Civil Engineering & Construction vocabulary · Concrete and Steel
Concrete
Meaning in civil engineering & construction, with examples
/ˈkɑːŋkriːt/nounCore term
In civil engineering & construction, concrete means: A building material made by mixing cement, water, sand and gravel. It is placed while wet and hardens into a strong, stone-like mass.
In Turkish: beton
How it is used
The most common word on any site. Concrete is ordered, delivered, poured, vibrated and cured; fresh concrete can still be worked, while hardened concrete has set. Strength classes are written like C30/37.
Example sentences
The concrete for the basement walls is booked for seven o'clock.
Nobody adds water to the concrete on site; it reduces the strength.
Common collocations
pour concrete
fresh concrete
concrete mix
concrete truck
mass concrete
Related terms
cementA fine grey powder that reacts with water and hardens. It is the binder that glues sand and gravel together in concrete and mortar.
aggregateSand, gravel or crushed stone that is mixed with cement and water to make concrete. It makes up most of the volume of concrete and of road layers.
reinforced concreteConcrete with steel bars or mesh cast inside it. The concrete resists compression and the steel resists tension, so together they make strong beams, slabs and columns.
curingKeeping newly placed concrete moist and at a suitable temperature for several days so that the cement keeps reacting and the concrete reaches its full strength.
compressive strengthHow much crushing pressure a material, especially concrete, can take before it fails. For concrete it is measured in megapascals (MPa) on cubes or cylinders, usually at 28 days.
