Caffeinated Concrete and Concrete that Outlasted an Empire

00:49 - Small Talk
We’re struggling. Tyler opens by sharing that his reading ability has been waning recently. We chat about his delinquency as far as following up on his eyeglass prescriptions. His knees aren’t doing so well either.

03:30 - Getting into the Concrete
We discuss our wives’ confusion about our fascination with the Roman Empire, but that’s where we’re settling today.

We start out at the Pantheon. At 142 feet across, the dome on this temple is still the largest unreinforced concrete dome in the world. (If you’re interested in Tyler’s question about the Parthenon, here’s the answer.)

We discuss the fact that it’s possible that some modern concrete structures will ultimately last as long as the Pantheon has lasted. Today’s concrete comes in various grades, and constructions have different budgets. The Roman government invested pretty heavily in their roads and structures.

Eddie explains how ancient Roman concrete contained lime clasts, tiny clumps of powdered lime that would turn to concrete as water passed through it.

15:30 - Caffeinated Concrete
We shift from ancient Roman concrete to a modern phenomenon that is still in its experimental stages. In Australia, researchers have found a way to strengthen concrete by adding used coffee grounds. After trying a couple different approaches, they eventually found that baking the grounds and then substituting those baked grounds for 30% of the sand resulted in increased concrete strength.

Eddie talks about the on-site decisions (and sometimes tensions) related to how much water to add. He also touches on superplasticizers that increase the workability of concrete with less water.

24:24 - Lessons
From Roman concrete, we can learn the importance of knowing about the raw materials you’re using in your construction projects. Know the capacities and the tolerances.

Then design with these materials in mind. In the design phase, consider how you can capitalize on the strengths and other traits of those materials.

Another takeaway? Innovate. Look at the materials around you and think about how you can make creative use of the materials around you. Tyler gives the story of Play-Doh as an example of this.

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