Our Future Is (Literally) Crumbling Before Our Eyes

zero hedge ^ | 7-7-16 | Tyler Durden

[vannrox]

I did not know this and I am an Engineer that works with concrete from time to time.

[2 Kool 2 Be 4-Gotten]

I had no idea.

Where is the oxygen coming from to drive the oxidation (i.e. rust) process. From the concrete itself?

[2banana]

Funny how the German bunkers on the Normandy beaches still look pretty good.

Built in a tough war economy and with steel reinforced concrete...

[Bryanw92]

>>The sorts of predicaments the world faces — ranging from over $200 trillion in debt

That number always cracks me up. Who does the “world” owe $200T to? Aliens? /s

[DH]

The ingredients in concrete are highly caustic. You can consider it a type of acid.

[Sequoyah101]

I am a civil engineer and know this very well. But it is not the disaster he makes it out to be. ZH is a home for fearmongers.

Stuff happens.

The biggest waste is the stupid windmills. Not only that, they are a blight on the land.

[Captain7seas]

“...unsustainable addiction to fossil fuels,”

I stopped reading right there.

[CMB_polarization]

This is like Marty watching himself fade out of pictures in “Back to the Future”. WE have to do the right thing or cease to exist.

[D Rider]

It is not the reinforcement at all. Portland cement has a limited lifespan in and of itself. It is not at all the same formulation as Roman cement. Also, modern design wants the concrete to crack first. While this allows exposure to the steel, it reduces the risk of catastrophic failure.

[Iron Munro]

The Brooklyn Bridge (built in 1883) and other structures of the era were built of solid limestone, granite and mortar, not steel reinforced concrete.

The bridge anchorages, bases and towers are solid structures of stone masonry.

Each of the masonry towers contains about 90,000 tons of limestone and granite stone blocks and tops out at 276 feet in height.

The stone war largely mined about 100 miles away in the foothill;s of the Catskill mountains and the huge blocks were transported by barge down the Hudson River to the bridge site.

http://www.catskillarchive.com/rrextra/bbstory.Html

The bridge is now over 130 years old and still as solid as the day it was built.

[D Rider]

This was what was called working stress design. The steel is not designed to yield, so the concrete does not crack, therefore the steel is protected.

[lepton]

What is that lighthouse near the bridge?

[exDemMom]

In a prior companion piece to this article, I quoted a study which determined that to simply meet the wind power goal put forth in the recent Paris accord, the world would have to massively upshift from installing 37 wind towers per day currently to more than 1,300 per day by 2028.

Would any birds survive that?

[sauropod]

Durden doesn’t cover the whole issue.

While it is true that Rebar rusts from the inside, for roads and the bottom of some buildings located near streets, there is significant salt and brine that is applied to the roadways and sidewalks. Add to that the wear and tear from moving vehicles over a period of time, and potholes develop.

The quality of the concrete’s constituents also matter. Cheap constituents yield an inferior product.

There are solutions to this - see UHPC - but the cost/yard is prohibitive.

‘Pod.

[2ndDivisionVet]

Is oil a renewable resource?
http://www.cfact.org/2012/09/19/is-oil-a-renewable-resource/

[fieldmarshaldj]

I’m trying to find out more about that structure myself, without success. It doesn’t exist anymore as far as I can tell.

[CincyRichieRich]

Stuff dies and rots. As long as it happens fossil fuels are formed.

[2ndDivisionVet]

The Russians and others disagree with you.

[familyop]

"Where is the oxygen coming from to drive the oxidation (i.e. rust) process. From the concrete itself?"

Concrete is porous.

[kearnyirish2]

One very big issue already facing many areas in the US is the fact that there is nobody to raise the money to fix these things; as the “makers” dwindle in number the “takers” certainly have no interest in contributing towards infrastructure improvements (or anything else related to a common good). Even if we don’t “owe” money to aliens, we certainly have nothing but IOUs left to repair this stuff.