Research and Applications of Concrete During World War I Vyta
Engineering the Permanent Material: Research and Applications of Concrete During World War I Vyta Baselice, The George Washington University In 1904, the American Society for Testing Materials produced specifications for manufacturing cement. To test consistency, researchers were instructed to first create a paste by mixing cement with water, form it into a ball with their hands, and then complete the process by “tossing [the ball] six times from one hand to the other, maintained about six inches apart.”1 Resembling cooking rather than industrial manufacturing, early practices of cement testing were deeply inaccurate and unreliable. The making of concrete was similarly inconsistent, involving a haphazard pouring and mixing of various materials whose properties were virtually unknown and quantities poorly calculated. Research and application efforts of concrete during World War I radically transformed the making and testing of this “civilizing medium.” Indeed, American manufacturers reveled in the fact that while the invention of concrete could be traced to Europe, its elevation to a material of ubiquity rested in the expert hands of American researchers.2 Employing wartime scientific advances in geological research, testing, and construction, American scientists learned to engineer the material to build almost anything. This paper argues that the wartime investments that the American government, universities, and businesses made in concrete technologies cemented American dominance of the industry and shaped global knowledge of the material. By examining the work of governmental bodies and science organizations, like the Emergency Fleet Corporation and the National Research Council, alongside that of private players, like the Edison Portland Cement Company, the narrative brings to light the conflict’s transformation of the American concrete industry and its new positioning on the global stage.
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