I AM CONCRETE

Of the many building materials of construction, I am one that is crucial, most suitable and perfected, having historical value. The unison of two towns to one in 1909, gave way to my name, Concrete. Before me, my co-building material, Wood was used for the construction of an entire building, but Wood being flammable burnt down due to the fires in the early 1900’s. The humans thus wanted an inflammable material for their buildings, that would also be economical and ample in supply, therefore many Wooden Buildings were replaced by me by 1921. After they found me strong and capable to withstand fires and many other accidents, be it natural, depending on a properly proportioned mixture that gave birth to me every time, the humans soon constructed different structures with me, such as dams and bridges.
Properly Proportioned Mix is what makes me just right, without the ratio of the constituents that unify to make me, I am incapable and worthless. I owe my life to cement and water that bind me together, along with a hard, chemically inert particulate substance, known as aggregate; usually made from different types of sand and gravel.
According to the history of Humans on Cement, the Assyrians and Babylonians used clay as the bonding substance or cement. The Egyptians used lime and gypsum cement. In 1756, a British engineer, John Smeaton made the first hydraulic cement by adding pebbles as a coarse aggregate and mixing powered brick into the cement; this they said was a modern version of me. In 1824, English inventor, Joseph Aspdin invented Portland cement, which has remained a dominant cement type used for my production. Joseph 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 Joseph Aspdin created stronger cement than what using plain crushed limestone would produce.
The other major part of me besides cement is the aggregate. Aggregates include sand, crushed stone, gravel, slag, ashes, burned shale, and burned clay. A Fine sized aggregate is used in making slabs and smooth surfaces with me. Coarse (rough,graded in size) aggregate is used for massive structures or sections of cement.
I am one that is weak in tension but strong in compression, tension and compression being terms of physics. Humans, always experimenting and reaching for newer goals, trying to reach for the sky with a desire to make their mark on it, required a material strong in both tension and compression, in order to make buildings as high as the sky and structures with large spans. In 1849, Joseph Monier, a Parisian Gardner, who would make garden pots and tubs from me would also reinforce these pots by an iron mesh.
Once metal, usually steel, is embedded within me, I am known as reinforced concrete of ferroconcrete. Joseph Monier exhibited his invention at the Paris Exposition of 1867. His invention and ideas promoted the reinforced version of me for use in railway ties, pipes, floors, arches, and bridges.
Now that I am reinforced, my compression strength combined with the tensile or bendable and flexible strength of metal, I withstand any and all heavy loads, be it a dam, a bridge or a skyscraper, I stand tall, spanned and strong.

Bibliography:
http://www.concrete-wa.com/history.html
http://inventors.about.com/library/inventors/blconcrete.html