Reinforced Concrete
Have you ever wondered why we often use reinforced concrete?
Well concrete is brittle and can break apart when it settles or even expands. So metal reinforcing is placed in the area to be concreted prior to pouring the concrete. The reinforcing may not always stop cracking, but it will prevent the cracked bits from moving up, down or apart.
This sort of reinforcing is millions of years old. Many bird species build mud nests for instance. The birds use flexible grass fibres to reinforce the mud and to hold the nest together. This is identical to what we do with concrete. Peewees construct reinforced mud nests. Have a close look the next time you see a peewee nest.
Early house versions of concrete were mud huts with grass or manure reinforcing. I presume that they learned this from the birds.
You can learn a lot from Nature.
Hooroo! Don.
