• chaogomu@lemmy.world
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    4 days ago

    Have you ever heard of Tofu buildings? A bunch of Chinese construction companies have been using unwashed beach sand in their concrete. This means there’s salt in the concrete.

    So you can walk up to some of these buildings and with just a little effort, rip a chunk off with your bare hands.

    The companies are still doing it, because it’s cheaper, and they rarely get in trouble. It’s a sign of Chinese capitalism, reckless disregard for harm done in the name of profit. The US went through a phase like that from about 1607 until we all died in nuclear hellfire during the Able Archer exercises in 1983.

    • NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net
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      4 days ago

      The companies are still doing it, because it’s cheaper, and they rarely get in trouble. It’s a sign of Chinese capitalism, reckless disregard for harm done in the name of profit.

      80% of the sand used in their construction is now artificial… Because they stopped using unwashed sand.

      It took me less than 5 minutes to find this out with a simple search.

      ‘fun’ read about able archer though.

    • Swedneck@discuss.tchncs.de
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      3 days ago

      you’re aware that americans just consider it completely normal to be able to punch a hole in a wall, right?

      • Mic_Check_One_Two@reddthat.com
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        3 days ago

        That’s just drywall. Interior wall cladding isn’t really structural in American building. But being able to punch through brick or concrete would be wildly concerning, even for Americans.