Roman concrete vs modern stuff, no contest after seeing the Pantheon

I always heard Roman concrete was good but figured it was just hype from old books. Then I actually went to Rome last spring and saw the Pantheon dome in person. That thing is 2,000 years old and still standing without steel rebar. Meanwhile I see parking garages from the 70s crumbling apart here in Chicago. Something about their mix with volcanic ash and lime made it self-healing over time. Has anyone tried making a batch of Roman concrete for a project? I'm curious how hard it would be to source the right ingredients.

2 comments

2 Comments

reese1241mo ago

The real trick nobody talks about is that Roman concrete wasn't just one recipe. They used different mixes depending on if it was underwater, in a wall, or for the dome. Made it way harder to copy.

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emery1991mo ago

Wait, wasn't the basic volcanic ash formula pretty consistent for all of them though?