Frühgeschichte des modernen Konstruktionsbetons - Teil 3: Vom Pisé zum Stampfbeton

On the early history of modern concrete - part III: From rammed earth to rammed concrete

Following the first two parts of the paper on early history of modern concrete which dealt with underwater concrete structures the present part III analyses the development of concrete above ground. Based on the experience of building with rammed earth the technique was improved by replacing the binder clay by lime, later by cement: thus rammed earth became rammed concrete. This improvement of weather resistance and compressive strength opened a wide field of application of concrete above ground. In Germany, the unforeseeable quality of cement first delayed the implementation of concrete structures. It was only in 1878 when the first cement standards were introduced. From that point concrete was used for all kinds of structures, particularly for wide span bridges.