Concrete is All Around Us

An interesting report from the Portland Cement Association (PCA) illustrates the various uses for portland cement as it is one of the key ingredients in concrete.  They suggest that while concrete is very important to the way we live, and in fact surrounds us, it is often overlooked.  They explain that concrete “makes our homes and offices durable and more resilient in natural disasters, it makes our roads and bridges strong and last longer, and thanks to its permanence and energy efficiency, it helps sustain our environment.” 

From their illustration, the PCA’s breakdown of how concrete is used includes 8.4% on water and waste systems, 8.9% for industrial and commercial buildings, 27.5% on one-and-two family houses, and 30.8% on the construction of highways, streets and bridges.  The other 22.1% is used to build offices, hotels, hospitals, religious institutions, educational institutions and public utilities.   

Concrete is a mixture of cement paste (cement and water) and coarse and/or fine aggregate.  Almost all modern cement is portland cement, which was patented in 1824 by the Englishman, Joseph Aspdin, who named it for its similarity to a building stone quarried on the Isle of Portland.  The PCA also describes the various components of concrete as containing 7 to 15% cement, 14 to 21% water, 60 to 75% of aggregate and as much as 8% of air.   

At The Conco Companies, we have been involved in a wide range of projects from towering skyscrapers, to mixed-use high-rises, hospitals, educational, public utilities and parking structure projects.  Conco Pumping is one of the largest pumping and belting companies in the United States and has a reputation for delivering first-class concrete pumping services since 1975.  At Conco Reinforcing, we own and operate two state-of-the-art facilities that give us the resources to be a single source for all your rebar fabrication and installation needs regardless of the project size. Please visit our website to learn more about the various concrete services offered by Conco.   

Conco is one of the leading concrete contractors in the Western U.S. and offer a wide range of quality services and products.  Our experience includes providing services for commercial, educational, parking and other construction development as well as public works projects.  We serve California, Washington State, Oregon, Colorado and Nevada.

Source: cement.org/civilization