concrete setting time

They were built by the low bidder, and not inspected. Remember all the substandard work uncovered by hurricane Andrew in Miami?

He used sand and gravel brought in from Georgia and fresh water for the mix. The railroads always built to last forever (except when they were in a hurry )

John

Exactly.

Plenty of rainwater in the south Pacific but making piers running out into the lagoon requires large dams and pumps .. what a job. Or use ash and the chemical reaction is different from Portland. If the cement were 25% less one would just build better strength versions or just put up with some wear. Once you have an out-of-water pier, a hard top could be added - with or without rails for cargo movement.

Some under water projects for a sub refueling design showed the real magic.

Martin who lived in the south pacific for some time.

He might have researched the subject before he just made concrete.

My furnace isn't Portland - no water is stored. It is a different process and is a chemical reaction that makes the bonds. You cook the water out of it in a long slow ramp up. Water inside of cement can explode.

Simply drop some molten metal on a concrete floor and you might have a hole dished out. Blow cement at you.

His piers might have been high temp cement being very dense as well. One never knows without a core and some tests :-)

Martin

And sooner or later, you should think about the modern solar powered air co nditioner:

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Now. What would you do without the electrician, huh Terry?

Granted.

What was the sand made out of ? What was the gravel made out of ?

Perhaps a chem action and not much if any Portland until later in the cycle.

Martin

Martin Eastburn fired this volley in news:JORKv.20119$ snipped-for-privacy@fx18.iad:

He said "Georgia". He didn't mean the Soviet state of Georgia.

There's really not much in the way of pyrolytic or volcanic stone in Georgia, USA.

He went to Georgia because except for a little limestone, Florida's only mineral commodity is (well, was) phosphates. Our sand is too fine for concrete work.

Lloyd

He actually went all over the world to get the materials for the bridges. The below water cement came from Germany, the trap rock came from NY state.

I was wrong about Georgia. it must have been Germany I was thinking of.

John