Chapter 214 (1/2)
”Chief, what is cement? Is it a mixture of mud and water? But it's not like that... ”After thinking for a long time, David Addison couldn't describe what the mixture of mud and water should be called.
”It's not a mixture of mud and water, but rather a dry powder. This kind of powder will turn into something like mud when it meets with water, but it will harden within dozens of hours. When it hardens and becomes solid, it's very, very hard, just like rock. This kind of powder with this property, I call it cement. ” Stone bear patted his head and explained that he realized at this time that the word cement didn't appear.
After hearing this explanation from the stone bear, brother gaigai, who didn't speak much, seemed to think of something. He asked, ”chief, is this kind of thing you're talking about burned with limestone containing clay and volcanic ash?”
Stone bear hesitated for a moment. He didn't know the formula of cement in this period, but he knew that about ten years ago, a British engineer did develop the method of mixing limestone and pozzolanic ash with clay, and the final product was similar to modern cement.
The engineer's research laid a theoretical foundation for modern cement.
So the stone bear nodded and said, ”almost. Why, bill, do you know this thing?”
Bill Gates nodded thoughtfully: ”if the powder you said has that property, I think the kind of thing I have seen before should be the cement you said. But the kind of thing I've seen in England before is not called cement, but hydraulic lime. ”
After a pause, brother Gai continued to explain: ”before I came to England, my father had a good friend who was a construction engineer. His name was James Smeaton. He was very good at studying some building materials. I remember that about nine years ago, before Mary was born, Mr. Smeaton made a research, that is, the kind of limestone containing clay and volcanic ash mixed together, calcined, and then ground into powder, and finally made things with water can quickly condense, the object after condensation is very hard, and rock is no different. Mr. Smeaton called this powdery thing hydraulic lime
After hearing what brother Gai said, Shi Xiong knew that the hydraulic lime produced by Mr. Smeaton was actually cement, but it was not as perfect as the modern cement of later generations.
In fact, cement was invented a long time ago, dating back to ancient Rome.
In the ancient Roman period, the ancient Romans began to use the mixture of lime and pozzolanic ash in their buildings. The concrete made of cemented gravel with it not only has higher strength after hardening, but also can resist the erosion of fresh water or saline water.
However, it seems that the prototype or theoretical basis of modern cement is really created by the construction engineer named Smeaton. Unexpectedly, Smeaton engineer is brother Gai's father's good friend.
The stone bear asked brother Gai happily, ”bill, have you ever seen Mr. Smeaton burning cement? Or can you burn it? ”
This question is just a casual question of stone bear. Although brother gaige's family conditions were not good at that time, he was also a noble, even a poor noble. How could a noble do this kind of cement burning work?
But surprise sometimes comes so suddenly.
”Yes, the brick kiln Mr. Smeaton built for firing hydraulic lime was not far from my home, so I often saw Mr. Smeaton and his workers firing this kind of thing. Chief, you know, I was already obsessed with alchemy at that time. I felt that this magical powder seemed to have a certain role in promoting my alchemy, so I used to help several times when I was free... ”