{"id":28734,"date":"2017-07-07T05:30:02","date_gmt":"2017-07-07T09:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?p=28734"},"modified":"2017-07-06T21:12:27","modified_gmt":"2017-07-07T01:12:27","slug":"why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/","title":{"rendered":"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

\"1024px-Ancient_Roman_aqueduct_in_Caesarea_Maritima_in_Israel_(1)\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Buildings from ancient Rome are still standing after two thousand years and more. \u00a0Whereas modern structures do well if they can last a century, with many not lasting that long.<\/p>\n

Experts have found that ancient Roman concrete actually gets stronger with time. \u00a0Whereas our concrete erodes.<\/p>\n

\n

Chemists have finally discovered why.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

From\u00a0<\/span>Scientists explain ancient Rome\u2019s long-lasting concrete \u2013 BBC News<\/a>:<\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Researchers have unlocked the chemistry of Roman concrete which has resisted the elements for thousands of years.<\/p>\n

Ancient sea walls built by the Romans used a concrete made from lime and volcanic ash to bind with rocks.<\/p>\n

Now scientists have discovered that elements within the volcanic material reacted with sea water to strengthen the construction.<\/p>\n

They believe the discovery could lead to more environmentally friendly building materials.<\/p>\n

Unlike the modern concrete mixture which erodes over time, the Roman substance has long puzzled researchers.<\/p>\n

Rather than eroding, particularly in the presence of sea water, the material seems to gain strength from the exposure.<\/p>\n

In previous tests with samples from ancient Roman sea walls and harbours, researchers learned that the concrete contained a rare mineral called aluminium tobermorite.<\/p>\n

They believe that this strengthening substance crystallised in the lime as the Roman mixture generated heat when exposed to sea water.<\/p>\n

[Keep reading. . .]<\/a><\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Buildings from ancient Rome are still standing after two thousand years and more. \u00a0Whereas modern structures do well if they can last a century, with many not lasting that long. Experts have found that ancient Roman concrete actually gets stronger with time. \u00a0Whereas our concrete erodes. Chemists have finally discovered why.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1281,"featured_media":28736,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20,44],"tags":[155,3139,5581,5582],"class_list":["post-28734","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-history","category-technology","tag-ancient-rome","tag-ancient-technology","tag-concrete","tag-roman-architecture"],"yoast_head":"\nWhy ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Roman concrete gets stronger over time, whereas our concrete erodes. Scientists have found out why.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Roman concrete gets stronger over time, whereas our concrete erodes. Scientists have found out why.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Cranach\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2017-07-07T09:30:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2017-07-07T01:12:27+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2017\/07\/1024px-Ancient_Roman_aqueduct_in_Caesarea_Maritima_in_Israel_1-e1499204272155.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Gene Veith\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/\",\"name\":\"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2017-07-07T09:30:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2017-07-07T01:12:27+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\"},\"description\":\"Roman concrete gets stronger over time, whereas our concrete erodes. Scientists have found out why.\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/\",\"name\":\"Cranach\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1\",\"name\":\"Gene Veith\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Gene Veith\"},\"description\":\"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.\",\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/\",\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes","description":"Roman concrete gets stronger over time, whereas our concrete erodes. Scientists have found out why.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes","og_description":"Roman concrete gets stronger over time, whereas our concrete erodes. Scientists have found out why.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/","og_site_name":"Cranach","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","article_published_time":"2017-07-07T09:30:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2017-07-07T01:12:27+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":400,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/305\/2017\/07\/1024px-Ancient_Roman_aqueduct_in_Caesarea_Maritima_in_Israel_1-e1499204272155.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Gene Veith","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Gene Veith","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/","name":"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website"},"datePublished":"2017-07-07T09:30:02+00:00","dateModified":"2017-07-07T01:12:27+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1"},"description":"Roman concrete gets stronger over time, whereas our concrete erodes. Scientists have found out why.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/2017\/07\/why-ancient-roman-concrete-gets-stronger-while-ours-erodes\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Why ancient Roman concrete gets stronger while ours erodes"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/","name":"Cranach","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/f9ca8670bcc51908a78994c0484dbfa1","name":"Gene Veith","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/054d79faea5d476edd8f99e5f14fb17f?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Gene Veith"},"description":"Gene Edward Veith, Jr. is a writer and retired literature professor, serving as Provost Emeritus at Patrick Henry College. He has authored over 25 books on Christianity and culture, literature, classical education, and theology. Dr. Veith previously held academic and editorial roles at Concordia University Wisconsin and WORLD Magazine. A respected voice in Lutheran and classical education circles, he holds a Ph.D. in English and several honorary doctorates. He and his wife, Jackquelyn, live in St. Louis and have three children and twelve grandchildren.","sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/cranachblog\/","https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gene_Edward_Veith"],"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/author\/geneveith\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28734","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1281"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28734"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28734\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/28736"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28734"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28734"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/geneveith\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28734"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}