they started using rebar in masonry in the 15th century.
they started using rebar in masonry in the 15th century.
when did they start using rebar in masonry?
15th century
reinforcing bars in masonry construction have been used since at least the 15th century (2,500 meters of rebar was used in the château de vincennes). during the 18th century, rebar was used to form the carcass of the leaning tower of nevyansk in russia, built on the orders of the industrialist akinfiy demidov. the cast iron used for the rebar was of high quality, and there is no corrosion on the bars to this day. the carcass of the tower was connected to its cast iron tented roof, crowned with one of the first known lightning rods. however, it was not until the mid-19th century that rebar displayed its greatest strengths with the embedding of steel bars into concrete, thus producing modern reinforced concrete. several people in europe and north america developed reinforced concrete in the 1850s. these include joseph-louis lambot of france, who built reinforced concrete boats in paris (1854) and thaddeus hyatt of the united states, who produced and tested reinforced concrete beams. joseph monier of france is one of the most notable figures for the invention and popularization of reinforced concrete. as a french gardener, monier patented reinforced concrete flower pots in 1867, before proceeding to build reinforced concrete water tanks and bridges.
rebar
concrete masonry walls may be ungrouted, partially grouted, or fully grouted, the latter two enhancing their structural strength. additionally, steel reinforcement bars (rebar) can be used both vertically and horizontally inside a cmu wall to maximize its structural performance. the cells in which the rebar is placed must be grouted for the bars to bond to the wall. for this reason, high seismic zones typically only allow fully grouted walls in their building codes. the american design code that guides design engineers in using cmu as a structural system is the "masonry standards joint committee's building code requirements & specification for masonry structures" (tms 402/aci 530/asce 5). the compressive strength of concrete masonry units and masonry walls varies from approximately to based on the type of concrete used to manufacture the unit, stacking orientation, the type of mortar used to build the wall, and other factors.
concrete masonry unit