Title: Some Notes on Reinforced Concrete

Author(s): A.L. Johnson

Publication: Journal Proceedings

Volume: 2

Issue: 1

Appears on pages(s): 121-129

Keywords: none

DOI: 10.14359/16397

Date: 1/1/1906

Abstract:
For several thousand years masonry structures have been constructed on the one principle that there must be no tension in the same, compression being practically the only element of strength available for duty. The reason for this was that the tensile strength of the stone or concrete masonry was very low, insignificant, in fact. In spite of the limitation thus put on designers, look at the wonderful structures that have come down to us. Now, suppose that the ancients four thousand years ago had had a masonry that was just as strong and reliable in tension as in compression, what would our structures look like today in that case? Many of them undoubtedly would be upside down and wrong end to, as compared with modern practice. What the ancients might have done under such circumstances it has been left for us to do, for we unquestionably have now in reinforced concrete a masonry construction that is even more reliable in tension than in compression, and we should realize more fully than we do the epoch making character of the innovation.