Science Reveals the Secret to Ancient Romes Indestructible Concrete. Roman concrete is famous for its durability, lasting for thousands of years and seemingly stronger with each passing year. New research has uncovered the chemical processes responsible for the sturdiness of this ancient building materiala finding that could inspire modern engineers to revive this forgotten technique. If this news about ancient Roman concrete sounds familiar, its probably because youre remembering work done by the same researchers a few years ago. April Winchell was born on January 4, 1960 in New York City, New York, USA as April Terri Winchell. She is an actress, known for Antz 1998, Despicable Me 2 2013. AOL Radio is powered by humans Great radio is all about unexpected connectionsthe kind that an algorithm cant predict. Pick any station in any of the 30 genres. Download The New Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! Cartoon' title='Download The New Curious George 2: Follow That Monkey! Cartoon' />Our film critics on blockbusters, independents and everything in between. Latest breaking news, including politics, crime and celebrity. Find stories, updates and expert opinion. Back in 2. 01. 4, a research team led by Marie D. Jackson of the University of California at Berkeley showed how the recipe for Roman concretea mixture of volcanic ash, lime, and seawater combined with a volcanic rock aggregateproduced a chemical reaction that resulted in super strong concrete. Trouble is, Jacksons team wasnt entirely sure how the Romans managed to facilitate this complex reaction. In a follow up study, published this week in American Mineralogist, the researchers have learned that it wasnt the Romans who facilitated this chemical reactionat least not directly. Rather, the strengthening process was caused by the steady filtering of corrosive seawater through the concrete over time, which triggered the growth of rare, interlocking minerals that made the material even tougher. Indeed, ancient Roman piers and breakwaters, some of which were constructed more than 2,0. Modern marine concrete structures, made of rocks or gravel mixed with water and cement, crumble within a few decades. Inspired by naturally cemented volcanic ash deposits, the Romans learned how to make concreteand they did so by exploiting the binding powers of what scientists now call a pozzolanic reaction. Sly Cooper Theater Cartoon. This reaction, named after the city of Pozzuoli in the Bay of Naples, causes minerals to grow between the aggregate and the mortar, in this case, a mixture of silica oxides and lime found in volcanic ash, which has the happy effect of preventing cracks from growing. Modern concrete also uses rock aggregate, but particles used today are deliberately kept inert to prevent reactions from taking place. Unfortunately, these nonreactive aggregates help cracks to grow and spread, resulting in steady deterioration. As the previous work by Jacksons team revealed, the presence of a rare mineral in the Roman marine mortar, called aluminous tobermorite, allows mineral crystals to grow around the lime particles via the pozzolanic reaction. But this only happens at relatively high temperatures, so it wasnt obvious how the Romans managed to achieve this effect. Its tough for scientists to do this in the lab today, and when it is done, it can only be done in small batches. Convinced that something else was responsible for the effect, the researchers took samples of aluminous tobermorite, and a related mineral known as phillipsite, to Berkeleys Advanced Light Source lab for x ray scanning. They found that the aluminous tobermorite formed within pumice particles and pores in the cementing mix, but because its not possible to recreate this effect over short timescales without high heat, the researchers figured something else had to be responsible. That something else, concluded the researchers, is the steady pounding of seawater. Instead of eroding the concrete, seawater sifts through the material, dissolving components of the volcanic ash. Over the course of hundreds of years, this allows minerals to grow from the highly alkaline fluids that are leaching out. This results in the proliferation of interlocking, crystal shaped structures that increase the concretes resistance to brittle fracture. To a materials engineer working today, this process would represent a total nightmare. In fact, scientists spend a lot of time trying to prevent this sort of thing from happening in modern materials. Were looking at a system thats contrary to everything one would not want in cement based concrete, said Jackson in a press release. Were looking at a system that thrives in open chemical exchange with seawater. So why dont we do as the Romans did For one, volcanic ash isnt the most accessible natural resource. But more importantly, we still dont have the precise recipe used by the Romans to make the concrete, nor do we have access to similar building materials. Romans were fortunate in the type of rock they had to work with, said Jackson. They observed that volcanic ash grew cements to produce the mortar. We dont have those rocks in a lot of the world, so there would have to be substitutions made. Jackson and others are currently working on a replacement recipe, and should it be developed, it could be put to good useincluding a tidal lagoon thats slated to be built in Swansea, United Kingdom. This structure, which will be used to harness tidal power, will need to operate for 1. You can imagine that, with the way we build now, it would be a mass of corroding steel by that time, said Jackson. Instead, using this ancient Roman technique, we could built a structure that would remain intact for centuries. American Mineralogist.