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An ancient battle between environment and concrete

The collapse of the Champlain Towers South condominium in South Florida shocked the world. Many families lost loved ones or are still holding their breath. The question remains: what was the cause of this catastrophic failure?

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Fig. 1: Concrete has desirable properties but is prone to degradation.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Y. Xi, G. Urgessa and R. Selinger for their invaluable feedback and discussions.

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Correspondence to Pania Newell.

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Newell, P. An ancient battle between environment and concrete. Nat Rev Chem 5, 513–514 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41570-021-00315-z

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