Concrete is one of the most common construction materials on earth today. It is used in many buildings, statues, and wonders of the world. Sometimes we forget how important it really is. It’s not just something hard that helps buildings stay up, it’s something that keeps us standing and stable, and allows us to enjoy different places and events. It’s crazy how much of an impact that concrete has on the world. Spot On Concrete provides one of the most important materials in the world (concrete) in the Yorkshire area and services to deliver the concrete that you need, including ready-mix concrete, floor screed, concrete pumping, and even more effective concrete services. Luckily, there isn’t a shortage of concrete in the world yet, but what would the world be like if we never had concrete in the first place?
There would be no roads or paths and there would be dust everywhere…
One of the most common uses for concrete is for roads and paths. The type of concrete that is used on roads is called asphalt concrete. Without asphalt concrete, all of the cars would have to drive on dirt or mud, meaning everything would be dusty and dirty. In the UK, there are approximately 32.9 million driving license holders, imagine the amount of mess that would make! Not having concrete roads would not just make a mess, it would also make it extremely difficult to travel. Without concrete, we would not be able to construct motorways. Imagine trying to drive across the country on a busy road made from dirt or mud? Concrete roads also allow us to have more grip on the road, keeping us safer. Markings are also easy to apply to concrete, so it allows us to have structure on the road and keep safe. To summarise, if we didn’t have concrete, everywhere would be filled with dust, it would be dangerous to drive and there would be no real structure on the road. How lucky are we to have concrete?
We wouldn’t be able to watch concerts and sports as we do…
Most stadiums and arenas across the globe use concrete for its steps and structure. This is because the strength of the material is capable of holding thousands of us at once. An example of this is Wembley Stadium in London, a 90,000 capacity stadium that is famous for being the home of the England national team, as well as hosting many cup finals every single year and concerts for some of the biggest artists across the globe. Concrete is one of the main building materials for Wembley Stadium. It helps to support all of the seats and keep the structure of the stadium. Without concrete, it is unlikely that they would be able to construct a stadium that can facilitate 90,000 people, meaning that tickets for live events would be very limited and you would not often get the opportunity to watch your favourite teams play or your favourite artists perform. To conclude, if we didn’t have concrete, we wouldn’t have the Wembley we have today, and the owners of Sky Sports would be even richer than what they are.
The mountains in Rio de Janeiro would be empty…
Rio de Janeiro is home to one of the wonders of the world. Standing on top of the mountains and surveilling the great, vibrant city of Rio de Janeiro is Christ the Redeemer. The statue was constructed in 1931 and was funded by the Catholic Church as it was Vincentian priest, Pedro Maria Boss’s idea in the 1850s for it to be constructed and to look over the city in honour princess Isabel, daughter of the Brazilian emperor, Pedro II. It is constructed from reinforced concrete with an outer shell of soapstone. The monument measures an incredible 124 feet tall and stands at the 2,310-foot tall summit of the mountain. It is so large that it can be seen all across Rio de Janeiro. Over 1.8 million people visit Christ the Redeemer each year and its record amount of tourists in a single day is 14,000. Without concrete, this incredible structure would not exist and Brazil would not be established for the monument like it is today. If you are planning to visit Rio de Janeiro soon or in the future, it’s worth checking out this helpful guide by the Telegraph on traveling to Rio de Janeiro.
It would be more difficult to cross rivers…
Across the globe, many bridges are constructed with concrete as it is a sturdy, strong and reliable construction material. The Humber Bridge, one of the UK’s most famous bridges, is primarily constructed with concrete. The bridge crosses the river Humber and supports the A15 to connect Barton-upon-Humber with Hessle in Hull, East Yorkshire. The bridge was opened to traffic on the 24th June 1981 for Traffic and is widely used by traffic in the UK. If we did not have the Humber Bridge, travel across East Yorkshire and Lincolnshire would prove extremely difficult. If we didn’t have concrete, we wouldn’t lose all of our bridges as many have been constructed from stone and steel, but we would lose some incredibly important bridges such as the bridges that span across the busy streets of London. Bridges add extra road which helps to reduce congestion and decrease journey time. Concrete is a vital material for modern bridges as it can sustain a large amount of weight from a vast amount of pedestrians and vehicles. Although bridges have been around for centuries, older bridges with older construction materials would not be effective with the worlds growing population and amount of new vehicles.
Buildings wouldn’t be as stable…
Most modern buildings are constructed with concrete to ensure stability. This includes offices, houses, flats, skyscrapers, shops and more. Without concrete, we would have to rely on bricks, wood or other building materials for building stability. Using these materials for construction projects have massive disadvantages, for example, using bricks for stability would be extremely time consuming and would not always be completely accurate. Another example of a disadvantage would be using wood. Wood can be unstable and is also not fire resistant like concrete. Concrete is a material that we should not take for granted.
For concrete to be used for buildings, it has to be pumped into the building during construction. This is done with large concrete pumps called boom pumps. Boom pumps are capable of reaching large heights and depths to pump. At Spot On Concrete, we have boom pumps to hire in the West Yorkshire and Greater Manchester area for your construction projects. Using concrete pumping has incredible benefits such as saving labor time, faster delivery of concrete, reducing scheduling logistics and even more. Please refer to our concrete pumping page for more information or call us today on 01422 898197.
Our Concrete
Spot On Concrete are renown concrete providers in West Yorkshire, who always put the needs of their customers and clients first. For multiple years we have helped to contribute in small and large construction projects across the region. Feel free to browse our website and discover our capabilities. If you are interested in one of our services, feel free to request a quote or call us on 01422 898197.
