Early Development of Reinforced Concrete
The practice of steelfixing – placing and securing steel reinforcement in concrete – has its roots in the invention of reinforced concrete itself. While iron ties were used to strengthen arches and masonry in ancient Rome and medieval Europe, the embedding of steel bars within concrete emerged in the mid-19th century. Innovators in France and Britain began experimenting with “ferro-concrete.” French gardener Joseph Monier is often credited for popularizing the concept: he patented a method of embedding iron mesh in concrete flower pots in 1867. Around the same time, Joseph-Louis Lambot built a concrete boat reinforced with iron (1854) and American Thaddeus Hyatt tested reinforced concrete beams in the 1850s. The technique quickly spread. By the 1880s–1890s, European engineers like François Hennebique and Gustav Wayss were developing proprietary systems for reinforced concrete buildings. In 1878, Hyatt received the first U.S. patent for reinforced concrete and a refinery for the Pacific Coast Borax Company became the first U.S. project to use his system. These early developments marked the birth of steelfixing as a distinct task – builders now needed to shape, place, and tie iron rods inside formwork before pouring concrete.
Rise of Steelfixing in Major Projects
By the early 20th century, reinforced concrete had moved from novelty to mainstream. In fact, “by the first quarter of the 20th century, rebar concrete construction had become the overwhelming choice for new projects”. This shift was driven by the superior strength and versatility of reinforced concrete. Unlike unreinforced materials, concrete with steel reinforcement could support taller, longer-span structures. This gave rise to the modern skyscraper: with steel rebar carrying tensile loads, buildings were no longer limited to a few stories in height. One early example was the 16-storey Ingalls Building (1903) in Cincinnati – the world’s first reinforced-concrete high-rise. Reinforced concrete also enabled the construction of vast industrial and infrastructure works. For instance, the Alvord Lake Bridge in San Francisco’s Golden Gate Park (built 1889 by engineer Ernest Ransome) was the first reinforced concrete bridge in the United States. Such projects demonstrated the need for skilled steelfixers to correctly place the new material. Early ironworkers developed techniques to twist or deform bars for better bonding (Ransome invented a twisted square rebar) and learned by trial and error how to wire bars in place. By the 1910s, standards for reinforcing steel were emerging – deformed (ribbed or lugged) bars were introduced in that era to improve grip in concrete. Steelfixers became an indispensable labor force on construction sites worldwide, responsible for assembling the skeletal “bones” of concrete structures.
Iconic Projects That Defined the Trade
Throughout the 20th century, major dams, bridges, and public works served as proving grounds for steelfixing techniques. The scale of these projects underscored the importance of the trade. For example, the construction of Hoover Dam (1931–1936) in the United States required an unprecedented volume of reinforcing steel – approximately 45 million pounds (over 20,000 tonnes) of rebar were placed in its concrete mass. Thousands of “rodbusters” (rebar workers) tied steel under harsh conditions, demonstrating how crucial efficient steelfixing was to meeting tight construction schedules. In Europe, too, early large dams and concrete bridges in the 1920s–30s demanded organized rebar fixing crews. The Panama Canal locks (1904–1914) and other massive works similarly relied on teams of steelfixers to install reinforcement for colossal concrete pours. As infrastructure ambitions grew, so did specialization in this trade – separate crews or subcontractors were dedicated solely to rebar installation on big jobs. By mid-century, reinforced concrete bridges and tunnels (from the Paris Métro to New York’s Holland Tunnel) and the foundations of soaring commercial towers all required complex reinforcement cages, firmly tying the steelfixing craft to modern construction. In short, the evolution of construction from low-rise masonry and steel frames to concrete megastructures elevated steelfixing from a niche skill to a globally indispensable trade.