Reinforced concrete is much stronger and more practical than the unreinforced stuff. It can span larger gaps, allowing concrete to soar in the form of bridges and skyscrapers. But here’s the problem: if cheaply made, it will rot from the inside as water gradually seeps in through tiny cracks in the concrete and rusts the steel. This process is currently destroying infrastructure across the United States;* in twenty or thirty years’ time, China will be next. China poured more concrete in the three years after 2008 than the United States poured during the entire twentieth century, and nobody
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