Strong, versatile and available in a range of stylish finishes, concrete is a fascinating building material that has a long and surprisingly interesting history. We live and breathe concrete here at Nationwide Concreting Ltd, specialists in installing and finishing the perfect concrete floor, so we’ve put together this fascinating fact list to spread the love of this unique construction material.
1) Concrete is the most widely used building material in the entire world!
2) It’s resistant to both fire and water.
3) The famous dome of the Pantheon in Rome is made from concrete and is the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world.
4) In Ingolstadt, Germany, there’s a museum packed full of amazing concrete art pieces which is aptly named the Museum of concrete Art.
5) Credited with making cement popular again in the 1800’s, Joseph Aspdin obtained the patent for industry renowned Portland Cement in 1824. The modern concrete takes its name from the quarries on Portland, Dorset, which isn’t too far from Nationwide Concreting’s headquarters.
6) The very first concrete like substance was invented in about 1300BC – that’s over 3200 years ago!
7) The Three Gorges Dam in China is the largest concrete structure in the world. It’s 2335 metres long, 185 metres high and took 28 million cubic metres of concrete to build.
8) Romans used lime and volcanic ash from Mount Vesuvius to make their concrete.
9) The world-famous statue of Christ the Redeemer that overlooks Brazil is made from 635 tonnes of concrete and took 9 years to finish.
10) Concrete doesn’t technically have a melting point. When it reaches 1000°F the water evaporates and turns the concrete into sand and molten lava.
Bonus fact: Concrete is perfect for flooring as it provides a hard-wearing and highly durable surface that can be finished in a range of attractive yet practical ways.
Nationwide Concreting Ltd has over 40 years’ experience in the concrete industry and is a leader in providing high tolerance concrete flooring to a wide range of different industries, from agriculture and defence to commercial and residential, and everything in between. To find out more, contact the friendly team today on 01590 676585.