One hundred thirty-seven years ago there were no cars, microwaves, or cell phones.
But there was concrete.
And just recently these 137-year-old concrete pieces collected from an MIT site came to our Lab for compression testing.
What a difference a century plus+ makes! Most likely mixed and poured by hand, this concrete looks different than today’s, with oversized aggregate throughout, and a piece of 1.5” stone aggregate included. Beautiful, really.
The results of the testing?
High compression strength, an average of over 7,000 psi!
It’s a process! Cubes are cut from samples.
Eventually they are capped.
Then tested.