Timeline of Concrete

Historical Timeline of Concrete

12,000,000 BC	Reactions between limestone and oil shale during spontaneous combustion occurred in Israel to form a natural deposit of cement compounds.
3000 BC	Egyptians used mud mixed with straw to bind dried bricks. Also furthered the discovery of lime and gypsum mortar as a binding agent for building the Pyramids
3000 BC	Used cementitious materials to hold bamboo together in their boats and in the Great Wall.
300 BC	Romans used slaked lime a volcanic ash called pozzuolana, found near Pozzouli by the bay of Naples. They used lime as a cementitious material. Pliny reported a mortar mixture of 1 part lime to 4 parts sand. Vitruvius reported a 2 parts pozzolana to 1 part lime. Animal fat, milk, and blood were used as admixtures
193 BC	of PorticuHouse s Aemelia made of bound stones to form concrete
200 AD	The Pantheon
After 400 AD	The art of Concrete was lost after the fall of the Roman Empire
1678	Joseph Moxon wrote about a hidden fire in heated lime that appears upon the addition of water.
1756	John Smeaton, British Engineer, rediscovered hydraulic cement through repeated testing of mortar in both fresh and salt water Link to Smeaton documents: one two
1779	Bry Higgins was issued a patent for hydraulic cement (stucco) for exterior plastering use.
1796	James Parker from England patented a natural hydraulic cement by calcining nodules of impure limestone containing clay, called Parker’s Cement or Roman Cement. link
1812 -1813	Louis Vicat of France prepared artificial hydraulic lime by calcining synthetic mixtures of limestone and clay.
1818	Maurice St. Leger was issued patents for hydraulic cement.
1818	Canvass White, American Engineer, found rock deposits in Madison, County, New York, that made hydraulic cement with little processing
1820-1821	John Tickell and Abraham Chambers were issued more hydraulic cement patents.
1822	James Frost of England prepared artificial hydraulic lime like Vicat’s and called it British Cement.
1824	Joseph Aspdin, bricklayer and mason in Leeds, England, patented what he called portland cement, since it resembled the stone quarried on the Isle of Portland off the British coast.
1825	Erie Canal created the first great demand for cement in the US
1828	I. K. Brunel is credited with the first engineering application of portland cement, which was used to fill a breach in the Thames Tunnel.
1850s	Jean-Louis Lambot was the first to use reinforcing in boats see this website with a short history of concrete
1854	W. Wilkinson of Newcastle introduced reinforced concrete in the building of houses; in 1854 he applied for a patent for the “construction of fireproof dwellings, warehouses, other buildings and parts of the same”. Wilkinson erected a small two-storey servant’s cottage, reinforcing the concrete floor and roof with iron bars and wire rope; he built several structures of this kind and he is believed to have built the first reinforced concrete building.
1859-1867	Portland cement used in the construction of the London sewer system
1867	Joseph Monier patented a design for reinforces garden tubs, beams and posts
1868	The fist recorded shipment of portland cement to the US
1850-1880	Francois Coignet, a builder in France, responsible for the first widespread use of concrete in buildings
1870's	Francois Hennebique Patents the Hennebique system Description and picture
1871-1875	William E. Ward builds the first landmark building in reinforced concrete in Port Chester, NY. Designed by Architect Robert Mook larger picture here
1883	Ward delivered a paper on the house to the Society of Mechanical Engineers.
1884	Earnest L. Ransom patented a reinforcing system using twisted rods. "1884 – Leslie Ransom receives U.S. patent for rebar. When it became clear that reinforcement was needed in concrete construction Ransom obtained used frayed cables from San Francisco’s cable car companies and laid them in the forms prior to pouring the concrete. From these experiments Ransom designed and patented rebar – the reinforcing steel that is still used in construction."
1885	F. Ransome patented a slightly tilted horizontal kiln which could be rotated so the material moved gradually form one end to the other
1887	Henri Le Chatelier of France established oxide ratios to prepare the proper amount of lime to produce portland cement. He named the components: Alite (tricalcium silicate), Belite (dicalcium silicate), and Celite (tetracalcium aluminoferrite). He proposed that hardening is caused by the formation of crystalline products of the reaction between cement and water.
1889	The first concrete reinforced bridge is built.
1891	George Bartholomew placed the first concrete street in the USA in Bellefontaine, OH. which still exists.
1904	Ingalls bldg. using the Ransome system, was the first concrete skyscraper. story

1902	Thomas Edison was a pioneer in the further development of the rotary kiln. link to Thomas Edison's Concrete House Venture More on the Thomas Edison houses
1903	August Perre makes concrete an acceptable architectural material Perre builds 25 bis Rue Franklin and the Theatre Champs Elysee

1916	Portland Cement Association founded cement production animation
1917	The US Bureau of Standards and the American Society for testing Materials established a standard formula for portland cement
1919	Mies van der Rohe proposes concrete high-rises
1922	The tallest concrete building was built – 230 ft., the Medical Arts bldg., Dallas
1922	Notre Dame du Raincy A concrete church by Auguste Perret.
1927	Eugene Freyssinet develops successful pre-stressed concrete
1930	Eduardo Torroja, designed the first thin shelled roof at Algeciras
1935	Eduardo Torroja, designed the Madrid Hippodrome.
1936	The first major concrete dams, Hoover Dam and Grand Coulee Dam, were built.
1935	Pier Luigi Nervi built the hangers for the Italian Air Force using thin shell construction
1931	Le Corbusier builds Villa Savoye
1936	Frank Lloyd Wright was the one of the first to exploit the cantilever at Fallingwater.
1940s	Portland Cement Laboratories perfect air-entrained concrete

1956	FLLW builds the Guggenheim made of reinforced concrete
1957	Le Corbusier builds Ronchamp
~1958	Felix Candela masters the concrete shell
1958	Felix Candela builds the restaurant at Xochimilco
1958	Executive House Hotel, Chicago, exceeds the Medical Arts record at 371 ft.
1959	Le Corbusier builds La Tourette
1960	Bank of Georgia Building in Atlanta beats Executive House at 391 ft.
1961	Le Corbusier builds the government complex at Chandigara India
1962	Bertrand Goldberg’s twin towers at Marina City marked the beginning of the use of reinforced concrete in modern skyscrapers and set the height record to 588 ft.
1964	1000 Lake Shore Drive beats Marina City at 640 ft. 6000 psi concrete in the lower columns was used for the first time.
1964	Place Victoria in Montreal, ht 624 ft. using 6000psi concrete columns
1967	First concrete domed sport structure, the Assembly Hall, was constructed at The University of Illinois, at Urbana-Champaign. look here: http://www.concretecontractor.com/concrete-construction-projects/assembly-hall/
1968	Lake Point Towers, 70 stories, 645 ft. 7500 psi concrete
1970	One Shell Plaza, Houston, ht 714 ft., using 6000 psi concrete
1970s	Fiber reinforcement in concrete was introduced.
1975	Water Tower Place, 859 ft., 9000psi conc. using superplasticizers
1985	Peak shipment of portland cement to the US increased to nearly 3 million barrels
1985	The "highest strength" concrete was used in building the Union Plaza constructed in Seattle, Washington.
1989	Scotia Plaza Building, Toronto, 907 ft.
1990	311S Wacker and Two Prudential Plaza in Chicago sets new height record at 920 ft.
1996	Petronas Twin Towers, 1476 ft.

References: Reinforced Concrete, Preliminary design for Architects and Builders; R.E. Schaeffer, 1992 McGraw-Hill Inc. Handout on Skyscrapers World Book Encyclopedia World Wide Web page: The Portland Cement Association Online, http://www.portcement.org