Construction materials are like the cells of the human body because without them construction wouldn’t have been possible. They form the basis of a building.
From ancient times, human beings have used naturally occurring materials like rocks, clay, sand, wood, and so on for building purposes. Nowadays, apart from these materials, builders use many man-made products with varying properties and synthetic constitution.
Man-made construction materials include cement, steel, binding wires, etc, which makes the building stronger and more durable to natural calamities and other external factors. It is crucial for the builder or the realtor to carefully pick out the construction materials, and make sure they are of good quality and can provide the building with a long-lasting journey.
Studies have proven that concrete is the most utilized substance, second only to water, with daily usage of 3 tonnes per person in a year.
Here are a few infamous construction materials used all over the world, that increases the longevity and the endurance of the construction:
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1. Cement
Cement, when dry, is a powdery grey substance that is obtained from calcined lime and clay. Cement is the basic binding material used in constructions, because of its excellent adherent properties which keep the whole structure upright.
It is nowadays heavily used to bind gravel and sand which forms the foundation of any construction. Check out https://civilmart.com.au/ for more types of construction materials.
2. Structural Steel
Structural steel is a type of steel that is bendable and is widely used in the construction industry. It can take the form of many shapes and figures. It is tensile, that is, it is stretchable and ductile and can withstand great stress.
Because of having a high strength-to-weight ratio, no matter how large the construction is, small and lightweight steel sections can bear the weight, which makes it extremely important. Plus, it is cost-effective and affordable.
3. Rebar steel
Also known as reinforcement bars or reinforcement steel, rebars are devices that generally come in meshes of steel wires and are used to provide tensile strength to the concrete, thereby creating reinforced concrete.
It provides an aid to the concrete, which has a very low degree of tensile strength. Rebars actually hold the whole construction together and prevent the project from breaking down when cracks start to develop.
4. Bitumen
Bitumen is a construction product obtained from the fractional distillation of crude petroleum oil. It is a non-crystalline, thick, and viscous compound with excellent adhesive properties, which are derived mainly from the oil, through a natural or a synthetic process.
Bitumen has a variety of applications. It is mainly used for the construction of roads and streets, for waterproofing various objects, and many more. Because of its cost-effectiveness and durability, bitumen is primarily used for road construction.
5. Fly Ash
Fly Ash, also known as coal ash, is basically the end product that is formed after the combustion of coal. It appears as a fine, greyish-black powder and is largely produced as by-products in coal stations. It has pozzolanic characters and ends up forming cement-like Materials when reacted with lime.
Fly Ash is primarily used as the main component in many cementitious materials and is used as a supplementary cementitious material (SCM) to produce Portland cement concrete. Fly Ash is generally used in road construction, along with the construction of buildings and is a much more economical substitute for concrete and cement.
6. Bricks
As the building blocks in LEGO, bricks are literally the building blocks of a construction piece. They generally find uses in the making of buildings, sidewalks, walls, and other masonry constructions.
Bricks are rectangular blocks and are typically made from clay and mud and are burnt and baked in furnaces of tremendous high temperature. Nowadays, bricks made from calcium silicate and concrete are also very much in the use by the construction industry.
Bricks are either conjoined together with the help of cement and mortar or interlocked to give the structure a standing shape. They come in different shapes and sizes, with the types of bricks varying with the chemicals and materials used to make them.
Over to you…
It is very critical for the builder to be careful and aware when choosing the materials with which the building would be built. As I have mentioned above, these materials are the key to strong construction and are essential for the longevity of the construction.
