30-09-2002 01:04									#1
	Some more techs and wonders? Get a bigger avatar today!

Hey I was just thinking about some ideas that you might like to include into the mod. How about, Cement or Modern construction Techniques ? that could be required before and of the modern era wonders can be built such as the Chunnel, Hover Dam, Empire state Building, large span bridges with i guess advanced bridging or such? You can even make missle silos units? anyways i think you know what im getting at.

Keep it up!

heres the history of concrete for a tech description if you want it too.

Concrete is a material used in building construction, consisting of a hard, chemically inert particulate substance, known as an aggregate (usually made from different types of sand and gravel), that is bonded together by cement and water.

The Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as the bonding substance or cement. The Egyptians used lime and gypsum cement. In 1756, British engineer, John Smeaton made the first modern concrete (hydraulic cement) by adding pebbles as a coarse aggregate and mixing powered brick into the cement. In 1824, English inventor, Joseph Aspdin invented Portland Cement, which has remained the dominant cement used in concrete production. Aspdin created the first true artificial cement by burning ground limestone and clay together. The burning process changed the chemical properties of the materials and Aspdin created a stronger cement than what using plain crushed limestone would produce.

The other major part of concrete besides the cement is the aggregate. Aggregates include sand, crushed stone, gravel, slag, ashes, burned shale, and burned clay. Fine aggregate (fine refers to the size of aggregate) is used in making concrete slabs and smooth surfaces. Coarse aggregate is used for massive structures or sections of cement.

Concrete that includes imbedded metal (usually steel) is called reinforced concrete or ferroconcrete. Reinforced concrete was invented (1849) by Joseph Monier, who received a patent in 1867. Monier was a Parisian gardener who made garden pots and tubs of concrete reinforced with an iron mesh. Reinforced concrete combines the tensile or bendable strength of metal and the compressional strength of concrete to withstand heavy loads. Monier exhibited his invention at the Paris Exposition of 1867. Besides his pots and tubs, Monier promoted reinforced concrete for use in railway ties, pipes, floors, arches, and bridges.