Historically, reinforced concrete has been thought of as very forgiving when it comes to the amount of time the material performs in service. Although there is a lot of truth to this, the environment inevitably can shorten reinforced concrete’s life expectancy, resulting in costly repairs and disruption to everyday life. When we think of durable concrete, the Pantheon in Rome comes to mind. This structure has been in service for well over 2000 years. If Roman concrete can last for centuries, surely current construction materials should be suitable to serve a 50 or 100 year design life. In some ways, assumptions on material durability may have influenced early specifications which fail to address material performance over time. As our understanding of durability increases, we expect increased performance of the materials we put into service. In the instance of landmarks or monuments, we want to build and preserve these structures in perpetuity. As we are constantly striving to improve material performance, we simultaneously want to be more sustainable in our approach, … Continue reading Durability of Reinforced Concrete