The word cement was first used by the Romans when Emperor Hadrian used it to rebuild he pantheon around 126 AD. In case you didn’t know it would seem that the building itself is a tribute to the gods more than anything else. So this is where we first see the stuff being used really, 2000 years later and where is the building, your right, it’s still very much standing. Since then it really has had its uses in the world and we use it in many different ways.
The cement as we know it today came in around the time of the industrial revolution in Britain and had three main uses.
- Finishing off brick buildings in wet climates
- Mortars for masonry construction in places that have contact with sea water
- Any development that needed a form of very strong concrete
The rapid growth in Britain meant that cement was really sought after during this time period which of course in turn meant rising prices and nobody out there likes to see a rise in prices.
There are actually two major cements that we use today.
Portland Cement
This type of cement is actually made available via inter-ground mixtures from the major manufacturers and they are mixed from a lot of ground components within the mixing plants.
Non-Portland
This is of course the stuff that can still be found in many of the Roman buildings that are still standing. Although this form of cement takes much longer to actually build its strength up you can tell by the structures still standing that they last very long indeed once they are set.
The main problem that comes with the cement making process is all of the pollution that the cement silo causes. These are always being worked on though by using things like foundation fieldbus and level sensors.
