×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

History of Cinder Block
2

History of Cinder Block

History of Cinder Block

(OP)
Can someone tell me how cinder block differed from concrete block, if it differed at all.  If so, when did they stop making it.

RE: History of Cinder Block

Cinders are the residue, which remains after material such as coal, is burnt.

Cinder blocks are building blocks that are made from cement and cinders.

Most of the blocks in the market these days are concrete masonry blocks. However, you find the term cinder block used in lieu of concrete blocks. I am not sure if they are still being made.

Even when I lived in West Virginia, coal country, they were called cinder blocks and actually they were made from cement.

I hope this helped.

Regards,

RE: History of Cinder Block

(OP)
Thanks for responding Lufti.  It almost sounds as if the cinders were comparable to the fly ash we use in concrete today.

It seems a little strange that they called them cinder blocks.  They must have been using a fairly high percentage of cinder being that they aquired the name "cinder" block.  I wonder if it was significantly more than the 15%-20% of cementitious materials that we sometimes replace with fly ash.  But, then again the cinders were probably a constant in their block recipe whereas fly ash is not always present in a concrete mix.

RE: History of Cinder Block

pricklyPete - The cinders that Lutfi refers to are the aggregate in the blocks, not a cement substitute. Cinders come from burning "chuncks" of coal, not the pulverized coal used in modern industrial boilers that creates microscopic flyash spheres. Cinders are more like to bottom ash than fly ash.

RE: History of Cinder Block

SlideRule, thanks for elaboration.

RE: History of Cinder Block

Add this little bit of trivia to your "history of cinder block" thread.

Seems that an acquaintence of mine, a long time ago, built a barbecue pit out of cinder block, the real thing, block built with cinders from stoker fired coal combustion.

On its first occasion to be used, he came outside to check on the progress of the cooking, only to find that the entire barbecue pit was aflame (big time).

Seems that the unburned carbon content of the cinders used in the block construction was excessive, and, when used in this application, the carbon ignited, and burned the whole barbecue pit to a crisp.  (Almost took his house with it.)

I thought this anecdote might help define for you just what the cinders in "cinder" block was, back when it really was made actually using cinders.

rmw

RE: History of Cinder Block

Your are welcome, Lutfi.

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources