Is welded wire reinforcement a new product?
No. Welded Wire Reinforcement has been around since 1901 when John
Perry invented a machine to weld wires into large sheets. Initially John
was looking for a way to make fencing, but in 1906 he was advertising
these sheets as reinforcement for concrete.
Why have I never heard of Welded Wire Reinforcement?
In 1884, two German engineers, Wayss and Buchinger, published a paper
on steel reinforcement and launched the idea of reinforcing concrete with
steel. Since then, the focus of Engineering students studying reinforced
concrete has been on using conventional reinforcing bars in concrete.
Back in the early 1900's Welded Wire Reinforcement was in its infancy.
Welding and rolling technology limited Welded Wire Reinforcement
applications to light gage material used in highways and slabs. Engineers
designing reinforced concrete structures gravitated towards conventional
rebar because the technology was readily available. Designing reinforced
concrete structures with Welded Wire Reinforcement was impractical in the
early 1900's, forcing designers to use conventional rebar which became
the established form of reinforcement in the industry. It wasn't until the
aftermath of World War II that welded wire reinforcement became more
acceptable in the engineering community. After World War II Europe needed
to rebuild its devastated infrastructure in a very short time and with a
depleted labor force. Welded Wire Reinforcement was the perfect reinforcing
material to help Europe rebuild because it required less labor to install and
reduced the time of construction. Because of the success of the post-war
reconstruction effort, European builders, architects and engineers started to
realize Welded Wire Reinforcement's potential. Welded Wire Reinforcement
remains extremely popular in Europe; accounting for over 50% of all
reinforced concrete projects. Today less than 10% of reinforced concrete
projects in the United States uses Welded Wire Reinforcement.
|
