Did you know…
It is important to know – the longer the hydration or curing time = the stronger the concrete! Thats why people tell you to water the concrete after it is finished. The best way to cure concrete is to apply a curing compound.
- In an average year, the world uses nearly three tons of concrete for every man, woman and child.
- Concrete is heavy; about 150 pounds per cubic foot!
- There are 4,360,000 cubic yards of concrete in the Hoover Dam.
- The Empire State Building was built with 60,000 tons of steel, 3 million square feet of wire mesh, 70,000 cubic yards of concrete, 10 million bricks and can accommodate 15,000 people.
- The only material the we use more than concrete is water.
- Concrete has a cement content of between 10-15%.
- The hardness of ice is similar to that of concrete.
- The U.S. uses one-fifth of the cement manufactured in the world, an average of about 70 million tons per year.
- Pervious concrete allows over 300 inches of water per hour to pass through.
- The average distance in the U.S. between a ready-mixed concrete plant and a project is only 14.2 miles
Question: Why are there lines in the sidewalk?
Answer: When concrete dries, it shrinks and when it shrinks, it cracks. If the concrete didn’t have lines in it, the cracks would form randomly and the concrete would break apart. This way, the cracks follow the lines, because that’s where the slab is the thinnest. In other words, if we don’t make the lines, the concrete will make them for us!