Thursday, April 28, 2011
Why not concrete?
Tornado outbreaks always make me wonder: why aren't more houses built of reinforced concrete? A concrete "igloo" is just about indestructible. Nothing can destroy it: wind, fire, rain, hail, heavy snow, quakes, tornados, termites. Nothing. And it's cheaper to heat and cool.
If I were president, I'd make this a branch of the new WPA. Rebuild the steel industry for rebar and beams, expand the concrete industry, re-employ construction guys, save energy in the long run, save lots of lives. (The main part of the new WPA should be the same as the old WPA: hydroelectric dams, levees, drainage.)
Concrete houses were briefly popular in the '20s, with Edison and others developing mass-production methods. For some reason they faded out. Why? Apparently Edison's particular design was awful in many ways, but that shouldn't have doomed the whole project. ¶ 4:05 PM
If I were president, I'd make this a branch of the new WPA. Rebuild the steel industry for rebar and beams, expand the concrete industry, re-employ construction guys, save energy in the long run, save lots of lives. (The main part of the new WPA should be the same as the old WPA: hydroelectric dams, levees, drainage.)
Concrete houses were briefly popular in the '20s, with Edison and others developing mass-production methods. For some reason they faded out. Why? Apparently Edison's particular design was awful in many ways, but that shouldn't have doomed the whole project. ¶ 4:05 PM
