THE CONCRETE PORTAL

Concrete is the most widely used material in the world after water. For thousands of years, concrete has been used for construction of landmark monuments. Most of these structures have suffered the ravages of war as well as the aggressiveness of the environment, and yet have withstood the test of time, owing to the versatility and durability of concrete.

Concrete technology has progressed rapidly, especially since the 1950s, thanks to the advancement of materials science, particularly, material characterization techniques. Today, concrete is studied from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, where chemistry and materials science occupy equally important positions as civil engineering. Another aspect that has led to this progress is the development of additives for concrete.

In spite of the available know-how, modern concrete is beset with problems. Premature deterioration, unexpected and uncontrolled cracking, poor appearance and finish have become the order of the day. Apart from a general apathy towards quality issues in the face of an increasingly profit based construction business, the main factor for the poor state of today's concrete construction is the lack of application of the available knowledge.

This web page - THE CONCRETE PORTAL - intends to provide a forum where concrete practitioners can get in touch with the latest advances in concrete technology, apart from recollecting their basics. The portal also serves as a useful resource material to teachers in colleges for their concrete technology classes. Additionally, through links with other info pages as well as concrete industry sites, this website would be an important resource for students and budding concrete technologists.