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What exactly is keeping us from making concrete with salt water, for things like sidewalks?

In the northeast US, sidewalks frequently are in horrible condition after only a few years, because of the salt used in the winter. Sidewalks do not use steel rebar; they're just simple poured concrete. So why can't they make them with a better mixture that doesn't corrode so easily? (I'm guessing the answer is: replacing them frequently makes a lot of money for some concrete company that the town mayor is friends with.)



I think the time it takes for the concrete to set is why, as keeping it dry for a long time would be difficult.




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