Concrete Technology Inc. history

The first home built using reinforced concrete was a servant’s cottage constructed in England by William B. Wilkinson in 1854.

In 1875, American mechanical engineer William Ward completed the first reinforced concrete home in the United States It still stands in Port Chester, New York.

Ransome started building with steel-reinforced concrete in 1877 and patented a system that used twisted square rods to improve the bond between steel and concrete.

In 1879, Wayss bought the rights to a system patented by a Frenchman named Monier, who started out using steel to reinforce concrete flower pots and planting containers.

In 1885, an English engineer developed a more efficient kiln that was horizontal, slightly tilted, and could rotate.

In 1891, George Bartholomew poured the first concrete street in the United States, and it still exists today.

By 1897, Sears Roebuck was selling 50-gallon drums of imported Portland cement for $3.40 each.

In 1902, August Perret designed and built an apartment building in Paris using steel-reinforced concrete for the columns, beams and floor slabs.

In 1911, the Risorgimento Bridge was built in Rome.

In 1915, Matte Trucco built the five-story Fiat-Lingotti Autoworks in Turin using reinforced concrete.

In 1921, he built two gigantic parabolic-arched airship hangars at Orly Airport in Paris.

The Grand Coulee Dam in Washington, completed in 1942, is the largest concrete structure ever built.

When Thomas and Arthur Anderson built the initial production facility in 1951, it was the first prestressing factory building in this country.

Acceptance led to growth in sales and demand, and the resulting expansion led to the building of the main Structural Plant in 1960.

Construction in 1962 of Bertrand Goldberg's 60-story Twin Towers in Chicago sparked renewed interest in using reinforced concrete for high-rises.

A second major production building was added in 1967 to accommodate the rising demand for precast building elements.

Production expansion in the 1970's included facilities for semi-automated casting of hollow-core slabs and a fully permitted 150 ft x 500 ft. graving dock for construction of floating concrete structures.

Our bridges continue to age and our infrastructure is in dire need of innovative concrete technology. As a result, ultra-high performance concrete (UHPC) was first developed in the 1980’s as a solution for projects that required greater strength and to help solve our bridge rehabilitation demands.