In the quest to build better for the future, some are looking for answers in the long-ago past.
Ancient builders across the world created structures that are still standing today, thousands of years later — from Roman engineers who poured thick concrete sea barriers, to Maya masons who crafted plaster sculptures to their gods, to Chinese builders who raised walls against invaders.
Yet scores of more recent structures are already staring down their expiration dates: The concrete that makes up much of our modern world has a lifespan of around 50 to 100 years.
Also, it just takes a lot more mass to produce a structure out of bulk concrete, and you can’t build something like a high rise out of it.
There’s new developments in concrete reinforcement which have the potential to replace rebar and last longer, but they’re very new