ADVANTAGES OF REINFORCED CONCRETE AS A STRUCTURAL
MATERIAL
Reinforced concrete may
be the most important material available for construction. It is used in one form or
another for almost all structures, great or small-buildings, bridges, pavements,
dams; retaining walls, tunnels, drainage and irrigation facilities, tanks, and so
on.
The tremendous success of
this universal construction material can be understood quite easily if its
numerous advantages are considered. These include the following:
1)
It has
considerable compressive strength as compared to most other materials.
2)
Reinforced concrete has great resistance to the actions
of fire and water and, in fact, is the best structural material available for
situations where water is present. During fires of average intensity, members
with a satisfactory cover of concrete over the reinforcing bars suffer only
surface damage without failure.
3)
Reinforced concrete structures are very rigid.
4)
It is
a low-maintenance material.
5)
As compared with other materials, it has a very long
service life. Under proper conditions, reinforced concrete structures can be
used indefinitely without reduction of their load-carrying abilities. This can
be explained by the fact that the strength of concrete does not decrease with
time but actually increases over a very long period, measured in years, due to
the lengthy process of the solidification of the cement paste.
6)
It is
usually the only economical material available for footings, basement walls, piers,
and similar applications.
7)
A special feature of concrete is its ability to be cast
into an extraordinary variety of shapes from simple slabs, beams, and columns
to great arches and shells.
8)
In most areas, concrete takes advantage of inexpensive
local materials (sand, gravel, and water) and requires relatively small amounts
of cement and reinforcing steel, which may
have to be shipped in from other parts of the country.
9)
A lower grade of skilled labor is required for erection
as compared to other materials such as structural steel.
