| Summary: | Concrete containing lightweight aggregates has been known since ancient times. To reduce weight, natural aggregates of volcanic origin, such as crushed lava or pumice, were used in construction purposes, for example for the Pyramids during the Mayan period in Mexico or for monumental structures in the Roman Empire. The most famous examples of this first application of lightweight aggregate concrete (LWAC) in Europe are certainly the Colosseum and the Pantheon. The Roman constructors used natural as well as artificial aggregates, such as pumice, crushed lava and crushed brick, to realise lightweight concrete applications in parts of these buildings. Still today, pumice is used in Germany, Italy, Japan and Iceland as aggregate for structural lightweight concrete.
|
|---|