A chemical process called carbonation, which helps seal cracks, could help explain why many ancient Roman structures are still standing today. Researchers hope that the insights will lead to better modern-day building materials
AFAIK another factor is that ancient structures were often way overbuilt by modern standards because it wasn’t possible to perform razor-sharp load calculations like we do today. So they added large safety margins, leading to many structures being way more massive (and robust) than they strictly had to be.
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AFAIK another factor is that ancient structures were often way overbuilt by modern standards because it wasn’t possible to perform razor-sharp load calculations like we do today. So they added large safety margins, leading to many structures being way more massive (and robust) than they strictly had to be.