The philosophy underlying recent research on alkali-silica reactions is reviewed and illustrations of recent results are provided. It has been possible to follow the kinetics of the chemical reaction between dissolved alkalis and opal in mortars by monitoring the rate at which alkalis are removed from the pore solutions of reacting mortars. Studies of the expansion behavior of synthetic alkali silica gels under controlled conditions were carried out and show no obvious correlation to chemical composition. The alkali reaction in mortars was found to produce changes in the appearance of opal grains documentable by the use of a scanning electron microscope
