What Have The Romans Ever Done For Us?

[The Grand Nudger]

As the article lays out...it's the rebar inside the concrete, that have made our concrete structures inferior over long spans of time.  Given adequate maintenance, our shit trounces their shit hands down....but for some reason...we don't have the money to keep those nice things we have in working condition.......but we do have the money to hand out historic bonuses for breath-takingly bad management of the same.

[Minimalist]

The Parthenon is not built of concrete though nor was it built by the Romans.  Rather marble columns on a limestone base.  Even so, until the Turks used it as an ammo dump... and a lucky shot by the Venetian navy blew it up the Parthenon was in amazing shape.

Of greater threat to it is Athens' notorious air pollution which is damaging the limestone and marble.

[Anomalocaris]

The Roman pantheon was maintained throughout its history because it was gifted to the Roman Catholic Church shortly after the fall of Rome in 476AD.  It was never really abused or plundered, at least not until the Roman Catholic Church decided to melt down all of its bronze fitting to make the canopy for the altar in St. Peter's.

So it had a much easier life than the Parthenon, or most other buildings remaining from the antiquity.

Also, pantheon's concrete roof is hardly economic.   The roof is 21 foot thick and weigh 5000 tons. Modern steel roof would be a fraction of its weight.

[Spirian]

[Regina]

Random question and might be obvious but, how do they keep the rain out of The Pantheon? There's a giant hole in the roof?

I'd love to go see it in person. Rome looks so magical

[Anomalocaris]

Random question and might be obvious but, how do they keep the rain out of The Pantheon? There's a giant hole in the roof?

I'd love to go see it in person. Rome looks so magical

They don't keep the rain out.

[Regina]

Random question and might be obvious but, how do they keep the rain out of The Pantheon? There's a giant hole in the roof?

I'd love to go see it in person. Rome looks so magical

They don't keep the rain out.

So what they just get wet and let the floor get slippy?

[Joods]

Galvanizing the steel would go a long ways, I think.

I used to babysit for the owner of the Baltimore Galvanizing Co. some 30 years ago. I don't know if he still owns the company, but it was my understanding that to galvanize the metal, was to actually coat it with some rust-proof material.

[The Grand Nudger]

No such thing as rust proof, particularly over the spans of time being considered. Think of it like this...oxygen proofing, and good luck.

[Minimalist]

They don't keep the rain out.

So what they just get wet and let the floor get slippy?




The Romans were far too good at water management to allow that.  There are drains in the floor.