Concrete for the construction industry of tomorrow

The construction industry has made impressive progress since reinforced concrete was introduced as structural material. At the beginning of the 20th century the first technical bulletin on "Tests of Reinforced Concrete Beams" published by Robert Talbot (1), and based on extended experimental work, opened the way to the modem use of reinforced concrete. Reinforced concrete was first used for factories, warehouses and low-rise residential houses. In 1903, the first high-rise in concrete (15 floors), the Ingalls Building in Cincinnati, Ohio, showed the suitability of concrete for tall structures, and the benefit of concrete over steel. Many sceptics believed that the 15-floor building would have collapsed on its own weight, when completed; in fact, it stood firmly on its foundations and opened new horizons to the construction industry. Even the comparison with steel constructions showed the superior safety of concrete in terms of fire resistance and it was a determining success factor for concrete after the "Great Fire" in Chicago in 1873. The technological changes and progress in the construction industry can be recognized in the development of high rises in the past century and the beginning of the currentone. Progress in the construction industry were essentially based on the improvement of materials, structural models and construction methods.