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1 A Brief History of Reinforced Concrete

Cement,. in. its. various. forms,. has. a. surprisingly. long. history. that. spans. back. to.prehistoric. times.. In.contrast,. the.development.of. reinforced.concrete. is. relatively.recent..It.is.interesting.to.note.that.manure,.clay,.stone,.timber,.and.metal.were.used.“as.is”.in.building..It. took.human.creativity.to.put.metal.and.concrete.together.to.give.it.special.properties.and.to.invent.or.reinvent.ways.of.using.it.to.serve.society.

Invention.in.reinforced.concrete.started.in.the.mid-.nineteenth.century.with.Joseph.Lambot’s.boat.(Figure 1.1).and.continues.to.our.day..The.brief.view.of.the.history.of.reinforced.concrete.in.this.chapter.is.intended.to.emphasize.to.the.student.that.there.is.still.room.for.creativity.in.uses.of.reinforced.concrete.

Lambot’s.main.interest.was.agriculture..That.was.why.his.first.commercial.prod-uct. in. reinforced.concrete.was.a.container. for.oranges..The.next.notable. inventor.in. reinforced.concrete.was.another.agriculturist,. Joseph.Monier,.who.also.started.experimenting.with. reinforced. concrete. containers. in. 1867.. In.1868,. he.projected.his.concept.to.pipes..After.having.tried.precast.panels.for.architectural.facades.in.1872,.in.1873.he.expanded.his.container.concept.to.build.a.large.silo.to.hold.cement..His. success. with. the. silo. inspired. him. to. build. a. bridge. in. 1875. at. the. Château.de.Chazelet,.France..The.bridge.led.him.to.patent.the.concept.of.the.reinforced.con-crete.beam..His.contribution.was.a.series.of.pragmatic.inventions.that.appeared.to.be.the.product.of.cut-.and-.try.thinking.

Francois. Hennebique,. inspired. by. Monier’s. successes,. developed. a. scientific.approach.to.the.proportioning.of.reinforced.concrete.elements.to.obtain.a.patent.in.1879,.one.that.was.denied.to.him.in.favor.of.Monier.seven.years.later..The.Hennebique.construction.company.helped.make.reinforced.concrete.a.serious.construction.mate-rial.in.Europe..Hennebique’s.signal.triumph.was.the.initiation.of.a.technical.journal.on.reinforced.concrete.in.1896.

Hennebique’s. attempts. at. providing. an. intellectual. underpinning. for. design.attracted. German. engineers. to. consider. reinforced. concrete.. Ritter. (1899). recog-nized.the.nonlinearity.of.concrete.at.higher.stresses.and.was.the.first.to.visualize.a.reinforced.concrete.beam.not.as.it.is,.but.as.a.truss..His.ideas.were.further.developed.by.Moersch.(1902).

The.initial.attraction.for.using.reinforced.concrete.in.building.construction.may.have.been. its.fire. resistance,. but. its. increasing.popularity.was.due. to. the. creativ-ity.of.engineers.who.kept.extending.its.limits.of.application..The.French.engineer.Francois.Coignet.expanded. the.use.of. reinforced.concrete. in.European.buildings..In.the.United.States,.William.E..Ward.built.the.first.landmark.building.structure.in.reinforced.concrete.in.Port.Chester,.New.York.(Figure 1.2)..It.did.not.take.very.long.

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2 Principles of Reinforced Concrete Design

for.enterprising.engineers.in.the.United.States.to.push.the.limit.to.15.stories.or.210.ft.(Ingalls.Building,.Figure 1.3)..In.the.same.year,.C..A..P..Turner.built.his.first.flat.slab.that.popularized. the.construction.of. reinforced.concrete.buildings. throughout. the.world.because.of.its.phenomenal.economy.and.convenience.(Soven.and.Siess,.1963)..The. next. important. height. achievement. was. in. Chicago’s. Executive. House. Hotel.that.reached.371.ft,.completed.in.1958..Convenient.access.to.6000.psi.concrete.and.the.concept.of.the.flat.plate.(derived.from.the.flat.slab).enabled.William.Schmidt.to.conceive.the.proportions.of.the.Lake.Point.Tower.(645.ft).in.1964,.which.was.note-worthy.not.only.because.of.its.height,.but.also.because.of.its.low.cost.(Figure 1.4).

The.height.of.Lake.Point.Tower.was.topped.by.the.White.Castle,.also.in.Chicago,.which.reached.961.ft..The.next.notable.jumps.were.to.1476.ft.in.the.Petronas.Twin.Towers. in. Kuala. Lumpur,. Malaysia,. and. 2684. ft. in. the. Burj. Khalifa. building. in.United.Arab.Emirates..Building.height,.also.influenced.by.the.state.of.the.economy,.is.a.good,.if.incomplete,.indicator.of.the.advances.in.building.technology.(Figure 1.5)..Reinforced. concrete. became. a. successful. building. medium. because. of. continual.improvements.in.its.strength,.its.economy,.its.durability,.its.fire.resistance,.and.its.beauty.(Figure 1.6)..The.Monier.and.Hennebique.experiments.with.bridges.in.rein-forced.concrete.introduced.the.other.aspect.of.reinforced.concrete:.its.“plasticity”.in.encouraging.elegance.in.the.hands.of.engineering.artists.such.as.Robert.Maillart.of.Switzerland.(Figure 1.7).and.Eduardo.Torroja.of.Spain.(Figure 1.8).

In. the.United.States,.creativity.of. the.builders. in. reinforced.concrete.was.sup-ported.by.research.in.U.S..laboratories..As.opposed.to.conceptual.developments.in.Europe.influenced.strongly.by.the.theory.of.elasticity,.A..N..Talbot.developed.design.methods.based.primarily.on.observation.*.The.effect.of.the.water–.cement.ratio.on.

*. His.influence.lasted.in.the.United.States.until.the.end.of.the.twentieth.century,.when.research.became.an.academic.requirement..One.of.his.students,.Mikishi.Abe,.took.Talbot’s.message.of.pragmatism.to.Japan,.where.it.is.still.strong.

figure 1.1 Boat.built. by. Joseph.Lambot,. 1849.. (Photo.courtesy.of. the.Musée.du.pays.Brignolais.)

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3A Brief History of Reinforced Concrete

concrete. strength.was.discovered.by.Duff.Abrams. in. the.early. twentieth.century..In.a.project.sponsored.by.the.membership.of.the.American.Concrete.Institute,.the.foundations.for.consistent.design.of.reinforced.concrete.columns.were.developed.by.F..E..Richart,.who.made.durable.contributions.to.many.aspects.of.design.

Hardy.Cross.worked.on.arches.and.frames.to.invent.methods.that.enabled.engi-neers.to.deal.with.continuity,.an.essential.requirement.for.designing.reinforced.con-crete. structures.. Cross’s. creation. of. the. moment-.distribution. method. popularized.the.use.of.reinforced.concrete.structures..However,.he.is.reported.to.have.said.that.his.method.was.too.exact.for.inexact.structures..He.thought.that.knowing.the.condi-tions.of.equilibrium.and.developing.a.sense.of.deflected.shapes.of.structural.elements.would.suffice.for.proportioning.of.continuous.frames..All.young.engineers.would.benefit.immensely.from.reading.Chapter 2.of.the.Cross–.Morgan.opus.on.continuous.frames.(Cross.and.Morgan,.1932)..Westergaard.was.successful.in.simplifying.plate.theory.for.use.in.design..N..M..Newmark.and.C..P..Siess.took.the.lead.in.developing.simple.design.methods.for.reinforced.concrete.structures.subjected.to.dynamic.loads.such.as.earthquake.and.blast.and.for.prestressed.concrete.buildings.and.bridges.

Creativity. in. reinforced. concrete. was. also. observed. in. the. construction. arena..Slip-.form. construction. was. first. used. to. build. silos.. Its. later. adaptation. to. build.

figure 1.2 First. reinforced.concrete.building. in. the.United.States.. (Port.Chester,.New.York,.1875)..(Photo.courtesy.of.Daniel.Case/Wikimedia.Commons.)

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4 Principles of Reinforced Concrete Design

reinforced.concrete.walls.revolutionized.the.construction.scene..This.was.matched.by.developments.in.precast.construction.

Because.concrete.has.a. tendency.to.change.its.volume.with.time,.methods.had.to.be.developed.to.control.negative.effects.of.such.changes,.especially. in.massive.concrete.structures.such.as.dams..The.Bureau.of.Reclamation.in.Denver,.Colorado,.provided.the.intellectual.underpinnings.for.the.achievement.of.such.magnificent.proj-ects.as.the.successful.construction.of.Boulder.and.Grand.Coulee.Dams.in.the.1930s.

Reinforced. concrete. continues. to. be. improved.. During. the. last. decade. of. the.twentieth.century,. the.compressive.strength.of.concrete.moved.well.above.10,000.psi.from.a.typical.4000.psi..Self-.consolidating.concrete.made.casting.of.complicated.shapes.an.easy.task..Every.aspect.of.the.short.history.of.reinforced.concrete.indi-cates.that.the.inventions.will.continue.

figure 1.3 Ingalls.Building,.Cincinnati,.Ohio,. 1902.. (From. the. U.. S.. Library. of.Congress,.American.Memory,.http://lcweb2.loc.gov.)

figure 1.4 Lake. Point. Tower,. Chicago,.Illinois,. 1964.. (From. John. Kershner/Shutterstock.com.)

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5A Brief History of Reinforced Concrete

figure 1.6 Nariwa.Museum.designed.by.Tadao.Ando,.Japan..(Photo.courtesy.of.N..Hanai.)

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19001904

19221958

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figure 1.5 Changes.in.maximum.height.of.reinforced.concrete.buildings.Copyrighted Material – Taylor & Francis

6 Principles of Reinforced Concrete Design

figure 1.7 Bridge. designed. by. Maillart,. Switzerland.. (From. Rama. [CC-BY-SA-2.0-fr.(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/fr/deed.en)],.Wikimedia.Commons.)

figure 1.8 Torroja’s.Aqueduct.in.Alloz,.Spain..(Photo.courtesy.of.Juan.Manuel.Galindo.de.Pablos.)

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7A Brief History of Reinforced Concrete

BARE ESSEnTIALS

Reinforced.concrete.became.a.successful.building.medium.because.of.continual.improvements.in.its.strength,.its.economy,.its.durability,.its.fire.resistance,.and.its.beauty.

The.ongoing.momentum.of.developments.in.its.strength,.its.durability,.and.its.pliability.to.fit.creative.architectural.demands.suggests.that.this.structural.composite.continues.to.be.wide.open.to.invention.

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