History of concrete (1830-1890)

1830

• The first production of lime and hydraulic cement took place in Canada.

1830s

• New York's Obadiah Parker develops a cement similar to Aspdin's and builds a number of houses using monolithic walls.

1836

• The first systematic tests of tensile and compressive strength took place in Germany.

1843

• J. M. Mauder, Son & Co. was licensed to produce patented Portland cement.

1845

• Isaac Johnson claims to have burned the raw materials of Portland cement to clinkering temperatures.

1849

• Pettenkofer & Fuches performed the first accurate chemical analysis of Portland cement.

1850

• Joseph Monier, a French nurseryman, conceived and developed a form of reinforced concrete in an effort to build a durable flowerpot.

1854

• Louis Cézanne invents the hand-operated concrete mixer.

1855

• Francois Coignet invents a system to combining concrete with iron joists.

1860

• The beginning of the era of Portland cements of modern composition.

1867

• Joseph Monier, of France, reinforced William Wand's (USA) flowerpots with wire ushering in the idea of iron reinforcing bars (re-bar).

1868

• Chicagoan, G. A. Frear, sets up a manufacturing plant to make his patented concrete block including pieces with decorative trim to substitute for expensive carved stone. Many of his blocks survived the Chicago Fire in 1871.

1871

• David O. Saylor was issued the first American patent for Portland cement in Copley, Pennsylvania. He showed the importance of true clinkering.

1879

• In Scotland, a concrete road was built that used Portland cement for binding and which exhibited a very good surface, but which ultimately broke apart.

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1880

• J. Grant of England showed the importance of using the hardest and densest portions of the clinker. Key ingredients were being chemically analyzed.

1886

• The first rotary kiln was introduced in England to replace the vertical shaft kilns.

1887

• Henri le Chatelier of France established oxide ratios to prepare the proper amount of lime to produce Portland cement.

1889

• The first concrete reinforced bridge is built.

1890

• The addition of gypsum when grinding clinker to act as a retardant to the setting of concrete was introduced in the U.S. Vertical shaft kilns were replaced with rotary kilns and ball mills were used for grinding cement.