with the sea, the Roman concrete actually gets stronger with time.
After considerable research, the scientists think they have discovered the key. The Romans used a mixture of volcanic ash, lime, seawater and volcanic rock to make concrete piers, breakwaters, and harbors. They think the seawater reacts with the volcanic material to make new minerals that reinforce the concrete as it ages.
Marie Jackson, a geologist at the University of Utah, is one of the authors of the study. She says the Romans “were very, very intelligent people. They spent a tremendous amount of work on this.” Writing in the journal American Mineralogist, Jackson says she and her colleagues analyzed samples of Roman concrete and made a new discovery.
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