Solid Information

Concrete is made with Portland cement, a powdery mixture of crushed limestone and clay or shale. When the cement is mixed with water and added to gravel and sand, the resulting slurry hardens into concrete.

Concrete is used more than any other man-made material on the planet. It is used to make pavements, building structures, foundations, motorways/roads, overpasses, parking structures, brick/block walls and bases for gates, fences and poles.

Composition of Concrete

Portland cement is the most common type of cement in general usage, as it is a basic ingredient of concrete, mortarand plaster. An English engineer named Joseph Aspdin patented Portland cement in 1824, and it was named after the limestone cliffs on the Isle of Portlandin England because of the similarity of its color to the stone quarried from Portland. Portland cement and similar materials are made by heating limestone(a source of calcium) with clayand grinding this product (called clinker), with a source of sulfate(most commonly gypsum). The resulting powder, when mixed with water, will become a hydrated solid over time.

Water suitable for human or animal consumption can be used for the manufacture of concrete.

Aggregates - The water and cement paste hardens and develops strength over time. In order to ensure an economical and practical solution, both fine and coarse aggregates are utilized to make up the bulk of the concrete mixture.

Admixtures are materials in the form of powder or fluids that are added to the concrete to give it certain characteristics not obtainable with plain concrete mixes. In normal use, admixture dosages are less than 5% by mass of cement, and are added to the concrete at the time of batching / mixing.

In the most general sense of the word, cementis a binder, a substance which sets and hardens independently, and can bind other materials together. Most important cements are hydraulic cements, materials which set and harden after combining with water, as a result of chemical reactionswith the mixing water and, after hardening, retain strength and stability even under water.