Concrete


 * Concrete:** It is a manufacturated mixture of cement and water which hardens rapidly by chemical process. It is resistent to water and fire, It is strong under pressure but is weak in tension. This mixture is a very malleable, allowing you to create a variety of elements, forms and structures like bridges,domes and sewerage systems.

Concrete was used by the Egypcians and later developed by the Romans.


 * Reinforced concrete:** this is concrete in which reinforcement bars, reinforcement grids, plates or fibers have been incorporated to strengthen the concrete in tension was developed to add the tensile strength of steel to the compressive strength of mass concrete. It was invented by Joseph Monier in 1849

Reinforced concrete is used in bridges, dams, domes, beams and columns in skyscrapers.Its cost is low, fireproof and weatherproof, molds to any shape, strong in compression and tension,but it may crack while it cools and hardens.



Tilt-up and tiltwall are two terms used to describe the same process.For a tilt-up concrete building, the walls are created by assembling forms and pouring large slabs of concrete called panels directly at the job site. One major benefit of this is that the size of the panels is limited only by the needs of the building and the strength of the concrete panels themselves. The precast concrete building process is similar to tilt-up construction, but precast concrete forms are poured indoors, this activity can take place regardless the weather conditions. Once already done concrete panels are transported by trucks to the construction site. Principal disadvantages of precast concrete is the transportation of the pieces because these might be very heavy and big.