1 We have all the means for better concrete

Adam Neville, who is a part of the history of concrete, gave 10 years ago, a most notable lecture about "Concrete in the Year 2000" at a RILEM Conference 1992 in Athens. I like to quote his closing words, which he spoke as an "apologia", or as a "justification" for the scepticism expressed in his lecture:

There is no doubt that concrete is a most useful and versatile material, and it is highly unlikely that it will be supplanted by any other material in the foreseeable future. My pessimism stems from the fact that we have not improved the quality of ordinary concrete as much as we could by simply using existing knowledge and technology.

What I have tried to do is to ram home the message that we have in our possession all the means necessary to do better in the use of ordinary concrete. So there is a method in my madness: I am trying to incite those concerned with concrete construction into doing better, and then better still.

But if one looks at the field of floors in industry, one cannot help but conclude that concrete is actually nearly useless as an industrial floor, if only because of its joints, cracks and because of an always dusting surface. Because of this relative "uselessness", polymers in and/or on concrete are indispensable. Improvement of the situation is possible by adequate training of skilled workers. I shall return to this point later.