Other stories by Richard W. Steiger

  • Tilt-Up City

    Concrete contractor and tilt-up entrepreneur Larry Clark discusses the construction of Capital Centre, an all-tilt-up sports and entertainment complex he is building in Lansing, Mich. The facility includes a 52,000-square-foot basketball stadium, a 176,00-square-foot building for soccer, hockey...

  • Edison's Concrete Dream

    At the turn of the century, inventor Thomas Alva Edison developed a clever system of cast-iron molds that would allow a contractor to pour a concrete house in a day.

  • S.C. Johnson & Son Complex Symbolizes Concrete's Versatility and Endurance

  • St. Francis de Sales Church

    Designed by well-known New York architect Marcel Breuer, St. Francis de Sales Church in Muskegon, Michigan is an inspirational structure that fully demonstrates the architectural potential of cast-in-place concrete construction.

  • Roads of the Roman Empire

    The Romans built nearly 53,000 miles of roads linking the capital to their far-flung empire. To put this amazing feat in context, consider that the United States, to date, has built 42,000 miles of interstate highways. Roman roads were remarkable for preserving a straight line from point to point...

  • Alcatraz: Concrete on "The Rock"

    Alcatraz, the infamous island prison located in the mouth of San Francisco Bay, is now a popular tourist attraction administered by the National Park Service. One of the major draws to this fascinating historical site is the reinforced-concrete cell house built more than 80 years ago. Designed as a...

  • The Panama Canal: Eightieth Anniversary

    The Isthmus of Panama became the principal transshipment point for Spanish treasure and supplies to and from Central and South America in colonial days.

  • Residential Tilt-Up in Colorado

    Energy-efficient concrete tilt-up homes are making news in Pueblo, Colo., where Castle Construction Co. is using insulated concrete sandwich panels to build two different home designs.

  • 19th Century Kansas Comes of Age

    When city officials in Topeka, Kan., approved construction of a Melan system reinforced concrete bridge in 1896, local papers said it was "the greatest invention in bridge-building science since the parabolic truss."

  • First Reinforced Concrete Skyscraper in the U.S.

    When it was completed in 1903 in Cincinnati, the Ingalls Building became the tallest reinforced concrete building in the United States. Although its overall dimensions were only 50 x 100 feet, the 16-story structure was twice as tall as any previous reinforced concrete building. It offered economy...