Many construction materials do an excellent job when used in the construction of buildings. Any Houston concrete contractor will tell you that steel-reinforced concrete is an exceptional choice for many types of buildings. The concrete developed by the Romans has lasted for centuries without using rebar, but there were limitations to what they could build.
Reinforced concrete has steel fibers or rods called rebar within it. These bars and fibers are added or are already in place when the concrete is poured. The end result is a much stronger type of concrete that can stand up to just about anything after it is dry. In fact, rebar-reinforced concrete is so good that it is used in the construction of most modern buildings and roads.
The many advantages of using rebar were noticed by Joseph Lambot in the mid-1800s. He discovered that adding steel bars or steel fibers to concrete enabled him to improve the strength of concrete considerably. This resulted in more uses for concrete that had never before been considered. Reinforced concrete could then be used in the making of guardrails for highways, reinforced beams and garden tubs. At the time, many different types of reinforced concrete emerged because all the construction companies had the desire to use it, but no standards for production had been developed at this point.
Over the course of time, a host of companies attempted to create and perfect their own form of reinforced concrete. As with any new product, after extensive trials and errors, the very best versions came into wide use while lesser types were not used as often and eventually faded out of the picture.
Suddenly, buildings that had been made of reinforced concrete began popping up across the world, most notably in Europe and the United States. Using steel-reinforced concrete gave the buildings greater support and durability, which enabled construction companies to design and build taller and larger buildings. The reinforced concrete removed the height and weight limitations that had previously been placed on constructions made of pure concrete. This building boom was so strong that one European company finished more than 7,000 buildings made from reinforced concrete within the first 10 years that it was in business.
The first reinforced concrete that received a patent in the United States was created by Thaddeus Hyatt in 1878. It was used to build the Pacific Coast Borax Company refinery, which was located in Alameda, California. Steel-reinforced concrete enjoyed a sudden explosion in popularity during the early 1900s. It was not long before most of the developers and contracting companies were using the strong, new material for the construction of modern buildings. Over the course of the 20th century, the methods for using reinforced concrete have been continuously modified and improved. This led to even better, stronger high-quality reinforced concrete.
Nowadays, most buildings in the industrialized nations are built from steel-reinforced concrete, so the buildings are tougher and are better equipped to endure the effects of time, weather and whatever Mother Nature can throw at them. Any Houston foundation contractor is certainly using reinforced concrete for skyscrapers, stadiums, libraries, government buildings and other large structures. The reinforced concrete does not just add tensile strength to buildings. It also adds flexibility to a medium that had previously been static and inflexible. This prevents the concrete from cracking or breaking over the course of decades.
There are also other uses for reinforced concrete. It is utilized in the making of beams, supports, frames, walls and floors. A Houston paving contractor can also use steel-reinforced concrete products. Parking lots and roads across our nation are constructed using reinforced concrete.
Kits are available for consumers who wish to build their own reinforced concrete structures like homes, garages, warehouses, airplane hangars, sheds and other buildings. The pre-fab kits produce results that typically exceed the expectations of the user.