Concrete
Properies
Concrete is a composite construction material composed
primarily of aggregate, cement, and water.
Concrete is widely used for making architectural structures,
foundations, brick walls, pavements,
bridges, motorways, runways, parking structures, dams, reservoirs, pipes,
footings for gates, fences and poles and even boats.
Concrete
has relatively high compressive strength, but much lower tensile
strength. For this reason it is usually reinforced with materials that
are strong in tension. Concrete can be damaged by many processes, such
as the freezing pf trapped water.
Environment Impact
The environmental impact of concrete is a complex mixture of
not entirely negative effects: while
concrete is a major contributor to greenhouse gas emissions, recycling of
concrete is increasingly common in structures that have reached the end of their
life. Structures made of concrete can have a long service life. As concrete has
a high thermal mass and very low permeability, it can make for energy efficient
housing.
Marble
Properties
Marble -- formed from limestone with heat and pressure over
years in the earth's crust. These pressure or forces cause the limestone to
change in texture and makeup. The process is called recrystallization.
Fossilized materials in the limestone, along with its original carbonate
minerals, recrystallize and form large, coarse grains of calcite.Crushed or ground marble is also used in paving roads and in
manufacturing roofing materials and soil treatment products.
Construction marble is a stone which is composed of calcite,
dolomite or serpentine which is capable of taking a polish. More generally in
construction, specifically the dimension stone trade, the term
"marble" is used for any crystalline calcitic rock useful as building
stone. For example, Tennessee marble is really a dense granular fossiliferous
gray to pink to maroon Ordovician limestone that geologists call the Holston
Formation.
Brick
Properties
Bricks
are used for building, block paving and pavement. Modern clay bricks are formed
in one of three processes - soft mud, dry press, or extruded. Normally, brick
contains the ingredients: Sand, Clay, Lime, Iron oxide and Magnesia.
A brick's compressive strength is based on its solidness or
hollowness, its base material and the method is used to fire the raw materials
into their final consistency. When bricks with a high compressive strength are
used to build a structure, that structure will be very strong because of the
quality of the materials.
