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Post by daves on Sept 1, 2023 7:14:51 GMT
The rubbish RAAC used to build schools, now resulting in 104 of them having to be closed just before the school term starts. Apparently it's now "end of life" after only 30 years.
What's wrong with us? Two thousand years ago the Romans built the Pantheon with concrete and it's still standing, including the largest self supported dome built for millennia.
I despair of our cheap and nasty "chuck it away" society.
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Post by Fenris on Sept 1, 2023 8:16:59 GMT
Some of them are after 50-60yrs as well. But I agree, the build them cheap mentally never works.
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Post by MJB on Sept 1, 2023 8:17:14 GMT
They were talking about Roman concrete on the QI Elves slot on the wireless yesterday. We still don't fully understand what made it so good, but they have discovered it had self-healing properties and the white grit they initially thought was impurities, are in fact the key to it repairing itself. When it comes into contact with moisture it starts a chain reaction that repairs the cracks that allowed the water ingress.
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Post by daves on Sept 1, 2023 8:48:37 GMT
And yet we can do things with materials that would seem magical to the Romans. Just one example that Geoff will be familiar with, single crystal jet engine turbine blades that hold their strength at red heat. It still astonishes me that we can do such things.
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Post by geoffr on Sept 1, 2023 9:32:06 GMT
And yet we can do things with materials that would seem magical to the Romans. Just one example that Geoff will be familiar with, single crystal jet engine turbine blades that hold their strength at red heat. It still astonishes me that we can do such things. Single crystal blades are indeed wondrous things. RAAC has been around since the ‘50s why it was still being used in the ‘90s is the disturbing thing. |
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Post by nickr on Sept 1, 2023 9:41:45 GMT
And yet we can do things with materials that would seem magical to the Romans. Just one example that Geoff will be familiar with, single crystal jet engine turbine blades that hold their strength at red heat. It still astonishes me that we can do such things. We're typically very good at cutting edge stuff. We're much less good at making cheap last. |
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Post by spinno on Sept 1, 2023 9:43:09 GMT
After the war ( go on Grandad tell them how hard times were) there was a need to rebuild the country, and indeed expand. No money meant cheap was the way to go, no doubt with the thought process "something better and cheaper will come along".
We've seen how that works time and again - it doesn't.
The Victorians seemed to get a lot of this stuff right, however when Victorian stuff does fail it's usually lack of maintenance and over-use e.g., the sewers.
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Post by peterba on Sept 1, 2023 9:47:33 GMT
The rubbish RAAC used to build schools, now resulting in 104 of them having to be closed just before the school term starts. Apparently it's now "end of life" after only 30 years.
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Post by JohnY on Sept 1, 2023 10:18:48 GMT
The rubbish RAAC used to build schools, now resulting in 104 of them having to be closed just before the school term starts. Apparently it's now "end of life" after only 30 years. What's wrong with us? Two thousand years ago the Romans built the Pantheon with concrete and it's still standing, including the largest self supported dome built for millennia. I despair of our cheap and nasty "chuck it away" society.
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Post by peterob on Sept 1, 2023 11:44:37 GMT
The rubbish RAAC used to build schools, now resulting in 104 of them having to be closed just before the school term starts. Apparently it's now "end of life" after only 30 years. What's wrong with us? Two thousand years ago the Romans built the Pantheon with concrete and it's still standing, including the largest self supported dome built for millennia. I despair of our cheap and nasty "chuck it away" society. There is absolutely nothing wrong with building something with a 30 year life span. What is unforgivable is not planning for its timely replacement. |
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Post by JohnY on Sept 1, 2023 12:12:17 GMT
When did it become known that RAAC only had a 30 year life span?
Does the life span depend on the weather proof-ness of the top surface of the roof?
Have beams of RAAC been used for flooring on multi-storey buildings?
Is RAAC safe in walls?
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Post by mick on Sept 1, 2023 12:35:12 GMT
After the war ( go on Grandad tell them how hard times were) there was a need to rebuild the country, and indeed expand. No money meant cheap was the way to go, no doubt with the thought process "something better and cheaper will come along". We've seen how that works time and again - it doesn't. The Victorians seemed to get a lot of this stuff right, however when Victorian stuff does fail it's usually lack of maintenance and over-use e.g., the sewers. I think that you should do some research. Many Victorian houses suffer from major issues. No damp course, sometimes very inadequate foundations, poor ventilation and so on. It's a fallacy to think that they got it all right.
Mick
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Post by spinno on Sept 1, 2023 20:35:06 GMT
After the war ( go on Grandad tell them how hard times were) there was a need to rebuild the country, and indeed expand. No money meant cheap was the way to go, no doubt with the thought process "something better and cheaper will come along". We've seen how that works time and again - it doesn't. The Victorians seemed to get a lot of this stuff right, however when Victorian stuff does fail it's usually lack of maintenance and over-use e.g., the sewers. I think that you should do some research. Many Victorian houses suffer from major issues. No damp course, sometimes very inadequate foundations, poor ventilation and so on. It's a fallacy to think that they got it all right.
Mick
My research is based on thirty odd years of working with property, knowing how solid most of what we would call vanity projects were constructed. Actually most of the recent slums (I lived in one) weren't built by the Victorians but those who came after, including the Elizabethans particularly in the late 1950s and 1960s. A little bit of tlc often solved Victorian housing issues, but no-one is perfect. |
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Post by spinno on Sept 1, 2023 20:36:18 GMT
Oh by the way I didn't say they got it right all the time.
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Post by mick on Sept 2, 2023 6:25:50 GMT
Oh by the way I didn't say they got it right all the time. Oh by the way I didn't say that they got it all wrong. 
Mick
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