Concrete: The Sustainable Infrastructure Material for the Twenty First Century. Transportation Research Circular E-C103

摘要

Revolutionary evolutions relating to novel materials of construction and modifications, and improvements in the behavior of traditional materials, have been taking place throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century. These evolutions have been considerably facilitated by increased knowledge of the atomic and molecular structure of materials, studies of long-term failures, development of more powerful instrumentation and monitoring techniques, decrease in cost-effectiveness of traditional materials, and the need for stronger and better performing materials suitable for larger structures, longer spans, more ductility, and extended durability. The 21st century is expected to be the century of high-strength, high performance durable concrete-particularly in the world's infrastructure of roads, buildings, and bridges. New cements, techniques, and composites have already achieved very high strengths, Massive projects already employ new and advanced construction techniques including those with traditional, lower strengths. This trend will continue in all phases of infrastructure constructability and rehabilitation. The versatility of concrete and its high-performance derivatives will satisfy many future needs. The present century can become the golden age of environmentally friendly, supplementary cementing materials for high performance concrete.