Published Resources Details
Journal Article
- Title
- A History of Structural Concrete and its Adoption in Australia as a Major Building Material
- In
- Transactions of The Institution of Engineers, Australia: Multi-Disciplinary Engineering
- Imprint
- vol. GE19, no. 2, 1995, pp. 83-96
- Abstract
In the 19th and the early 20th century there was usually a time lag ranging from a few decades to several years between a new development in Britain and its introduction into Australia. The first Australian reinforced concrete structures were, however, remarkable and in advance of those in Britain.
The development of reinforced concrete is traced from the Roman art of making concrete, which was lost throughout the Middle Ages and the Renaissance and rediscovered in the 18th century, to the late 19th century. Thereafter John Monash, a Melbourne engineer, played a major role in its development prior to the First World War. After that War reinforced concrete became the normal material for floor structures in multi-storey buildings, replacing the traditional timber, and it was increasingly used for building frames, bridges and marine structures