That 'ancient' Roman concrete discovery is way overhyped

I was at a conference in Rome last month where some guy was bragging about how Roman concrete 'self-heals.' Meanwhile, I've got a 3-year-old driveway in Ohio that's cracking worse than anything from 100 AD. Can anyone explain why we're still treating this like a revolutionary secret when modern engineers have better data?

2 comments

2 Comments

skyler_anderson651mo ago

That 3-year-old Ohio driveway sounds about right for modern standards. I've read the actual research and the Roman stuff is interesting but it only works in very specific conditions like seawater or volcanic ash environments. It's neat science but not some lost secret that would fix our potholes.

miam111mo ago

My own gravel path holds up better than most of these new driveways.