Sustainability talk on concrete structures addresses the risks of cracked infrastructure
SANTO DOMINGO.- The Engineering Area of the Instituto Tecnológico de Santo Domingo (INTEC) gave the talk on “Sustainability in concrete structures”, in which Matthew D'Ambrosia, director, co-founder of MJ2 Consulting and collaborator of the American Institute of Contreto, addressed the risks of cracked buildings, as well as modern requirements of mass concrete applications to ensure safer constructions.
The expert with more than 20 years of experience in this field explained that “mass concrete is anything in which the thermal factor offers a new function.” In his presentation, he expressed that there are two fundamental reasons why builders are concerned about massive concrete constructions: the first is the influence of heat and its detriment, and the second is the variation in temperatures, which produces cracks within the cement.
The expert mentioned that the cracking of buildings affects their useful life Since direct access to the steel allows the entry of water and salt, the concrete is little transported between the cracks and the concrete must have minimal cracking to maintain resistance to chlorides. He explained that “For a structure to be sustainable we have to consider, apart from mass and temperature cracking, other types of cracking that could occur.”
Among the modern requirements he mentioned when referring to mass concrete applications were strength, durability, countability and self-consolidation.
Franco Gómez, executive director of EPSA LABCO and past president of the Board of Regents of INTEC, welcomed the collaborators to the talk and explained the interests of INTEC in this type of conferences. “This presentation is part of the efforts we make together with the INTEC authorities to promote advances and innovation in construction technology, particularly cement and concrete,” he said.
D'Ambrosia directs his work to the optimization of materials for specialized applications and mechanisms related to durability, as well as new approaches for the prediction and verification of useful life and sustainability. He has been part of multiple projects, having experience in large infrastructures around the world, such as buildings, bridges, highways, dams and power plants.
