image creditThe chemical secrets of a concrete Roman breakwater that has spent the last 2,000 years submerged in the Mediterranean Sea have been uncovered by an international team of researchers led by Paulo Monteiro, a professor of civil and environmental engineering at the University of California, Berkeley.
Analysis of samples pinpointed why the best Roman concrete was superior to most modern concrete in durability, why its manufacture was less environmentally damaging - and how these improvements could be adopted in the modern world.
