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Anyone else have any real evidence to support a month long curing period?
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Concrete takes on average about 99 years to "cure". At this point it is considered cured and then begins to deteriorate. Average lifespan of concrete is about 200 years. At this point it no longer retains the strutural integrity needed to uphold its engineered requirements. Adding rebar and pre stressing, wire cloth and other reinforcements help to keep it from deteriorating early.
Water applied to the initial curing process will insure a slow cure. This will be much stronger than a "hot" cure. Hot, due to the chemical reaction of the cement and lime with water. Ever wonder why they cover newly constructed bridges with carpet and put sprinklers on them?
BTW, one other thing about concrete or cement. It should be used with the least amount of water possible to make the ingredients useable. The strongest concrete is that with the least amount of water. Watch a tile setter use a morter bed of almost dry ingredients. Also the gunite they blow onto the walls of the steel reinforced hole in the earth during pool building, comes out of the gun almost dry. When this stuff cures it is almost 25 percent harder than concrete.
Al