Integrated Buildings & Structures

I recently read an article about roman concrete (https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/study-confirms-romans-used-hot-mixing-to-make-concrete/" href="https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/0C9vCW6jnXuXMAjLi6f2HoiUO7?domain=arstechnica.com/" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank" class="fui-Link ___1q1shib f2hkw1w f3rmtva f1ewtqcl fyind8e f1k6fduh f1w7gpdv fk6fouc fjoy568 figsok6 f1s184ao f1mk8lai fnbmjn9 f1o700av f13mvf36 f1cmlufx f9n3di6 f1ids18y f1tx3yz7 f1deo86v f1eh06m1 f1iescvh fhgqx19 f1olyrje f1p93eir f1nev41a f1h8hb77 f1lqvz6u f10aw75t fsle3fq f17ae5zn" title="https://url.us.m.mimecastprotect.com/s/0c9vcw6jnxuxmajli6f2hoiuo7?domain=arstechnica.com/">https://arstechnica.com/science/2025/12/study-confirms-romans-used-hot-mixing-to-make-concrete/) and it started me questioning whether the concrete we are pouring now is better than historically.

I have been involved in the demolition of concrete that was 2,500-3,000 psi that was formed at the turn of the last century, and the contractors always complain about how much stronger it is than they anticipated.  Are plasticizers and all the other additives we use actually creating a better product?  Would we be better served by slowing down the process and respecting that concrete needs certain temperatures and time to set?

What do others think about this?  Are additives making concrete lower quality in the long run?