Ipswich High School, Ipswich, MA

Concrete is the most highly used buildingmaterial in the world. It is strong, inexpensive, plentiful and easy to handle.Sixty percent of the country's infrastructure is made of this all-naturalproduct. Once known for its "indestructibility," crumbling bridges, roads andbuildings have tattered that image. Replacing this infrastructure will cost agreat deal of money. Thus, it is important that this new infrastructure is builtto last. The solution that we propose is to find an optimum formula, through theuse of admixtures, which would yield maximum workability and strength.

Inorder to test our ideas, the W.R. Grace Co. invited us to use their physicaltesting facility. We now believe that with extra "ingredients" in theconventional concrete mixture, there would be a significant improvement instrength, ultimately making it last longer.