Reinforced concrete facts for kids
Reinforced concrete is concrete with long bars inside to make it stronger. The reinforcing material has greater tensile strength than concrete has. Usually the bars are steel. Galvanizing saves the steel from rusting and corrosion. In rich countries, almost all concrete in buildings and roads is reinforced. Reinforced concrete is stronger, and can be even stronger if the steel is stretched to make prestressed concrete.
Images for kids
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The novel shape of the Philips Pavilion built in Brussels for Expo 58 was achieved using reinforced concrete
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Rebars of Sagrada Família's roof in construction (2009)
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Two intersecting beams integral to parking garage slab that will contain both reinforcing steel and the wiring, junction boxes and other electrical components necessary to install the overhead lighting for the garage level beneath it.
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Concrete wall cracking as steel reinforcing corrodes and swells. Rust has a lower density than metal, so it expands as it forms, cracking the decorative cladding off the wall as well as damaging the structural concrete. The breakage of material from a surface is called spalling.
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Detailed view of spalling probably caused by a too thin layer of concrete between the steel and the surface, accompanied by corrosion from external exposure.
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Rebar for foundations and walls of a sewage pump station.
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The Paulins Kill Viaduct, Hainesburg, New Jersey, is 115 feet (35 m) tall and 1,100 feet (335 m) long, and was heralded as the largest reinforced concrete structure in the world when it was completed in 1910 as part of the Lackawanna Cut-Off rail line project. The Lackawanna Railroad was a pioneer in the use of reinforced concrete.
See also
In Spanish: Concreto armado para niños
