Making Roman Concrete From Scratch

The Roman Empire is renowned for many things. For the cities it has conquered, the art and culture it has cultivated greatly, and even the structures it built that still leave people in awe today.

We look at the Colosseum and marvel at the possible fights and events held there, sure, but there’s something we can also say about the fact that it’s still standing today. These people used some good foundations to build that massive structure. 

Roman concrete is a subject of research in recent years, and one YouTuber has taken the task of recreating it himself. Shawn Kelly, host of the Youtube channel Corporal’s Corner posted a video on how to make some.

Using volcanic ash, pumice, and limestone, he was able to make a brick that can go up against modern concrete. To learn more about this building material, Open Culture has got you covered.

Check the video above to see the process!


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Turns out he probably wasn't making Roman concrete (just a bad modern imitation) as recent discovery suggests a vital component of their mix was hot mixing/using quicklime - https://news.mit.edu/2023/roman-concrete-durability-lime-casts-0106 - which results in self-healing/protective lumps which react to water ingress to protect the whole structure. In my understanding this is kind of like what he did in the initial (prep of ingredients) steps but actually during the mixing (which he did cold). Interestingly this results in a much less consistently mixed result -which had been written off as bad mixing.
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